Entrepreneur

How and When to Give Advice (Hint: It's Not as Simple as You Think)

The lowdown on helping with other people's problems.
Source: Ross McCammon

The first step in giving advice is: Do not give advice. Listen instead.

The advice-seeker must establish:

1. The problem and why it’s important.

2. Possible solutions. (The seeker needs to have done at least as much work as he’s asking you to do.)

3. Why you’re appropriately positioned to help. 

“The presumption of expertise is a natural impulse. ” says David Garvin, a Harvard Business School professor and co-author of the paper “The Art of Giving and Receiving Advice.” “Unfortunately, often that’s not

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