Are you the sage on the stage or the guide on the side?

September 24, 2008
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I just got off the phone with one of my clients. He was complaining about an event he had gone to recently – he was expecting it to be a roundtable where the attendees would be discussing common problems and solutions. Instead, it was a product pitch.  The host did all the talking, ran over the allotted time, and didn’t leave time for meaningful questions.

My client felt like this host company had missed out on a great opportunity. They had some really interesting people around the table who were keen to learn from each other, yet no one other than the hosts had a chance to speak. The attendees left feeling like they had wasted their time and had been talked at.  The hosts left without learning anything new about their customers and prospects.

So, we started speculating…why do people do this? Our conclusion: confidence. You can tell when a person really knows her stuff it’s when she doesn’t insist on trying to prove how smart she is. People who are confident in their subject areas don’t mind admitting when they don’t know something. They are curious and reflective.

One of my coaching instructors, Tony Grant, loves to say:  be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.  I say:  have enough confidence in yourself learn from others.’

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