'Words of the wise... should be heard.'

Ecc 9:17 NKJV

One day King Zedekiah said to the prophet Jeremiah, 'I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me' (Jer 38:14 NKJV). Zedekiah displayed wisdom we don't display often enough. One author writes: 'I changed from someone who avoids potentially bad news to someone who invites it. For many years I've given permission to members of my inner circle to ask me hard questions and give me their opinion when they disagree with me. I don't ever want to make a mistake, then hear a team member say, 'I thought that was going to be a bad decision.' I want people to tell me on the front end, not after it's too late for their advice to help. Pushback before a decision is made is never disloyalty. You need to give them permission to ask hard questions and pushback against your ideas. That decision must be given to others by the leader. Too often leaders would rather have followers who turn a blind eye instead of ones who speak with a blunt tongue. But if all is quiet when decisions are being considered, it probably won't be quiet after it plays out.' Sir Francis Bacon observed, 'If a person will begin with certainties, he will end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he will end in certainties.' Job said, 'Men listened to me and waited, and kept silence for my counsel' (Job 29:21 NKJV). You must constantly ask yourself: What is my attitude toward mistakes? Am I owning up to my mistakes? Am I learning from them? Do I get the best input possible?