Good Leaders Don’t Know Everything—and That’s Their Strength
Why asking for help builds trust, strengthens teams, and creates the conditions for better work
I recently listened to Adam Grant and Brené Brown discuss leadership on The Curiosity Shop, a podcast that brings quantitative research and lived experience into the same conversation. One idea stayed with me: asking for help can be one of the most powerful ways an employee builds a manager’s trust.
That may sound counterintuitive. Especially when we are new to an organization or role, many of us feel pressure to prove what we know and how much we can handle. Yet in my experience supervising and coaching emerging professionals, confidence grows when someone can say, “I don’t know yet,” ask a thoughtful question, and seek the support they need to move forward.
The Confidence to Be Candid
Mistakes are more likely when people hesitate to pause, clarify, or admit they need more information. The real leadership challenge, then, is not simply encouraging employees to ask for help. It is creating a workplace where asking does not carry a penalty—where openness is treated as a sign of investment rather than a lack of capability.
People are more likely to raise questions, acknowledge mistakes, and challenge assumptions when they believe they can take risks without embarrassment or retribution. That sense of psychological safety helps teams surface problems earlier, learn faster, and make better decisions.
Curiosity Creates Capacity
Organizations are best positioned to innovate when growth, curiosity, and learning are part of the culture and leaders set that tone. When they model thoughtful questions, welcome expertise, and acknowledge the limits of their own knowledge, they give everyone else permission to do the same.
Strong leaders know how to use their own strengths while drawing out the strengths of others. They are secure enough to hire people who know what they do not, listen to perspectives that may contradict their own, and change course when new information emerges. They earn trust not by steamrolling ideas, but by opening dialogue. Brené shared in another conversation that many leaders over-prioritize being “knowers” rather than “learners” for the fear of being irrelevant. In reality, leaders who model curiosity and learning inspire more confidence from their employees and their stakeholders.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Name uncertainty: Be clear about what is known, what remains open, and what the team is trying to learn.
Ask questions: Invite perspectives with prompts such as, “What are we missing?” or “Who sees this differently?”
Respond productively: Thank people for raising concerns, especially when the information is difficult to hear.
Request help visibly: Let the team see that seeking expertise is responsible leadership, not weakness.
Treat mistakes as information: Model and enact compassionate accountability while focusing on learning, repair, and improvement.
Leadership is not about knowing everything. It is about holding what you do not know with enough confidence, humility, and curiosity to help the whole team move forward.
