Don’t take advice from someone who won’t tell it to you straight
If you have been on other areas of my site, you probably know about my Spinach In Your Teeth philosophy and the importance of giving and receiving the straight truth.
I have had a couple of conversations recently that have really shocked me into realizing how many advisors and people of influence are giant pussies. I have been talking a lot about the current state of entrepreneurship with so many new businesses failing and so many businesses failing to succeed and how we need to help entrepreneurs stack the odds in their favor before pursuing new businesses. Here was the response from two pussies:
Pussy #1, Publisher at a Major Publishing House: His response to the fact that so many businesses fail was, “Well, that’s true, but the market does a good job at weeding those people and businesses out”. Well no duh, Mr. Publisher, up to 90% fail within five years- that’s the point. So, Mr. Publisher would rather see you waste your time, money and effort and let the market weed you out than give you tools to succeed up front. Nice (insert sarcastic voice here).
Pussy #2, Public Relations Specialist: Her response to our discussion was, “You are right, business ownership isn’t a good path for so many people. But I wouldn’t have the heart to discourage anybody.” Seriously? So, if your friend was riding his motorcycle without a helmet, you wouldn’t have the heart to tell him he might crack his head open because he enjoys the wind in his hair? Ms. Publicist would also rather see you fail than give you some straight talk and tools to succeed because that conversation is uncomfortable for her.
As you can tell, I am pissed off about the whole thing. But the bottom line for you, my friends, is to make sure you aren’t surrounding yourself with people who just want to smile and/or blow smoke up your ass. A lot of Americans did that a few years ago, which caused our economic meltdown to begin with, since mortgage consultants “didn’t have the heart” to tell people not to buy homes they couldn’t afford and “let the market weed them out”. That really worked out well, don’t you think?
Surround yourself and your business with people who are actually concerned about your success and will give you the straight spinach in your teeth feedback and resources that you deserve.
