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'In a Nutshell' - new ideas to keep you aware and informed
'The Best Advice I Ever Got' - Fortune Magazine interviews
In December 2008 the editors of Fortune asked a variety of accomplished people what advice has been most beneficial in achieving their success, as well as what has been least helpful. Many of the answers are not particularly radical or innovative, sometimes reminding us of what we have already learned. But isn't it interesting (and frustrating) how often we don't remember to put into practice what we know!
So what did they say?
Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg's favourite advice was, 'First, always ask for the order, and second, when the customer says yes, stop talking.' He observes how many people make a great sales pitch without ever actually stating what outcome they want, while others, when they get get the answer they want, still carry on talking...
Indra Nooyi, Chair and CEO of Pepsico, was enormously influenced by her father's disposition always to assume positive intent in other people, no matter how apparently negative their behaviour or words. She says that this has an amazing effect on what then becomes possible because it removes anger from the equation. Focusing on the negative can only close down real communication and heightens mutual distrust whereas assuming that there is a positive intention beneath the surface means you keep trying to understand and really listen because deep down you are thinking, 'Maybe they are saying something to me that I'm not hearing.' This attitude, she says, influences the other person to be more open and can often result in a mutually satisfying eventual outcome.
Sam Palmisano, IBM Chairman and CEO, has observed that many of the most successful leaders in the world are quiet people whose humility makes others feel comfortable. He notes that this is not just an appealing personal quality but also an effective leadership attribute because it invites constructive engagement and contribution. Palmisano also quotes a former boss who helpfully told him not to view his career as a linear progression: instead to take horizontal rather than vertical steps: to try out situations that are unstructured, to learn different ways of working.
Walt Disney CEO, Bob Iger, recalls the life-long impact of his own father quoting Polonius's advice to his son in Shakespeare's Hamlet, 'To thine own self be true.'
General Electric's Charlene Begley quotes the straightforward advice she was given: 'talk to customers'. Unlike employees and colleagues, who may be infulenced by status or fear, she says, customers will always give you the truth. 'They don't care about your title, they just want value. You'll never get anything straighter than from a customer.'
Joanna Shields, in her negotiations to sell social networking business Bebo to AOL, remembered her father's advice not to take the last dollar off the table. She recalls, you can always do a slightly better deal, but that incremental dollar or windfall is not worth creating an imbalance that affects the relationship. You have to have the intuition to know when to say, 'I'm going to make sure that we walk away feeling like we've both done well.'
Chairman of the Estée Lauder Group, Leonard Lauder, recalls his mother's advice to him. She believed that if you had something good to say, you should put it in writing. But if you had something bad to say, you should tell the person to his or her face.
Finally, Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of SPACEX says the worst advice from his parents was to ignore bullies. 'That doesn’t work. You have to punch them on the nose.'
“Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.”
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