The Paceline

I was never as smart as I was when I was fresh out of college. Now I thought I knew it all as a teen ager. But I was really convinced I knew it all at the ripe old age of 22.

Every year after that I learned something new – sometimes A LOT new. And every year I realized how much more I really didn’t know. Gulping from the fountain of knowledge to wash down humble pie can do a lot to remove arrogance. For me, it took a lot of red Solo cups to wash away my know-it-all attitude.

So it came as quite a surprise last month when I dutifully but disdainfully sat through one more personality analysis. After so many years of these assessments (8 Myers-Briggs, 2 DISC, and probably 5 other appraisals), I was not thrilled at the thought of doing this  O N E   M O R E   T I M E   during our team retreat.

But, the millennials on the team really wanted to do this – and I quietly reminded myself that since they haven’t been around that much, they probably need to do more of this touchy feely introspective stuff. I’ll just be quiet and listen while THEY learn.

The arrogance of the young man had returned to this old one. At least I disguised my condescension well enough to not need more than one Solo cup during the retreat. (Thank you Magic Marker.) I listened and actually learned.

It is SO GOOD to learn new stuff. And so important to be reminded I’m not too old to learn.

Stay tuned for what I learned. I’m still processing.