Take Your Own Advice (Yes, Us)
Entrepreneurs, business owners, consultants, coaches, advisors. This one’s for us.
We spend our days dispensing wisdom. Build the plan. Trust the process. Follow the framework. Stick to the strategy. Play the long game. We say it confidently, sometimes beautifully, often with slides.
And yet, quietly and inconveniently, many of us don’t follow our own advice.
I remember sitting across from consultants I’ll affectionately call “the Bobs.” Crisp decks. Polished jargon. Big promises. They’d explain how to scale revenue, optimize operations, unlock growth.
And an uninvited thought would creep in.
“If you actually know how to build a million-dollar business, why are you here… with us… arguing about copier margins?”
It wasn’t arrogance. It was curiosity. And eventually, honesty. Because I’ve been a Bob. We’ve all been a Bob.
The uncomfortable truth is this: advice is easier than execution. Strategy is lighter than accountability. Teaching the plan is safer than living inside it.
That’s exactly why embedded sales execution exists. When execution is embedded, not outsourced or theoretical, there’s no distance between strategy and reality. You don’t just design the motion. You run it. You feel the friction. You own the outcome.
👉 Learn how embedded sales execution works in practice:
https://the-audible.com/virtual-sales-teams/
The Consultant’s Paradox (That Isn’t Just for Consultants)
Consulting, coaching, and advising are noble professions at their best. They can sharpen thinking and shortcut pain. At their worst, they become a refuge from risk.
Somewhere along the way, the advice industry created a loophole. We can sound successful without being successful. We can build frameworks that look great on whiteboards but never face payroll, churn, or a missed quarter.
McKinsey’s own research shows that roughly 70% of change initiatives fail, a reminder that insight alone doesn’t move organizations. Execution does.
👉 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-change-programs-dont-produce-change
This is where embedding execution inside the business matters. When you operate inside the system, not above it, there’s nowhere to hide.
👉 Read our philosophy on operator-led execution:
https://the-audible.com/the-audible-strategy/
We Are Not Immune
This isn’t just a consultant problem. It’s a founder problem. An operator problem. A human problem.
We tell teams to focus while chasing shiny objects. We preach process while operating on chaos. We talk about long-term vision while panicking over short-term noise.
Research from Edelman and LinkedIn found that while 88% of decision-makers value thought leadership, only 17% rate most content as excellent, highlighting the gap between sounding credible and being credible.
👉 https://www.edelman.com/research/thought-leadership-impact
The Credibility Test
Here’s the filter that cuts through the noise.
Are we actively living the advice we give?
Not “did we do it once.” Not “did we do it years ago.” Are we doing it now?
Are we running the systems we recommend? Are we executing the motions we sell? Are we embedded in the work, not just adjacent to it?
Because credibility doesn’t come from frameworks. It comes from alignment.
The Real Work
So here’s the reminder, first to myself.
If we’re founders, run our businesses the way we tell others to run theirs.
If we’re consultants, be our own best case study.
If we talk about execution, embed ourselves in it.
The market is no longer impressed by theory. It rewards proof.
And the real flex isn’t having advice.
It’s having the discipline to follow it.
Starting with us.