Great ideas come in humble packages

In the early 1300's Robert the Bruce found him self fleeing once again from the English. If they were to catch him then death would certainly be his fate. The weather was good for Scotland and the long days of summer would afford the English plenty of daylight to track him.
Robert stopped at a Blacksmith and requested a fresh horse, he was in a hurry, no time! He knew exactly what he wanted and he just wanted the Blacksmith to meet this request. But this Blacksmith wanted to do more, he had an idea, he had an understanding of the issue and a unique solution to it. Would this heir to the Scottish throne listen or would he simply say "I am the King, do as you are told, stop bothering me,etc,etc.....
In the world of business I am amazed by the astounding number of Presidents, CEO's and Owners that will not take advice from others. Let me clarify that, they will take advice when they decide they want it, when they ask for it, they seek it out, they determine who and when the advice is given, however they will not listen to "unsolicited" advice. Why not?
Many times the "unsolicited" advice is the best because you are getting clued in on something before the competitors. You might be able to get a better understanding of how a new technology will change the way your industry does business and thereby make plans to adjust early. You might be able to keep your current vendors honest or validate their performance. You might discover a way to cut costs, increase performance or customer satisfaction. You will have a more objective view of what is presented because you are not considering the option in a time of crisis with a "have to do something" mentality. With all these benefits one might ask, why the resistance?
The resistance has to do with fact that most often "unsolicited" advice comes from salespeople(blacksmiths) and business leaders set themselves up as "Kings". The results of this from my perspective are quite amazing. I often come in contact with a growing, thriving and forward moving company with great people and high margins and I know that getting to speak with a CEO here will be easier than other companies, the people are not rude and secretive ("we don't give out names") there are no "No Soliciting" signs ( an albatross that so many business's think will somehow protect them from advice but of course does nothing- more on that in an upcoming post)
This is because true leaders know that business is bi-directional and learning to accept that is half the battle of moving into a more accepting and progressive leadership position. (think about it, would you ever put up a sign that said "no customers!"how stupid would that look)
The Blacksmith in our story did not simply give the King what he asked for, he proposed something else, something more risky, something that came at an additional cost.......Robert the Bruce waited patiently while the Blacksmith Re-shoed the horse and put the horse shoes on backwards! When he left it took only a few hours for the English to loose him. They couldn't tell if he was coming or going.
Could it be that taking just a few minutes to meet with a sales person could provide you with some tool that will help you get miles ahead of your competition. I believe that true business leaders would simply set aside a few blocks of time per month for just that purpose.