Thursday Thirteen – Best Advice I Ever Got.
I saw this article in Fortune Magazine. (Why I read this magazine is another long story.) The article shared the advice that some of today’s greatest leaders and thinkers received.
I found the advice to be… well… uninspiring, bland and … unhelpful. I thought we might do a better job.
What is the best advice you ever received? Or what’s the worst advice you’ve received? Write it in the comments and I’ll post it with a link to your site/blog.
Here is some of the advice they shared in Fortune:
1. “The best advice was, first, always ask for the order, and second, when the customer says yes, stop talking.” Michael Bloomberg
2. “It’s hard to look smart with bad numbers.” Mark Hurd
3. “Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent.” Indra Nooyi (Well, Ok I liked this.)
4. “…effective leaders don’t make themselves the center of attention. They are respectful. They listen.” Sam Palmisano
5. “When (my Dad and I) played football, he’d say, ‘Go out ten steps. Turn to your right.’ The ball would reach me just before I turned, and it would hit me right in the chest. Why would my Dad do this? He told me, ‘If I waited for you to turn, you and the defensive player would have an equal chance to get the ball. Your opportunity is gone.’ This idea of anticipation is key to investing and to business in general.” Eddie Lampert
6. “My boss, then Maj. Gen. Jack Galvin, said, ‘I think you ought to look for an out-of-your-intellectual-comfort-zone experience.’ (…) The bottom line is that seriously bright folks thought very differently about issues…. In truth, experiencing that not everyone saw the world the same was good preparation for many of the experiences I’ve had since – in Haiti, Bosnia, and certainly Iraq.” Gen. David Petraeus
7. “I got two pieces of advice I have always remembered. My father, Charles E. Murphy, who was a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, … said, ‘Doing the wrong thing is not worth the loss of one night’s good sleep.’ (…) Benjamin Selekman, a Harvard Business School professor who taught labor relations, …, said, ‘Here is something to remember for the rest of your life: Don’t spend your time on things you can’t control. Instead spend your time thinking about what you can.’” Thomas S. Murphy
8. “I go back to the things my dad said: ‘Your career is long and the business world is small. Always act with integrity. Never take the last dollar off the table.’” Joanna Shields
9. “It was my dad who gave me the best advice of my 45-year career: ‘Get sales up, and keep expenses down.’ That sounds simplistic, but it’s the way my father got 4% margins in his food business when his competitors made 1% or 2%.” Nelson Peltz
10. “I was about to transition to a new role, … and Jeff Immelt gave me this advice: ‘Spent a ton of time with your customers.’… Customers give you the reality…. You’ll never get anything straighter than from a customer.” Charlene Begley
11. “Focus on those things you do better than others. That has been enormously helpful in defining our business strategies.” Peter G. Peterson
12. “Don’t Panic” Elon Musk
13. Now it’s your turn. What is the best piece of advice you have received in your life? or the worst piece of advice? Write them in the comments and I’ll post them here with a link to your blog.
- Ok, I’ll start. The best advice I ever received was: “Treat people the way THEY want to be treated.”
- Nicole Austin’s mother told her to “write the stories I wanted to tell and forget everything else, and even if no one else ever read them they?d be something I could be proud of because they came from my heart.”
- Sarah at Puss Reboots‘s great-grandfather said, via (her) grandmother: ?If you see a large crowd, head in the opposite direction.?
- Susan Helen Gottfried’s favorite piece of advice is: “The decisions you make today aren?t permanent. You can always change things later on when you need to.”
- Michael C says, “The best advice I was ever given was to enjoy life and be glad I have today. Sappy, but very, very true.”
- Sue‘s advice is: “Always bring a banana to a party. Bananas are good!”
- Julia tells us that, “(w)hen I was making fun of myself for starting university as a mature student, realizing I?d be graduating at 30, my cousin said, ?You?ll turn 30 anyway. Might as well turn 30 with a degree.?”
- Lori says, “Some of the best advice I ever received? Write what frightens you . . .”
- Tommie‘s favorite advice is from a fellow military wife, “Leaving friends is bittersweet. Without the moves we would never had met them in the first place. There are new people that we will share laughter and tears with at the next post. We don?t even know their names yet?but they will share our lives. It?s kind of great really.”
- Forgetful one says, “You have two ears to listen and one mouth to speak.”
- Slick‘s ex-father-in-law said: “Treat her right or you?ll be above my mantle.?
- Journeywoman‘s mother advised, ?You may get annoyed with your in-laws, but just remember they love their child as much as we love you. Treat them with the same respect you treat us and they will love you too.?
- Janet says, ?Fun is not a four-letter word.?
- Adelle Lauden advises, “You can?t please everybody, so why try?”
- Virginia says, ?God designed women to have children so He will give us the strength to raise them.?
- Mark‘s father said the duel edged advice of, ?You?re to goddamn stupid to go to school, learn how to work.?
- Anthony North‘s father used to say, ” If we all walked the same way, we?d never meet anyone.”
- Darla’s favorite advice is, ?Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.?
- Tink gives this advice, “Learn from the past, look at the future but focus on today!”
- Jill‘s Mom gives the seminal advice of, ?Never leave the house without your makeup on.”
- Grace in Dubai‘s favorite advice is, “It?s not how much your clothes are, it?s how you carry them.”
- She says, “Seek Balance. Find Happiness.”
- Bethanie quotes Richard Bach with, “Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they?re yours.”
- Colleen‘s husband Joe says, “You already know what you want.” She also likes “Be Yourself.”
- Laura‘s favorite advice is, ?Always remember that ?this too shall pass? and you?ll learn and grow from whatever difficulty you have just survived.?
- The other Claudia reminds us, “Don?t give up.”
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