The fallacy of giving advice

Abstract

Have you ever been micro-managed? Have you ever been told ‘to the letter’ what to do in a given situation? Or maybe as a leader you have also fallen into the trap of giving advice? We challenge the assumption that leaders should have the answer for everything. Occasionally, directing works, however, do it too often and at one point, it will turn out to be bad advice. The logical consequence is that leaders work on and increase the quality of the advice they give. We showcase that the alternative to leaders giving ‘bad’ advice is to not give advice at all. We shed light on the concept of leaders acting as coaches and how leaders can empower others to find their own answers. Specifically, we highlight four mind shifts in which leaders can engage if they want to use a coaching style: from ignoring emotions to empathy, from directing to empowering, from problem-focused to solution-focused and from weakness to strengths.