BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here
Edit Story

What's The Best Advice You've Had? (Here Are My Top 9)

NetApp

I was recently asked about the best piece of advice I’ve ever received.

It was a great question. I was stymied—not because I couldn’t think of any good advice, but because I couldn’t limit myself to just one.

The question was part of the interview for the 2015 Corporate Counsel Awards. But my problem was I was flooded with pearls of wisdom—a full necklace of great ideas.

I’d love to know yours. Here are my nine favorites:

1. Failure Is Not Fatal, But Failure To Change Might Be

(John Wooden, UCLA Men’s Basketball Coach)

Wooden knew a thing or two about managing change. He won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years—with 10 different rosters. Some say he was the greatest coach ever.

Wooden knew that fear of making mistakes causes organizational inertia. Inertia is powerful force: Change is scary.

Countless great books have been written about change and change management, but it’s the “Wizard of Westwood” who said it so elegantly in his 1997 book.

2. Nobody Cares How Much You Know Until They Know How Much You Care

(Theodore Roosevelt Jr., 26th U.S. President)

As executives and leaders, we can spend too much time immersed in data.

We establish and govern our organizations with metrics and benchmarks. We make decisions and appeal to our teams with logic. But we need to remember that everything starts with the heart.

Caring builds commitment. I’m proud and lucky to work for a company that truly, genuinely, unapologetically cares for its people.

3. The Best Way To Show Somebody You Care… Is Actually To Care

(Dave Holly, Acterna)

This is a nice corollary to the previous advice.

You can’t fake caring. You must have a genuine concern for the well-being of others, and put that concern into practice. In other words, you must build a relationship of caring.

Only then can you make real progress and build the committed team you need to win.

4. Don’t Make The Perfect The Enemy Of The Good

(Voltaire, French Enlightenment writer and philosopher)

This idea has been phrased many different ways, but the essence is the same: “Achieving absolute perfection may be impossible and so, as increasing effort results in diminishing returns, further activity becomes increasingly inefficient.” (Andrew Davidson)

Early in my career, I spent thousands of billable hours writing briefs and memoranda. Sometimes you need to tell yourself, “pencils down.” This is especially important in large enterprises, where entire organizations exist to improve business processes and, to excess, can bog us down.

Sometimes, speed is a valuable asset in itself.

5. You Have Two Ears And One Mouth—For A Reason

(Zeno of Citium, stoic philosopher who lived and taught in Athens)

Listen twice as much as you speak. It’s hard to learn when you’re the one doing all the talking.

You hired talented team members. Allow them to teach you.

And show that you value their input by listening to them.

6. You Must Do The Thing You Think You Cannot Do

(Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady and U.S. Representative to the United Nations)

I learned this quote from one of my colleagues. I hired her to create a brand new function inside our company—one that exists to challenge current assumptions.

Roosevelt is often misquoted as having said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” And the foundation of my colleague’s existence here is scary—in and of itself.

By embracing this mantra, she made the team an integral part of our success. She’s an innovator and risk taker. We learn by watching her, and we’re excited and refreshed in the watching.

7. “Omne Trium Perfectum”

(Latin maxim: ‘Everything perfect comes in threes’)

The ancient Romans got this right, in my opinion.

Everyone needs some sort of an organizing principle. Whether it’s a 2-by-2 matrix, the 80/20 rule, or EffectiveBrands’ Think-Feel-Do model, you need an approach that works for you.

For me, the list of three is it. At least three times a day I’ll find myself saying, “I have three thoughts on this.”

It’s not accidental that this article cites nine ideas—which fall into three categories (you’ll have to figure that one out yourself).

8. Never End A Sentence In A Preposition, And Other Great Grammatical Guidance

(Mr. Burdick, My English Teacher)

Typos and other written errors may betray a lack of care in other aspects of your work.

Even in a world of tweets, IMs, emoticons, and emoji, we must still find time to write correctly. You won’t be faulted for good grammar, but sloppiness offends.

Even if you think certain grammatical rules are arcane—such as preposition positioning—know that not every reader will agree with you. There are still people who hate split infinitives, for example).

And beware of unintentional typos: I’ll never forget the resume of an applicant to my team, who in his earnest desire to demonstrate the depth of his corporate experience with “shut down” processes, misspelled “shut,” turning it into offensive slang. I kid you not.

9. There Is No Such Thing As Great Writing, Only Great Re-Writing

(Ernest Hemingway, Author)

As email and direct messaging are often preferred over the telephone call, written communication remains critically important today, perhaps even more important than two decades ago.

We must write clearly and effectively. In business—particularly the legal business—words matter.

If rewriting was good enough for Hemingway, winner of a Nobel Prize for Literature, then rewriting is certainly good enough for the rest of us.

I Could Go On... But I Won’t: I Want To Hear From You

These are just some of my favorite pieces of advice.

I could fill many more columns with guidance from favorite thinkers like Peter Drucker, Ken Blanchard, Marshall Goldsmith and Stephen Covey—an inspirational Mount Rushmore. Their dog-eared and well-worn books fill my office.

But I want to know what advice you’ve found valuable. Share your pearls in the comments below.

What's your take? Weigh in with a comment below, and connect with Matt Fawcett (LinkedIn).

Now Share This (click to tweet)

What's The Best Advice You've Had? (Here Are My Top 9) ~ @NetApp_Biz

Now Read This (more from NetAppVoice)

To Build Your Career, You Must Carry The Cross (But Make Sure You Want To)

Women in Technology -- Finding and Nurturing Mentors/Advocates

The Collaborative, Transparent Lawyer

Here's Why Salespeople Need To Be Like Coaches -- Not Athletes

Read more from our talented writers

Image: © iStock.com/mattjeacock