Unleash the Full Potential of Your Network: How to Get the Best Advice
Quality Advice
Years ago, when I was first beginning my career in banking I asked a mentor-like friend for career advice. He was a fantastic person and really intelligent but what I got was a whole bunch of, at the time, useless ‘advice’.
He told me the usual basic advice like: “work as hard as you can”, “dress for the job you want, not the one you have”, “always show up to meetings early”, and more like this. Now, these are probably good pieces of advice but not that amazing.
What I got was generic advice that everyone gets and probably already knows.
The Secret
Getting good advice comes down to one specific question.
“If you could give just 2 pieces of advice on {blank}, what would that be?”
What this does is solicit a specific and top-quality response from the other party. It forces the person to distill ALL of their advice down to just two items.
Rules to remember when asking for advice.
- Ask only those that can be completely objective.
If you only go to your boss for advice, well you’re probably going to get advice that benefits him/her as well. If you ask a competitor, then you’re probably going to get advice that hurts you. You ask a parent and you get the point.
Ask someone that cannot benefit from giving you advice. If you have to pay for it then perfect.
2. Get advice from someone that admits their mistakes.
Advice from those who’ve made mistakes tends to be the best advice you can receive. This is because they’ve applied their advice and everything, at first, sounds great on paper.
3. Make sure you are getting advice and not instructions.
You want advice that will help you decide on your own, not just instructions on what exactly to do. Your situation is guaranteed to be slightly different than the “advisors” so make sure to chew on it a little.
4. Advice isn’t always advisable.
Sometimes advice is complaints and comes from a place of fear or resentment. Try to solicit advice from generally positive people. We all have something we have the right to be angry about but negativity doesn't help anyone.
*Bonus* Super Timetravel Hack
Every time I start in a new position I ask this question to the top 3 performers in that department, field, or industry. I’ve asked this question to all of my mentors. I ask this question even in settings where I’m working on a project on topics like Resilience, Empowerment, Growth, etc.
This question can be applied to all situations.
Use it liberally and continuously.
Use it humbly.
