Advice on Advice
Advice has been on my mind lately. Maybe because financial advisors are in the advice industry. This newsletter is a bit off-topic, so feel free to skip it if you are looking for more of my investing cock-ups. We will be back to regular programming next time.
When I was a younger professional, one of my favorite bosses gave me some advice on advice. It was early enough in my corporate career to meaningfully impact how I viewed advice from colleagues. I thought I would pass it along so it could help you too. Although the conversation that day was long and windy, what he told me was short and to the point:
90% of the advice you receive in your career will be unsolicited.
100% of the unsolicited advice will be: “Be more like me!”
I’ve carried this wisdom about advice with me for over twenty years. Any time I get advice or feedback, I automatically filter it through those two observations. Let’s dive into this more deeply.
90% of the advice you receive in your career will be unsolicited
I may dispute the percentage, but I’ve seen this to be true. Most of the feedback I’ve received from my career was unsolicited. Kind natured, “Hey, can I give you some feedback on that meeting?” or “What were you thinking when you sent that e-mail?” People’s motivation in offering you advice ranges all over the map. Maybe they are upset by something you’ve said. Maybe they didn’t understand it. Sometimes it is meant positively. But I have found that unsolicited advice is less likely to be positive. I find myself saying more, “I’m not ready to take any feedback on that yet. Can we do it some other time?”
One thing I learned about getting feedback on how I could improve: I had to ask for it. And crucially, I had to ask for it positively and constructively. Ask your boss, “What did you think of my presentation?” After you deliver it might or might not yield some great points. I found a more productive strategy was to say “Hey, I’d like to hear your feedback on my presentation. What went well, and what could I improve? Do you mind if I set up a 30-minute meeting to review?” I would proactively look to get solicited advice and avoid the unsolicited.
100% of the unsolicited advice will be: “Be more like me!”
Most of the time, when people offer unsolicited advice, they are trying to tell you how they would have done it. It sounds selfish. But once you understand the lens through which people are delivering the advice, it makes it much more helpful. When I was early in my career, I was a terrible public speaker. Unfortunately, I did it. Lots. I used to get upset when people would offer me unsolicited advice on how I could improve. Once I adopted the two-step advice framework, I immediately stopped getting upset about feedback. They were just talking about how they would do it. Were they a good public speaker? Could I relate to their style? If yes, then I would search their words for some nugget that would help me. If no, I could discard the advice and not feel bad.
This is helpful to me when reading about investing topics too. Here is a hypothetical discussion about investment research:
Extrovert Investor: You need to get out and meet with the companies you invest in.
Introvert Investor: You need to read 500 pages per day.
Extrovert: I talk to management. You can’t understand their motivation until you can look them in the eye.
Introvert: I read the company presentation and transcripts in detail. If management makes a claim, I expect it to show up in the numbers.
Extrovert: Knowledge compounds!
Introvert: Knowledge compounds!
Or something like that. Understanding that most advice is “Be like me!” is a good filter for determining if it is useful for you.
What about the other 10%?
The other 10% of advice is solicited advice. I found that mentorship was the best model in the professional world. Being either a mentee, mentor, or preferably both is an excellent way to make advice constructive and actionable. I think of it as structured advice-giving. I had a mentor that I met with during my early professional career. During one coffee meeting, he noticed that the same issue came up for several sessions. He pressed me on why I hadn’t addressed it, somewhat testily. I admitted to being afraid. He shared some insights on dealing with fear in a professional setting. I remember being inspired by his talk. I doubt this discussion would have happened in an unsolicited advice-giving conversation.
I’m sure psychologists would find flaws in my simple advice model. I have found them helpful over the years. Hopefully, they will work for you as well. And if not, don’t worry; it was unsolicited advice.