#12 Lunch and Learn: How the people you admire can help you boost your business, silently.
Written by Julia Bickerstaff // March 8, 2012 // Daily Juice // No comments
Questions you’d like to ask the people who you admire
Why it works
There’s a website called ‘Thought questions” and it’s tag line is ‘Asking the right question is the answer’.
It’s a neater version of the phrase “We have the answers, it’s the questions we don’t know” .
And isn’t it true?
Have you ever been asked a random question about your business which has left you both speechless and thoughtful?
In business, we rarely spend good thinking-time on the questions we should ask. So we don’t get the benefit of the answers.
What you do
I met an amazing lady today: Julie Thomas, a designer. She runs a profitable, sizeable, ballsy business. Solo.
She told me the story of how many years ago she met Richard Branson.
He was on his own, in a lift. (Sounds like a fairy tale, but it’s true! She was in New York, had her room in a hotel upgraded because of an issue and he happened to be in the suite next door).
She seized the moment, told him a bit about her business and asked him a question.
The (stunningly simple) question was: “Can you give me one business tip?’.
The reply :“Use contractors for everything”.
And that’s exactly what she did!
Julie’s story reminded me of a terrific tip. It’s about imagining you get to ask the people you most admire a question about your business.
- Name the six people you most admire in business
- Write* down the one question you would ask each of them?
- Now write down why you would ask that person that particular question
- Finally, write down what you think they would say.
Funnily enough, by contemplating what to ask and articulating what you think the answer would be, you are often able to answer the question yourself.
It’s all about asking the questions.
* These things are always better done in writing. Something to do with the way our quirky brains work
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