How To Become A Know-It-All

"The more you climb up the ladder, the more people will tell you what a great guy you are. The worst trap you can fall into is believing them. It's important to encourage people to give you feedback and to disagree if they have a different opinion. It depends on your reaction. Otherwise you are totally alone. You will lose touch and ultimately make decisions which are really dumb."

(Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of Daimler AG, in “Driving Lessons: Dieter Zetsche's Experiences behind the Wheel of Daimler-Chrysler and Beyond.” Knowledge@Wharton. March 19, 2008)