I no longer give “free advice” online about entrepreneurship and business-building. It’s not that I want to keep secrets. It’s simply a matter of leveraging good timing.
- The best advice @ the wrong time = a distraction or simply a good-to-know
- The best advice @ the right time = rainbows made of gold
As I’ve come alongside more fabulous entrepreneurs, I’ve learned that I need major discipline and patience to make the our limited time together about them, and not about me. I must resist the temptation to share *everything* that’s relevant, and instead, only share what’s most relevant.
While I may have one more great story, quote, article, nugget of wisdom to share, sometimes, in the art of coaching, I wait until the timing is even better.
I used to take the shotgun approach. Read this book. Listen to that podcast. Let me share this one story. See what sticks. Now, I find myself preferring the sniper gun. Sometimes, I am too concerned about my “productivity” in relaying great information, when it’s the entrepreneur’s transformation and effectiveness that really matters.
Don’t get me wrong, I still write up my advice in the form of a blog post. But now, I save it as a PDF document. With a growing collection of advice/strategy documents ready to be shared at a moment’s notice, I send our entrepreneurs the exact PDF they need, usually after a great meeting when the timing has lined up.