Why Free Advice Is Free

"Let me give you a little advice, for I am not currently using it," is what you hear when a broke financial planner offers you investing advice.

Would you take free medical advice from a pump jockey at a gas station? Would you take free legal advice from your city bus driver? Would you take free career advice from someone who's been fired from every job he's ever had?

If you don't have to pay for the advice, is it worth much? It seems that once you commit to paying for something, you view the information differently.

Take a person who borrows a book from you - a book you may have gotten great value and results from by acting on the advice within. But because your friend didn't buy the book for themselves, what are the real chances of them taking the advice the same way you did?

Getting sales advice from your next door neighbor, the salesman, is different than getting sales advice from the sales trainer you are paying to help you. Getting business advice from the corner store owner on your street would probably not come with action steps like you would get from a business coach.

The same could be said of any information you pay for. In fact, there is more learning in a credit card than a Library card - if the credit card is being used to buy books, learning DVD's and seminar registrations.

If you want advice that will move you forward, be prepared to pay for it. If your organization wants to move to the next level, pay for new training. Because here's the truth: if you had the answers, you would already be achieving what you want to achieve. But since you're not where you want to be, you're obviously missing something. So you need help - good help - help that will cost you money but will give you a return on investment.

You see, the illusion of doing something isn't going to cut it anymore. Your people are too smart. If you want to build an organizational Culture of Excellence, replete with solid managers, you're going to need some outside help. Get it and get moving on it.
--
Kevin Burns - Management Attitude/Culture Strategist
http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity

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The Attitude of Accountability

Being victimized and being hurt are one in the same. Whether hard-done-by on a large scale or small scale, hurt is a part of being victimized. Being hurt is to take it personally. To be disappointed though, not so much . Disappointment only occurs when you are focused on a particular outcome.

No one ever has power over another. Every person gives up their personal choice in every single instance of being overpowered. We have the power to say no. We have the power to say yes. If we feel that we don't have a choice then we are more afraid of the consequences (of disagreeing with another person) than we are of what happens by letting someone else choose for us. In this case, someone who lets others overpower them probably has low self-esteem or a poor self-image. They NEED to be liked and will give up their power in the hopes that others will like them. Either way, it's hell.

Accountability is to simply hold the belief that everything that happens to you, you had a part in creating (decisions, choices, participation). Anything else other than believing that you had a part in what happens to you is to be victimized. You create your future - good or bad. You create your reality - good or bad. You create your results - good or bad. If you believe anything other than that, you will blame someone or something else for your circumstances and results. When you blame, you are victimized.

Going after your goals is fine. But the attainment of the goal shouldn't shut out the people in your life. If it does, you're being selfish, not accountable. Being self-absorbed is not accountable. If you have a relationship with a spouse and you ignore that relationship and it goes south and you end up divorced because you were self-absorbed with your goals - you would need to be accountable for the break-up. You attracted it. You made it happen by ignoring your spouse. That was your doing.

If you're going for the gold without thought or consideration for others, you're not going to get gold. You're going to maybe get rich - BUT LONELY. If you make agreements to be a friend, be a spouse, be a parent, be a leader and you become me-me-me focused, then you're not being accountable to the agreements you made: to be a friend, a spouse, a parent and a leader. Honestly, if you're so self-absorbed on your goals, you have no balance and I can't imagine how much fun you would be to be around.

Accountability is the "ability to account" for your actions in getting your results.