The 5 Areas of Advice

Some advice is good, some neutral, and some is just downright awful.

July 13, 2022

We all receive advice throughout the day. Some is good, some neutral, some downright awful.

As leaders, sorting and filtering this advice is often our greatest challenge. Some who offer it may have good intentions, while others are more self-motivated and simply want their voices heard.

But when we lead, it's crucial for us to understand the difference between listening and filtering advice. Sure, we need to listen intently, but we also need to understand how to accept and process their words. Advice should be broken down into five areas:

  1. MOTIVE

  2. PERSONALIZATION

  3. BIAS 

  4. PROOF

  5. CONTEXT

When it comes to Motive, ask the following questions:

  • Why is this person telling me this? Dig deep in to understanding the motive.

  • Are they genuinely concerned about the organization or themselves?

  • Are they just venting about a personal frustration or regret?

  • Do they have the best interest of the organization at heart?

When it comes to Personalization, ask the following questions:

  • How well does this person know my personality/strengths/interests/values?

  • Does this person know my decision making process?

  • How well does this person completely understand the current circumstances?

When it comes to Bias, ask the following question:

  • From what core beliefs is this person speaking? Do I agree with him/her?

  • Is this person aware of opposing views than the one(s) they’re proposing?

  • How rational and objective of a thinker is this person? Do they usually make logical sense?

  • Does this person balance using their brain as well as their heart?

  • What blind spot(s) are this person pointing out to me?

When it comes to Proof, ask the following questions:

  • Has this person applied their own advice successfully?

  • Do they generally make well thought-out decisions in their life?

  • Has this person proven to be successful over their career?

Finally, we need to Contextualize their advice by asking a simple question:

  • Would this person’s advice be better suited to sometime in the past or the future instead?

Asking these questions will help us sort through the advice — and allow us to better understand the people behind it.