When To Take Advice

She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah Yeah

I was listening to James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke with Paul McCartney and there was one thing that that McCartney said that really stuck with me.  He said that when John and he wrote “She Loves You”, they sang it for McCartney’s father.  He liked the song, but thought the “yeah, yeah, yeah” was too American, they should change the lyrics to “yes, yes, yes.”

What would have happened if they did take the advice to me “less American.”  That little change could have altered the history of music and could have killed The Beatles before they ever took off; sometimes life if that fragile.  And what if they listened to the advice of others, making even more changes to the core of who they wanted to be?  Of course, they did get great advice from others, but they were selective as to whom they let in their circle.

Finding your way can be tricky when do don't know who to take advice from? What would happen to your business if you let outsiders make minor tweaks to your processes and procedures? When you start your own business, plenty of people are going to have a lot of good advice for you.  Only you can take your vision and see it to fruition. Listen to others, but take advice cautiously.

Stick to your plan and follow your gut.  Be careful who you let influence you and what influences you.  Even if someone gives you great advice, you have to wonder how that will tilt your course.

When we started Colony Workplaces, we took our vision and mapped out a course of action.  Very smart people surround us; each one had a little bit of advice for us.  What color to paint a wall, how many bees to have in our logo, what we should name the company.  Each and every bit of advice we got was good advice unto itself, but we knew that collectively our path was going to be altered if we acted on everything everyone was telling us.  We had to be selective in what advice we took.  Some feelings were hurt, but we decided to do what was best for Colony Workplaces.

I’m with McCarney’s father, I like “yes, yes, yes.”  That’s why I run office space and I stay away from the music industry.

When finding your way, you need to follow your gut, don’t be afraid to upset someone close to you because they want to “help you.” Only you know what is best for your company.

We making finding your way a lot easier.  If you are looking for a place to surround yourself with likeminded business professionals that might be a positive influence on your business, come thrive in the hive!