The danger is when you start to listen to it. You’ll usually find that your advisor/critics rarely, if ever, follow
their own advice.

Ever notice these days that most “Registered Dietitian’s” are 40+ pounds overweight? Don’t laugh… That is now the norm in the U.S.

How can they ever teach you anything?

Once, when I watching the NY Yankee’s play the NY Mets, when a commercial came on that starred Mike Piazza, the catcher for the Mets. He’d been having a rough season.

In the commercial, here’s Mike standing on the street. A guy in a truck asks Mike, “How deep is right field?” Mike
says, “About 330 feet.” Then the guy asks, “How deep is center field?” Mike says, “About 410 feet.” So the guy
says to Mike, “Hit it to right field!”

The game announcers remarked that those kinds of interactions happen all the time between players and fans.

Here’s an important question: Who are you listening to?

Do you take advice and criticism from people who have no business giving it out? Is it usually helpful?

Now don’t get me wrong. Criticism delivered properly is healthy, course correcting feedback… if you seek to learn.

Too often though, critics have other agendas. And they couldn’t take their own advice if their lives depended on
it.

The problem with hearing unwanted or unwarranted criticism is that it often isn’t put in a constructive way, so instead of getting, “You know I read that walking just 20-30 minutes a day can help you lose x # of pounds.

Have you tried that?” you usually hear, “You are fat. You better start exercising.”

This from a person who probably only puts on a pair of sweat pants to sleep in.

Here are a few bad examples of well meaning but potentially costly advice.

• “You should get into XYZ stock. It’s been climbing for two years.”
• “I take Supercalifragilistic weight loss pills and I lost 13 pounds. You ought to try it, too. A doctor made it.”
• “I quit smoking cold turkey. That’s the only way that works.”
• “Don’t let it get to you. What you need is a drink.”
• “Vegetarian? How do you get protein? You have to eat meat.”

When I was failing at selling, everyone had advice. The trouble was, the people giving it were the furthest thing
from professionals.

So in addition to reading books, listening to tapes and going to seminars, I set up an evaluation system that told
me with absolute accuracy if I was doing a good job that day.

I graded my performance each day on about 30 different factors.

Everything from number of calls, how I greeted someone, my facial expressions, question structure, listening with empathy, concern for their problems instead of mine, answering questions, building value, etc. It was an extremely thorough, honest assessment.

After each appointment, I pulled out my sheet and filled in the grades for each factor.

It took 1-2 minutes, and was brutally honest at telling me where I needed to improve.

Many salespeople who knew me asked me how I turned it all around so fast. I didn’t offer it. They asked first.

When I’d tell them what I did, they couldn’t believe something so simple could work so well.

And every single one of those salespeople continued on their mediocre ways. Many left the sales profession all
together.

Imagine that. They had a world record holder willing to share a critical idea, yet they continued listening to their equally inept co-workers instead.

Very few people want constructive criticism, even if it’s just from themselves.

So I have two tiny little suggestions…

One, don’t push advice on the people in your life.

They really don’t want it. They don’t use it. And they’ll get sick of hearing it. If you must, be a sounding board
instead.

When people hear themselves out loud, they often get the answer they were looking for without outside advice. It’s hard enough to change yourself. Changing others is a hundred times more difficult.

And two, don’t let critics ruin your mood. Not even for a minute.

If someone comes along and gives you their two cents and you find yourself feeling powerless, make a mental note, “This is what I get when I let just anyone mess with my esteem and confidence.”

Listen to yourself and to people who have overcome the same challenges that you’re working on. That’s it.

Talk to people about your challenges, but unless they’ve overcome the same thing, be careful about taking their
suggestions.

It will be very costly to your emotional, physical and financial health.

What if you had the same minute-by-minute thoughts as the super successful? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate
mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of
life.

Recommended Reading

• The Key Elements of Effective Leadership Strategies
• What’s Most Important About Leadership and Business Management Training?
• Video: Strategic Planning Mastermind Group For Leaders
• Washington Square Park Really Is The Center Of The Universe
• Thomas Edison’s Business Mastermind Group Strategy
• Experience Demonstrates That Loyalty Is A Crucial Component of Effective Leadership Strategies
• Increase Your Influence As A Leader

Technorati Tags: advice, ancient leadership advice, business advice, leadership advice

Management at Its Best

Antoine de Saint-Exupery eloquently said, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

How can this idea help you to be a better manager?

Employees who are inspired by the company’s mission, or at least the project they’re working on, usually do the best work. You want to show them how they play a part in the whole scheme of things. Let them know how what they contribute is important.

I did not buy American made cars for many years because I believed that Americans didn’t like their jobs any more. I figured that if I wanted good craftsmanship, I would need to buy foreign.

But if American managers take a look at how to motivate each employee to do their best, that’s a different story. Can you do that? We know that everyone wants their pay, but what else do they need to keep coming to work day after day?

Even better, what would help them to really want to come to work and do their best? You have to admit that a stack of green paper and coins isn’t all that exciting.

We really want the things that money can buy. Earning money is just as much about being interested in our careers, as it is about the money.

So think about each person working for you for a moment. Can you see what it is that each one values in their work?

Maybe one person is particularly organized and values efficiency. Another really works to make the world a better place. Still another may be working in order to come up with new ways of doing things. Others are leaders who excel at taking charge, whom people naturally want to follow.

People definitely work for more than one reason. There are those who work to serve others. Some people love to tell stories. That would be your best salesperson! Others are great with information. They can find the best information out there on anything and everything. It just comes naturally to them.

Try looking at your own work in the same way. Which of these seven factors motivate you the most? Probably one or two really work for you, and the others are not your strong suits.

You need to know which of these abilities you need from the people you manage so you can choose them according to their strengths and manage them to grow in those areas.

Efficiency, service, information, innovation, leadership, storytelling and inspiration are the seven basic reasons
people do the work they do.

Everyone can do well with one or two of these abilities. If you know your own strengths and the special strengths of each person you supervise, you can manage them better to produce great results in terms of the company’s mission.

They will think you’re the best manager they ever had if you notice these traits, value them, and encourage them to work in these terms. Each member of the team will be more willing to do their best, give a little bit more and produce the very best work when they can work for more than just a paycheck.

Now we don’t mean you should create an idealistic work environment where no one has to do anything they don’t like. This is simply about how to be a more effective manager of people.

It’s a way to make the most of the people you have, as well as with your own work. Most managers know they will get more valuable work from each person they supervise if they understand that person, their skills and their reason for wanting to do the best job.

Think about how much that could be worth to you!

Eileen M Penrose specializes in managerial coaching. You can read more articles on the subject of management at
ManagementFYI

Recommended Reading

• The Key Elements of Effective Leadership Strategies
• Successful Leaders Enable Their Employees By Providing Leadership Strategies For Free!
• Employee Centered Leadership Mastermind Groups Promote Growth
• The Most Effective Combo For Company Profits; Business Management Together With Leadership Strategies
• Genuine Leaders Gratefully Accept The Burden of Total Accountability
• Do You Know These Five Virtually Unknown Traits Of Effective Leadership Strategies?
• Increase Your Influence As A Leader

Technorati Tags: ancient leadership advice, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, leadership and management, leadership development, Leadership Strategies