What’s the Best Advice You Ever Got?
I subscribe to Fortune magazine for two issues: “Fortune 500″ and “Best Advice I Ever Got.” From this year’s issue, I love what Sam Palmisano , Chairman and CEO, IBM has to say.
Some of the best advice I ever received was unspoken. Over the course of my IBM career I’ve observed many CEOs, heads of state, and others in positions of great authority. I’ve noticed that some of the most effective leaders don’t make themselves the center of attention. They are respectful. They listen. This is an appealing personal quality, but it’s also an effective leadership attribute. Their selflessness makes the people around them comfortable. People open up, speak up, contribute. They give those leaders their very best.
I have to agree. I have learned best by watching my mentors at their best. I have seen them: “take one for the team;” know the difference between an incident and a pattern at review time; roll up their sleeves and lick envelopes while on the phone with CNN; and, best of all, give credit when credit it due.
What’s the best advice you ever got?
Another great piece of advice, on the organization side, comes from David Allen’s book Getting Things Done: if it can be done in 2 minutes or less, do it now. It’s amazing how often we put off the simpler tasks, and then forget them later in the day.
Here’s two bits of advice I heard:Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut. You’ll probably learn something.Outside of billing time, if you make everything easier attorneys do to serve their clients, you’ll be very successful.The first piece came from my Dad and the second from a Managing Partner I worked with at my first law firm job. Both have served me well over the course of my career (although keeping my mouth shut has proved harder over time
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One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from a Senior Assoicate at a law firm I worked at in New York. She said to always keep in contact with everyone you’ve ever worked for, even if it’s just a holiday card once a year, you never know when you may be relieved you kept that channel open. Then again, she had her secretary send all her cards out….hmmm….