Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Jim Leyland of the Detriot Tigers was recently asked if he listens to the advice that the fans so readily give on talk shows, newspaper columns, and sports message boards. He said that he mananges for the fans.... not with the fans and that a manager that manages as advised by the fans soon becomes a fan.

I enjoyed his comments because they speak to leadership.....however on the flip side of the coin they got me to thinking about all of the advice we as entrepreneurs receive as well. And while we as owners of our businesses are the ultimate decision makers we can`t just ignore all of the advice.

So my question is (I knew you were asking so whats the question Steve?) how do you select which advice to listen to and which to ignore? How do you make sure that you are not listening to those that only tell you what you want to hear?

Anyway would be interested in your opinions.

Thanks

Steve

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Peersight, the Nation`s first e-enabled CEO Membership organization for Small Business. http://www.peersightonline.com None of us is as smart as all of us. Come watch us grow at http://blog.peersightonline.com

I listen to everyone--at first.  If I have a question about something, I`ll ask as many people as I can and take in all their thoughts and opinions.  Getting outside opinions from people who don`t know you is extremely helpful because it makes you think of things you never would have thought about on your own.

I have a core group of people including my parents, my best friend, and my old boss/mentor who`s opinions have the most weight with me.  These are the people that I know have my best interest at heart and they are the first to tell me that my idea isn`t a good one or if it is a great one.

I try to ignore negative people in general...not people who criticize me and my ideas, but people who are unhappy and criticize everything.  The kind of people who hate to see others succeed...

At the end of the day I listen to my gut.  :)

I listen to the people who tell it like it is to me as well as offer me encouragement.   I can`t remember what Martha Stewart calls them in her book MARTHA`S RULES, but she said anyone who agrees with EVERY idea you put out there is not your "friend".  You need someone who will tell you, "That`s CRAZY" when you come up with something that`s not going to work.  People who give you the "thumbs up" for every crazy idea you throw out there are not really helping you.  I want someone to discuss and throw out all the pros and cons with me to help me see it from their non-emotionally involved perspective. 

I just spent the week at a trade show in Las Vegas with one of my best business advocates and friends.  She and I can talk frankly about just about everything.  We pick each other`s brains, kill ideas, come up with ideas and bounce off of each other like crazy.  We`re not in business with each other... yet!  We`re actually like oil and vinegar since she is 100% digital scrapping in her business and I focus on the tactile scrapbooking aspects of the industry.  But, we are very real with each other and help each other in many ways. 

~Kim 

It comes down to an informed opinion versus uninformed. After that, the old Harry Truman thing, "the buck stops here." A manager, generally, is someone who puts into place strategies developed by an executive.

There`s a difference between a strategy and tactics. The strategy is the overall goal to be accomplished in some conceptual way. The tactics are the moment-by-moment specifics of implementing that strategy.

It`s a bit different in sports teams, because the manager is the executive decision-maker (setting aside the owners). Although I`m not a sports afficianado, I suspect there`s also the assistant manager, who`s actually the formal realization of "manager." It`s confusing, so I just focus on strategy and tactics.

I`m always open to suggestions on tactics, but I have a very few select people with whom I discuss strategy. And I know that ultimately, I`m the decision-maker. So after I`ve listened, determined who has an informed opinion, differentiated between tactical and strategic suggestions, then I decide and act.

History is what I most often pay attention to, though. So it`s not really a "who," but a what....or a how?

I thought you might like to see this. In addition to posting the question for this thread....Who Do You Listen To? Or is it Whom Do You Listen To? Anyway I posted this question on several other forums....to get the best combined wisdom on this very challenging issue.

I have posted a summary of the themes that ran through all of the posts and the urls of each of the other forums on our blog. You can find it at all at http://blog.peersightonline.com/. Good stuff

Thanks to all of you who commented...thus far.....or is it this far.

Enjoy

Steve

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Peersight, the Nation`s first e-enabled CEO Membership organization for Small Business. http://www.peersightonline.com None of us is as smart as all of us. Come watch us grow at http://blog.peersightonline.com

 

  Hi Steve,

   This is Tom from YoParts. Funny we keep bumping into each other on forums.  I am looking forward to my first Peersight Advisory board meeting.  I will be posting a thread regarding it after.

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God Bless, Tom www.YoParts.com

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God Bless, Tom www.YoParts.com

Tom

Good to see you out here and run into you again. I am delighted that you are part of PeerSight and I too am looking forward to Tuesday`s kick off board meeting.

The group is a good group of ambitious growth oriented small business leaders. I think you`ll add a lot of value as well as get a lot of value from them.

I know that this thread is not about PeerSight or peer advisory boards but I am always amazed at the collective wisdom that is found when ever a group of people like this gets together. Anyway talk to you on Tuesday.

Steve 

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Peersight, the Nation`s first e-enabled CEO Membership organization for Small Business. http://www.peersightonline.com None of us is as smart as all of us. Come watch us grow at http://blog.peersightonline.com