Entrepreneurs: You Can Only Take People As Far As You Have Gone Yourself
Author: Gary Whitehill
It’s true what they say: no one person really knows EVERYTHING.
Then there is the saying about people who know a little about a lot of things. However, this does not make one an expert by any stretch of the imagination.
Recently, I read an article entitled “Be Careful Who You Listen To” on a blog from James Malinchak, a gentleman and fellow entrepreneur I know from several years ago when we were in a speakers training weekend course. I enjoyed reading his article which he posted in a group I subscribe to on LinkedIn.
I decided to comment on his link with these words:
“Here’s one of my own famous sayings: ‘You can only take someone else as far as you have gone yourself.’ As a best-selling award winning author and an award-winning freelance writer, I take authors and writers to the same level of success I have enjoyed five times… because I’ve experienced it. Especially with authors: one must have personal experience with the aspects you choose to coach and consult others on because you have to know what it FEELS like to be them in order to truly offer great guidance and support.
If you are just talking theory and concept, you’ll never really be able to connect with the author’s experience. It’s just not available to you unless you’ve done it yourself first.”
Then I added another comment where I said:
“It is a privilege to be an author. It is an even bigger one and a joy to help others become one — especially when you know what it feels like every step of the way.
Every service I offer is because someone asked me to provide it based on my own experience. They said to me: ‘You know how to do that so well. Why not help other authors and writers so they can do that too?’ So I created a service around each one and offer my experience and insight to others with pleasure.
Even my radio show is something that I didn’t pitch. Someone asked me to do it. After I agreed, I crafted the format so industry professionals and authors could cross educate the entire book publishing community through the show alongside me so together we can all learn from one another’s experiences.”
Then James responded by adding:
“You bring up great point Jennifer. I too started out working really hard and learning how to speak and make good money in the college speaking market. Then people starting asking me how I did it. Coaching started not because I wanted to be a coach, instead because people began asking.
The other area I didn’t mention that I feel is also an issue is that sometimes people stop doing what they are coaching about and end up becoming out dated. Thanks for your kind words!”
The true expert and real teacher knows that you can only take another person as far as you have gone yourself.
If you haven’t done it, lived through it, experienced it, skinned your knees a bit and made mistakes along the way, the type of coaching or consulting you’re left with to offer to others is merely theory and a conceptual understanding of what the person who hired you is experiencing.
I choose to provide services that people ask me to offer. They see me do something and then they ask me if I can help them do it too. Of course I can help them – more importantly, I want to. I’m willing to take time away from what I’m working on personally to be paid to bring my time, knowledge, wisdom and experience to someone else so they can get a real person like me who has done exactly what it is they want to do to help them. And I’m happy and excited to do it since I’m doing what I love and making a difference for every life that that one person I helped is going to touch.
That’s meaningful for me as a true teacher and trainer. You see, it’s just as much of an investment for me in you when you hire me to work with you as the investment you make with your time, energy and money to hire me to help you.
If you are someone who is looking to hire someone to help you, take my advice: seek out those who have gone before you and done what it is you want to do. To get hands-on help from someone like that is rare and you’ll probably pay a premium price for it.
But realize that the investment you make could mean a lot less theory and concept and a whole lot more practical and productive guidance.
As the old saying goes: success leaves clues.
Those who are successful entrepreneurs AND are willing to take time out from their own projects are true teachers who understand the value of their own time and energy – and yours.
Seek out the sages who have skinned a knee or two and yet are still standing strong in their success. After all, we can only take you as far as we have gone ourselves.
You Can Do It!
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