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Taking Advice: How Leaders Get Good Counsel And Use It Wisely
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Sales rank 387,967
Customers rating (based on 6 reviews)
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Leaders can find plenty of resources explaining how to give advice. But what about how to take advice? According to Dan Ciampa, too many leaders overlook this "demand side" of advice. In Taking Advice, Ciampa explains that more outside advisors than ever are offering leaders advice in increasingly costly projects. Yet as advice has become more ubiquitous, leaders have grown less satisfied with it—especially when dealing with high-stakes, unfamiliar situations that require assertive action and speed but also wise judgment. Also, leaders too often overlook help from colleagues, board members, subordinates, friends, and spouses. Good advice bridges the gap between a leader’s vision and realization of that vision. When leaders fail to solicit advice or obtain it from the wrong sources, the leader and his vision suffer. By offering the broadest perspective on advice to date, Ciampa helps you avoid this scenario. He provides a topology of advice (strategic, operational, political, personal) and defines four types of advisors (expert, experienced, sounding board, partner). He also identifies the defining characteristics of effective advice takers—illustrating them with a wealth of examples from business, the public sector, and history.
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| Publisher | Harvard Business Press | | Release date | 09/2006 | | Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours | | Edition | Hardcover |
| | List price | $26.95 | | Our price | $26.95 | | Used price | from $0.01 |
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 Listening to good advice
Few leaders know how to make the most of the advice which they receive, according to Don Ciampa in this book. It is an unusual topic for a book on leadership, but it addresses an issue which should be of interest to all good leaders. As Proverbs 15:22 says, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."
Through numerous illustrations and scenarios, the book illustrates how good leaders fail as advice takers, some fundamental principles of advice taking, the differences between strategic, operational, political and personal advice, and the differences between expert, experienced, sounding-board and partner advisers. Towards the end of the book the author concludes that there are three specific success factors for unlocking the full potential of advice:
* Find and use the right advisers before you need them.
* Give your advisers access to your schedule and to your thinking.
* Take on the responsibilities that are yours alone. Don't expect your advisers to do what only you can do.
Whilst I did not find the book to be the amongst the most compelling books on leadership and organisational management that I have read, I thought that it did a reasonable job of covering one specific area which is not often considered sufficiently - the area of choosing and using advisers well - and for that reason I recommend it.
Good counterpart to Gerald M. Weinberg
From a consulting perspective, Gerald M. Weinberg's "The Secrets of Consulting" is a classic on how to effectively dispense advice to clients. And as great a work as it is (see my review), its inclusion of "Getting Advice" in its subtitle is a bit misleading since it concentrates on how to provide rather than receive advice from colleagues and other professionals. I think "Taking Advice" helps complete the picture of this two-way relationship. Ciampa's focus on "How Leaders Get Good Counsel and Use it Wisely" is well-maintained throughout the text, and it is a very quick read, focusing mainly on the practice of seeking advice rather than the theory, although chapter 3 on "A New Framework for Advice Taking" might be a bit theoretical for some readers. The flow of thought from chapter to chapter is excellent. Even the preface is worth reading, as it describes, albeit briefly, insights from the author's experience on the supply side of consulting (including some interesting thoughts on early consultancies), as well as the demand side. Starting with this preface, the discussion develops into identifying why even experienced leaders continue to need advice (as well as why this is a natural and expected aspect of business), and why there are inadequacies on both the supply side and demand side of the "help paradox". Ciampa includes a liberal amount of case studies as the book progresses, which help bridge the gap between the points he is trying to make and successful application of his advice. Chapters 4 and 5 elegantly marry the theoretical and the practical, achieved through interesting case studies which explain types of advice (strategic, operational, political, and personal) and kinds of advisers (expert, experienced, sounding-board, and partner). The reader is encouraged to seek a balanced advice network that combines a mix of advisers for the type of advice being sought. The last two chapters focus on the attitudes and behavior of the advice taker that also include a discussion on why listening is still a key success factor. Ciampa effectively provides material for anyone in the business world seeking more insight into the demand side of advice.
 Excellent Advice
This book is written for leaders who can often find themselves insulated and isolated. The bunker mentality is not generally conducive to good decision making, by the way.
Ciampa says that every leader should be an advice taker. And, different situations call for different kinds of advice. But all good advice takers share these characteristics:
* Skilled advice takers are deliberate in choosing the best type of help and in constructing a network of advisers.
* They manage that network actively, putting it high on their list of priorities.
* They work at building good relationships. To derive the most help from their advisers, they understand that they must take feedback without becoming defensive and, above all, listen with understanding.
* They seek advice and counsel quickly when faced with situations that can affect their plans. They also involve their advisers early in anticipating hindrances.
Every good advice taker has to be a good listener. It's important to be brave enough to select folks as advisers who are not "yes-men" -- and then listen, actually listen, to what is being said. Especially if it's not what you want to hear. That's leadership, regardless of your job title. That's also being open to growth and learning.
Hands-on counsel about getting the most from good advice.
Leaders must be accountable for their decisions, but the best leaders do not make the most important decisions alone. The right advice is a key condition for success, however, even the best advice will not be useful if the leader is not adept at using it. In this to-the-point book, author Dan Ciampa provides a unique service: a clear, practical framework for making the most of help from both inside and outside your organization, including selecting the right advisers and shaping a balanced advice network. We highly recommend this groundbreaking book for its usefulness and insights to every leader or aspiring leader...and that's advice you can take.
A GEM OF A BOOK ON A QUINTESSENTIAL TOPIC FOR LEADERSHIP SUCCESS!
As management consultants in organization and compensation, as well as management book reviewers, we are all-too keenly aware that the achilles heal of leaders is very often, their inability to seek, get and properly use good advice.This book addresses this need, by presenting critical, to-the-point insights into this quintessential leadership subject. To do so, it offers a framework for advice taking and an understanding of the attributes of great advice taking.
The core propositions of the author are:
1) actionable, timely and sustainable advice is essential to achieve organizational change;
2) it is the leader's responsibility to identify needs for advice and choose and use advisors wisely, and;
3) leaders must achieve the appropriate mindset to be good advice takers and master the skills to take maximum advantage of advice given them.
Among the nuggets in this book are rules and fundamental principles of advice taking, the four types of advice, and the attributes and abilities of a skilled advice taker. The book offers important insights into a subject that may seem a blatantly obvious dimension of leadership, but is often neglected, poorly understood, and taken for granted.
This book is a very important contribution to the essential literature on leadership. We highly recommended it all who are, or strive to become, leaders.
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