There’s enough career and how-to-be-successful advice to fill a stadium. It goes back decades; some is out of date in a digital world, but the best stuff isn’t.

• The lesson: Go in with big eyes, big ears, and most importantly don’t be a jerk.
• You can be the most talented and skilled at your job, but if people don’t like you, your success will be limited.

Such was the advice that was given to Corey Burns 12 years ago by a mentor.

He recently gave it to a colleague and it’s just as relevant now as it was then.

It’s also one of the true pearls of wisdom that, if we are paying attention, we each collect in the course of our lives.

The best advice, such as this, is so simple it can be offered in less than two minutes and understood almost instantly. (Click the link for a detailed explanation.)

But practicing it seems to be the biggest obstacle for a lot of people.

Watch, listen, don’t be a jerk.

• Make it your mantra; the thought that guides your words and actions;
• surround yourself with like-minded people; and
• avoid those who scoff and do the opposite, especially in the workplace.

Simple.

So, as Nike would say, just do it.

Image credit: Aaron Gustafson

As I said in June, Wally Bock is my hero.

The stuff he writes is loaded with common sense and practicality.

Best of all, his advice to bosses can be implemented at any level in an organization by individual bosses.

He’s also one heck of a writer, which, in my mind, moves him from gold to platinum.

I’ve added this post from last week to my collection of all-time favorites.

Minims for Bosses

Merriam Webster defines a “maxim” as “a well-known phrase that expresses a general truth about life or a rule about behavior.” Minims are different.

Minims aren’t well known. They don’t express a general rule about life. They’re not big important truths, just little things that will help you do a better job as a boss. Each minim is a one or two sentence distillation of a tip in my forthcoming ebook, Become a Better Boss One Tip at a Time. Here are a dozen.

• The best way to “empower” competent and willing team members is to get out of their way.
• Power isn’t something you bestow. It’s something you unleash.
• Mistakes are the price you pay for better performance in the future.
• Most performance issues are not self-healing. If you leave them alone, they will usually go from bad to worse.
• Sugar-coating legitimate criticism robs it of nutritional value.
• Creativity lives in those cracks in your schedule.
• The example you set determines the behavior you get.
• When you’re silent, you can listen and when you listen you can learn.
• Distrust the abstract.
• Most of your team members, most of the time, only need suggestions and informal direction.
• If you mess up, fess up and fix it.
• Great ideas are everywhere and the best way to find out if they work is to try them out.

As I said, clear, pithy, doable advice and, if you take a step back, solid common sense.

Of course, it only works if you’re willing to check your ego at the door and sit on your dignity.

Want to empower your team (spouse, kids, friends, others)?

Try channeling billionaire Marc Benioff, cofounder and CEO of Salesforce.com.

When someone shares a problem, skip the advice.

Ask leading questions instead.

The kinds that help the person think through the effects, reactions and repercussions of proposed actions/solutions.

Questions that don’t include what/why/when/how you would do whatever.

The secret isn’t the questions, it’s the fact that Benioff isn’t directing the answers, isn’t even interested in having an opinion and getting his way. He’s also not interested in solving the problem for his employee.

Leading questions sans ego help clarify both the question and the answer.

Amazing how empowering interaction with an authority figure can be when that person gets off their dignity and doesn’t need to vest their own ego in the solution.

Flickr image credit: Rich Anderson

I apologize if this insults any of you, but I find a good deal of humor in the idea that the best answers come from peers.

Peers who most often have similar backgrounds and experiences as the person asking the question—here’s a great example.

Without much effort I can think of dozens of places to ask about working in a startup that would offer better information than peers who not only haven’t worked in a startup, but are lacking much, if any, post-school work experience.

It’s a classic case of the blind leading the blind.

New entrepreneurs often indulge in this kind of behavior.

Although they reach out and listen to highly successful entrepreneurs and investors, their actions frequently follow the advice they get from peers.

Quick story, short version. I’d been acting as an occasional sounding board for “Jerrod.” He called last summer in a quandary; several experienced entrepreneurs and investors had suggested that he pivot his company in a different direction, not a total change, but different from what he originally envisioned.

Jerrod was loathe to change and when he discussed it with other entrepreneurs several encouraged him to stay with his original vision and said his passion would carry him though, while a few felt that the advisory types probably had good reason for what they said.

Jerrod asked what I thought and after hearing everything I agreed with the need for a pivot.

That wasn’t the answer he wanted and he informed me that none of us really understood his vision and he was sticking with the original plan.

I haven’t heard from Jerrod since, but I’ve heard from others that his company is struggling.

I’ve also seen that two companies occupying his “pivot space” were recently funded and knowing the investment community there may be others.

Why? Especially with all the solid information and help available do some entrepreneurs put themselves and their babies, I mean companies, in harms way by following the advice of entrepreneurs with a similar depth of experience and knowledge, while others listen, process, and act on the advice of people whose knowledge was hard-won and who carry the startup scars to prove it.

Flickr image credit: gerbisson