Are You Using What You Do Know?

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I so enjoyed a recent podcast by Tyler Dickerhoof, as part of his ongoing series entitled the Impact Driven Leader. If you haven’t listened to his December 17, 2021 podcast, I highly recommend that you check it out. It has some excellent points!

My favorite point that Tyler shared was that, so often, “We can get so caught up in what we don’t know, that we are afraid to share what we do know.” This is so true for many of us. As Tyler explains, “Who loses when we do this? Everyone around us.”

Please allow me to provide you with some real-life examples from my own consulting work, where this principle really was exemplified:

• One of my Clients was accused of overstating the numbers of heifers in his herd by 200 head. According to the bank’s appraisal staff, he was off by this amount. Of course, this “raised a red flag” with his lender at his loan renewal… We chose to speak up, and guess what? When they recounted the heifer numbers, we were right, but what if we hadn’t shared what we did know?
• On another Client’s loan renewal, I had completed an Annual Budget that showed a relatively solid profit for the year we were projecting. Did I know with certainty that the Client would be profitable? Of course not. It was 12 months into the future. However, I did know will almost certainty that he would not lose $400,000, as projected by the bank. I found a huge error in their calculations, and voiced my concern. After realizing their mistake, the loans were approved, and the business moved forward successfully. What if I’d simply accepted their projections?
• For quite some time, I’ve recommended that Dairy Clients consider milking their fresh cows 4X for the first 21 days of their lactation. This typically results in cows achieving higher peak production and then attaining higher levels of milk production throughout their lactation. Did I understand everything about this process and how it worked? No, but what if I hadn’t shared it with several of my Clients? It would have impacted their milk sales and resulting profitability.
• For years, I’ve worked on getting Clients, particularly in the dairy industry, to diversify their operations. This has resulted in Clients expanding into Almonds, Pistachios, Wine Grapes, Olive Oil Production, Various Dairy Products and, most recently, Methane from their Digesters for Energy Production. Did I know that every one of these projects would succeed? No, but after extensive analysis and knowing that they could potentially benefit, I shared with them what I did know about the positives of diversifying their operations.

So, to answer the question above: Are you sharing what you do know, or are you so caught up in what you don’t know, that you’re afraid to share what you do know?

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!