The Art of Asking for Advice: Affirmation or Advice?
Transcript:
If you want the best experience when seeking other people’s opinions, start by asking yourself: What am I REALLY looking for here? Advice or Affirmation? I’m Dan Hansen and this is a Minute at RepcoLite.
Really asking for advice means you're seriously interested in the feedback from the other person and fully intend to consider implementing what they recommend. It means you know you don’t have the answers and you’re looking for some help.
A lot of the time, asking for advice is really just a sly way of asking for affirmation. We've done something or intend to do something we think is smart and we ASSUME the other person will agree. This will reinforce our thoughts, stroke our egos, you name it. However people are unpredictable! And often, they have a different opinion than we expected and instead of affirmed, we feel criticized.
Know what you're asking for before you ask. And if it's just affirmation, it's probably better to not seek it. However, if you're really looking for another opinion and are willing to adjust your plans based on the feedback, then go ahead and ask! We’ll keep going with this tomorrow. I’m Dan Hansen and that’s a Minute at RepcoLite.
