Why is giving advice important?

Seeking and giving advice are central to effective leadership and decision making. Those who give advice effectively wield soft influence—they shape important decisions while empowering others to act. As engaged listeners, they can also learn a lot from the problems that people bring them.

How do you deal with unwanted people?

Use a polite excuse to cut the conversation short.

1. Say things like, “I’m doing good, but I better get back to work now,” or, “I’m meeting someone for lunch in a few minutes.” Be polite but firm when you tell them you have to go.
2. Saying something rude or passive-aggressive will only make things worse.

Why do I feel the need to give advice?

Often, people offer advice simply because they think they can help, and they want to make your life easier. Their motives are altruistic. Consequently, they offer advice because they feel an internal pressure to provide answers.

What does it mean to give good advice?

If you give someone advice, you tell them what you think they should do in a particular situation.

Why do people give unwanted advice?

Still, a question that often comes up in this context is why people give unwanted advice. Most of the time, they’re truly trying to help. But often, although they mean well, they don’t understand the other person’s experience sufficiently to have a reasonable basis for offering advice.

Do you accept advice but do nothing with it?

Some accept the advice but do nothing with it. They never follow up, and I have noticed these people rarely succeed at accomplishing anything. They usually end up making their lives miserable instead. Then some consider the advice, think it through, and do something with it. Many people with this attitude even go beyond my suggestion.

What do you think about people who don’t take advice?

I think people who don’t take advice see their reality differently. We look at their lives with the clarity that comes from being uninvolved. They observe things as they wish it would be, and they miss what’s important.

Does giving advice make you feel more powerful?

Those who had given advice showed they felt more powerful. Two more of the studies focused on whether individuals who want to boost their power tend to give advice. These studies found that individuals who want the upper hand do in fact tend to be more loose lipped about offering guidance.