Knowledge may be power, but the powerful aren’t always knowledgeable.

I don’t care what you do for a living, you need to be as knowledgeable about your field as possible.  I just watched a video of a person in power being interviewed about decisions he made that would impact many lives. He dodged questions, gave partial answers, refused to answer several questions, and accused his interviewer of trying to make him look bad. He did that all by himself. He said he refused to look up the numbers, but he gave the impression that he truly did not know the specifics.

I’ve held numerous positions in many industries. I’ve always worked diligently and endeavored to know as much about my job as possible. If I didn’t know the answer, I asked someone who did know. From working in a factory to being a community action warrior, I took every single job seriously.

I’ve made difficult decisions before. When I made a decision that affected someone else, I was able to explain how I arrived at that result. It’s called being conscientious. I’m amazed at how many powerful people lack that quality. They seem to see only numbers on a page without stopping to see that each number represents a person.

I have lost a few jobs due to downsizing or head count reduction. It was always painful. I’m certain the people doing the actual reducing didn’t know me from Adam. Conversely, the last woman with the dubious pleasure of informing me that she was turning my life upside down was nearly in tears. I could tell that it broke her heart to be the ax that sliced my ties to the company. For that, I respect her.

I was once told that I would never be successful in life because I’m too nice. It all depends on your perspective. Success is not always measured in dollars or prestige. I like to measure my success by how many lives I’ve made better and how much love I’ve shown others. I have an innate need to nurture those around me. That part of my personality has resulted in plenty of heartache, but the good outweighs the bad. I think long and hard before I take action that could hurt someone, which means I sever very few relationships.

The man I watched being interviewed may be a perfectly wonderful human being. Unfortunately, he sees people as numbers instead of individuals, which brings him much disdain. I’ve always thought that the privileged in our society should be required to live in a modest home on a median wage for six months before being allowed to make decisions that affect others. Perhaps then the decision makers would pay attention to what they’re actually doing and be able to answer the simple question, “How many people are impacted?”

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