Clark Stinks

One of the things that I really appreciate about Clark Howard is how adamant he is about confronting his own errors. He encourages those he works with and those who listen to him to correct him when he is wrong. As a method of doing this he setup a message board with the wonderful url clarkstinks.com for people to discuss when they believe that he has given bad advice. Each week his staff picks some of their favorite “clark stinks” moments and Clark discusses them on his radio show/podcast. This is literally a weekly segment of his show. I love that he is this open to other people’s criticism, rightly or wrongly, to acknowledging when he gives bad advice, or makes a mistake.

I trust Clark Howard much more, rather than less, because of the fact that corrections are regularly a part of his show. Unfortunately for many the exact opposite reaction is the first and only thing that comes to mind. Instead of admitting their failures, mistakes, or mere ignorance they often “puff up” and deny the truth. Even worse sometimes they even blame the one who pointed out the error. Everyone gets things wrong. The people I trust the most admit this fact and don’t hide from their mistakes. Clark Howard is one such person. He is a great example of how to get better by recognizing when you get something wrong.