You don’t know everything? That’s OK.

I posted recently on LinkedIn, crowd-sourcing ideas for a 30 to 365 day plan for the new local government CAO.  Great ideas were shared, including just listening, visiting departments, getting to know the entity’s “symbolism” and other excellent recommendations. One that I think of is - knowing that you don’t know it all. Humility, curiosity, “I’m not sure,” and those types of questions and attributes are indeed entirely A-OK.  Far too often, especially lately, I have seen new CAOs hindering their own growth, by failing to recognize they themselves still need to grow.  I have been doing this work for 20+ years, and I need to grow, evolve, learn, stay up on professional development, ask questions, stay inquisitive, stay curious, etc. If I do, you do. You don’t know everything?  That’s OK, I don’t expect you to. Confidence, and competence, will grow as you yourself develop and refine your skills.