the paradox of listening to others

Great entrepreneurs rarely change their mind yet they always change their mind.

Most people think great entrepreneurs are poor listeners with a tin ear. They think … this guy isn’t hearing me … or she is just too dogmatic.

What happens is this … great entrepreneurs do change their mind, but very slowly (unless it is extremely obvious they are wrong). So when you meet with a rock-star founder, they are probably not going to listen to your advice right away. And that’s a good thing as they are other getting conflicting advice from tons of different people … so if they listened to everyone, nothing would ever get done.

But slowly (and sometimes too slowly) the advice seeps in and they gradually change their mind (and the direction of the company).

1 thought on “the paradox of listening to others

  1. Ryan Graves

    Beautiful and succinct thought. I totally agree. If entrepreneurs changed their minds more quickly they wouldn’t be successful entrepreneurs, too many would have told them to quit.

    Reply

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