I’ve been doing a lot of business growing and reorganizing lately
So I’ve been chatting with a few advisors to help me work on it.
(Which may make some of my clients chuckle -
We advisors need advisors too!
The universe is really just advisors all the way down
But I digress... )
Anyway, this week I was sitting on an intro call with a fellow I recently met here in NYC
They had so much to say...
About how I could fix my business.
How I could run it like they did theirs.
How the solutions were easy.
How I could make so much more money.
What they didn’t do-
Was Listen.
To anything I actually said about my firm.
(Especially the stuff that didn't match the coaching program they were selling :-/ )
Here’s the thing:
I’m sure they know SO MUCH about how to run a firm,
About how to maximize for their business objectives.
But those objectives aren’t mine.
Their situation isn’t mine.
Their talents aren't mine.
Their challenges aren't mine.
So I just left the call feeling like I'd wasted 30 minutes.
As a buyer, the question I left with wasn't, "Is this person worth their price?"
It was, “Can I squeeze anything useful out of that conversation?”
I’ve been a consultant for much of my career.
But when I think about the advisors I strive to emulate—
Most of them aren’t business consultants at all.
Most are actually psychotherapists (Esther Perel & Orna Guralnik ❤️)
And radio hosts (Terry Gross ❤️)
Even as I grow my own fledgling podcasting career,
I think I can feel myself becoming a better advisor because of it.
Because learning to be a good interviewer teaches you how to listen.
To what someone is actually saying
To what they’re afraid of
What they value
What excites them
What they hate
Where they’ve been
Where they want to go next
It’s actually made me a little extra suspicious of advisors who lead with “I’ve done it before.”
Because that doesn't make them the host -
It makes them the guest.
The person with a lot of interesting answers.
Their answers.
Not necessarily yours.
Sometimes “done it before” just means running the same playbook.
But what got you there
Won’t necessarily get your clients where they want to go next.
If you want to help others shine,
You have to close your playbook for a minute.
And you have to just
Listen.
Enjoyed reading this article? Subscribe to receive more via email here.
Know a Founder or Entrepreneur who'd love this content? Please share it!
