Everyone's Got Advice

Have you ever been given bad advice?

No matter how much someone insists that they know what they're talking about, maybe they do and maybe they don't.

Have you ever given advice that might not have been the best?

If you have, it probably wasn't intentional and you might not even remember it now. We sometimes give advice with the best of intentions but that advice is not exactly what is needed.

Before taking the advice of someone else, here are some of the things I look and listen for:

Do they understand my situation?
Do they have my best interests in mind?
Have they asked enough questions to determine what is needed?
Have they ever experienced the same kind of situation - and if so, how did that turn out for them?
Will they be there to help with the implementation of their advice?

Ask these questions first before jumping to that advice.

Giving advice is often the first sign that a person is not qualified to give advice. Everyone's got an opinion but not all opinions are helpful.

But that's just my advice -- what do you think?

-- doug smith

Comments

The Right People

Who do you get to help you solve your problem? You, of course, that's a given. Also, people who will be impacted by any solution you try. People who are feeling the effects of the problem right now. Even (especially) people who you think may be at the root cause of the problem. Get the benefit of many ideas. Enlist the help of people who will care how it turns out. Collaborate to gain commitment. Engage the right people in creating problem solutions so that they don't become the wrong people while implementing them. -- doug smith

Compassionate Patience

It's easy to forget how much work it took to get where you are. Skills that we can take for granted are still absent or being developed in other people, including our team members. Compassionate leaders remember what they were like before they acquired the skills they now wish their team members had. The challenge: staying patient. The good news: as a leader you can help those team members grow. -- doug smith

It's Not The Volume

It's so tempting to get louder when your words aren't delivering the results that you want. I've done it. Raising the volume feels like action, it's more of a reaction. Emotions are so powerful that they can make us forget what we're thinking. Emotions are also contagious, and that extra volume invites a loud response. If you've ever been in an argument where you're shouting at each other, you know how ineffective that is. Saying something louder does not make it more true. Winning leaders manage their emotions. They check their thinking to see if it aligns with their goals. It could be easier to meet someone halfway than to pull them all the way to your way of thinking. That doesn't mean we need to compromise every time -- but we do need to show that we're willing to consider someone else's point of view. And then, that we do understand that point of view. Louder is seldom better. (Unless you're playing guitar, then loud could be good...) -...

Focused Truth

Focused leaders have zero time for inauthentic messages. They tell the truth unconditionally and insist on the truth consistently. Be a leader who can handle the truth. Be a leader who tells the truth. -- doug smith

More, please

How many solutions does your problem need? Sometimes the answer is just one more. It could also be that your problem needs twenty more before you find the one that sticks. Finding solutions is the fun part anyway so just keep going. Create more solutions to a problem than you need in order to find one that works. -- doug smith

Better Results

We do get to choose. It's as easy to be positive as it is to be negative and the results are much more pleasing. What's your choice? -- doug smith

The Positive Choice

Leadership carries many responsibilities. One of them is the responsibility to improve things. People, products, processes -- none of these are perfect. As leaders, we can help them get better or we can keep them right where they are. Given a choice why not allow things to get better? -- doug smith

Develop a Range of Skills

As leaders our development is never done. There is always more to learn, more to master. It's possible to get the "people part" of leadership right and still fail as a leader. Strategy, critical-thinking, planning, and problem solving are still critical. What have you learned today? -- doug smith

Shortcut

Your goals matter to other people when other people matter to you. -- doug smith

In Front

Problems bring pain. Maybe it's physical, or emotional, or logistical-- as long as the problem is there, so is that pain. When we solve the problems in front of us we can put the pain behind us. -- doug smith

doug smith training

Search This Blog