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“I don’t know” might be a leader’s most powerful tool. Former WD-40 CEO Garry Ridge shares how humility, trust, and failure fuel bold leadership—and why real growth starts with letting others lead.
The three most powerful words a leader can say are “I don’t know.”
I sat down with Garry Ridge—former CEO and now Chairman Emeritus of WD-40—on The Learn-It-All Podcast when he offered this profound advice. His “I don’t know” principle is simple enough to fit on a Post-it, but strong enough to shape a lifetime of leadership.
It’s easy to assume a leader like Garry has all the answers. He spent 25 years transforming WD-40 into a globally admired company that is built on trust and high performance. But Garry’s superpower isn’t knowing everything—it’s creating a culture where people feel safe to grow, take risks, and lead with courage.
“When a leader admits they don’t have all the answers,” Garry told me, “it creates space for the team to step up, contribute ideas, and solve problems together.”
We dug into the bold lessons from his brand new must-read book, Any Dumb Ass Can Do It. The title is as unfiltered as Garry himself.
Do you know how WD-40 got its name? (I didn’t.)
It’s called WD-40 because it took 40 attempts to get the solution right. WD-40 is literally built on 39 failures.
“If we had given up at WD-39, we wouldn’t have what is now a globally recognized product,” Garry said.
39 failures. One breakthrough.
But Garry adds that failure should be reframed as a “Learning Moment.”
And these Learning Moments can only happen if leaders create a psychologically safe environment.
Garry defines psychological safety as an environment where employees feel safe to share ideas, voice concerns, and challenge the status quo—without fear of punishment.
“Psychological safety isn’t just a buzzword,” he said. “It’s the foundation of trust, creativity, and innovation in any organization.”
So, how can leaders create psychological safety?
✅ Model vulnerability with enhanced emotional intelligence – Admit when you don’t know something.
✅ Encourage open feedback with active listening – Make sure employees feel heard.
✅ Celebrate learning moments to motivate your team – Normalize and reward growth from setbacks.
We have to become comfortable with failure because life is not linear. When people feel safe enough to think big, take risks, and speak up, that’s when real innovation happens. And innovation requires failure. Sometimes 39 failures.
“Leadership isn’t about you,” Garry said. “It’s about the people you serve.”
I once had a coach whose leadership style was the opposite of servant leadership. When our team succeeded, he’d take all the credit. When we failed, he’d point fingers. That approach crushed morale and led to a bad season. Watching him taught me that if I ever led a team I would have their backs, especially when things didn’t go well.
We have to cultivate a humility instinct as leaders. I’ve spoken about the need for humility in leadership before with Craig Dowden on his Do Good To Lead Well podcast and with Rick Jordan on my podcast. We have to prioritize the team’s needs over our ego.
The servant leader approach at WD-40 empowered them to achieve incredible results.
✅ 98% of employees loved telling people where they worked
✅ The company’s market cap skyrocketed from $300M to over $3B
Servant leadership is not just good for morale. It’s good business.
Garry gave me a hard truth to digest:
“Most leaders protect their own comfort zones at the expense of their employees’ growth.”
Read that again so it sinks in.
This is one of my favorite takeaways because it is also a core trait of a Learn-It-All Leader.
I’ve sat on uncomfortable sales calls with members of my staff as they’ve struggled. It was tempting to run to my comfort zone and jump in to try to be a hero and save them (and the sale).
But something far more important was at stake. Giving my team a safe place to work through their challenges in real time was critical to creating an environment of bravery.
I’ll be honest, this approach isn’t always easy. It takes patience and resilience. And in this case the cost was a missed opportunity that I had to work to let go of. It’s not an easy lesson to learn. It requires leaving your comfort zone.
But Garry has a trick for this too. He learned it from his mentor Marshall Goldsmith. Garry uses a physical gesture when he needs to let something go. He takes a deep breath and brushes his arm to the side and says, “Let it go.”
His effortless choreography makes it look simple, but it takes practice. Getting comfortable with learning moments is the key to getting your team to flourish.
After the call did not achieve the outcomes we’d hoped, I would work with the sales person to define their roadblocks and uncover what coaching or resource they need to succeed.
They have to know that I have to have their back even if things don’t go well.
The sales member who struggled on that call went on to be one of the best on my team for years. I’m convinced that would never have happened if I hadn’t had the bravery of servant leadership to let my team grow.
No matter how brilliant a leader might be, they can only grow wiser if they lead from learning. Garry Ridge asks us to consult our inner dumb-ass and build environments where curiosity, learning moments, and bravery are rewarded. And now, through his company, The Learning Moment, he’s helping leaders build workplaces where people feel valued and inspired.
That doesn’t sound like something a dumb-ass could accomplish. But then again, in the wisdom of Garry Ridge:
Maybe I don’t know.
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For the full experience check out our full conversation.
For all of Garry Ridge’s wisdom, his brand new book Any Dumb Ass Can Do It is available now.
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