Are you jumping through other people’s hoops?
I spent the last ten days cruising up and down the west coast with a quick stop in Vegas. Many of the entrepreneurs and professionals I met with this past week came to me to discuss ideas they had for business/career advancement. One thing that almost everyone had in common was this ‘process’ that they felt they had to follow in order to get to where they wanted to go. When I asked them how they had developed the process that they were following. They told me that it was derived from feedback they received from others. When I asked if their advisers had ‘done’ this themselves, the answer was unanimously…’no’.
So the question arises, why the heck would you take advice from someone who is telling you the ‘theory’ but has never practically applied it? Oh, I know…because that’s what we all learn in university. We learn about theory and how it ‘could’ be applied, but not how it ‘is’ applied. This seems to be spilling over into the business world. Armchair quarterbacks are giving advice that they have really never taken themselves and professionals and entrepreneurs alike are taking this information as gospel and wondering why it isn’t working.
Take a moment to consider where your business information/advice comes from. Is it from someone who has been to battle or someone who has ‘read’ about battle. Are you taking sales management advice from someone who has managed a team or someone who watched someone manage a team? Are you taking investment advice from someone who has made their money in the market or someone who watched a Discovery Channel show about Warren Buffet. Talk is cheap, but not if you follow the advice and go in the crapper. If you want to learn how to do something, find someone who is doing it and ask them how, ask them to mentor you. Ask them to coach you, advise you, sit on your board. We’ve lost track of the apprentice model of business. Back in the day, if you wanted to be a master craftsman, you sought out a master craftsman and studied under them. Today, everyone says they are a ‘master craftsman’ butt they’ve never picked up a tool in their life. When taking advice, consider the source and don’t jump through any hoops that the lion tamer hasn’t jumped through themselves.
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Right on, Chris. I’ve been questioning a few of these “gurus” out there lately. With one who is internationally known, I did a little experiment, asking people who talked about him if they knew his background. No one did. I did a little research and found he has indeed worked for some heavy hitters, but funny thing: he never puts his bio where you can find it easily. Strange.
The funny part is that many of these gurus (who can share some great insights and advice) are getting such egos from all their own hype and Twitter-razzi that they are forgetting where they came from. It’s one thing to humbly say, “Hey, I’ve got this unique insight that might help you” and another to cop an attitude and say, “I’ve never done this myself but I am a god because thousands of people read my blog.” You are so right that people are too quick to trust people who’ve never been there and done that.