Leaders don't need more opinions and advice

I watched a business owner sit quietly while four people told him how to run his company

Everyone had an opinion and knew what's the right play, and they were certain about it.
His partner, the tortured genius on his team, his father, everyone.

Leaders don't need more opinions and advice
There's no shortage of those

It's magical how everyone is sure how you should run your business.
There's a flood of input.

So here's what I learned about being useful to someone in leadership position.

Most people will try to prove they belong, that they're worthy. They add their voice, louder and better dressed.
Each one wants the most airtime and just waits for his turn to talk, instead of listen.

Most ppl just give more advice and make the pile heavier, bigger.

9 out of 10 times leaders don't need a better opinion, they already have a stack of good ones. What's missing is someone to help clear the pile, sort through it and keep only the necessary stuff. Make the pile lighter.

That's the work. Not more answers. Fewer.

Cut the noise down to the one thing that actually moves the business this week, and give them permission to ignore the other thirty-nine for now. Protect their attention, which is the single most valuable and most attacked resource, so that the owner can hear himself think for an hour.

When you do that, a leader can stop managing the crowd of voices in his head and free himself up to start running his business again.

That is the difference between an advisor and one more person to manage.

One adds to your load and calls it value.
The other makes the load lighter and lets the results prove the point.

Most days my job is to make the pile smaller. That's it.