Mitzi Perdue

Career Advice for Young People: Shut Up and Listen!

Jack Tatem, a former Perdue Vice President, has some serious advice for young people. It’s simple and it can make a big difference in your career. It has to do with listening.

The advice is, “Shut up and listen!”

He went on to say, “Most kids I run into today seem to think they already know it all. Frank Perdue was a one-of-a-kind genius, but even as successful as he was, he was always listening!”

I completely agree. Since I’m a writer, and part of my job is to observe things, I noticed something that was a constant in how Frank related to people. When he was interacting with anyone, he was listening 90% of the time and only talking 10% of the time.

And he didn’t just listen, he frequently took notes about what he was hearing. He was an information-gathering machine.

He always carried in his jacket breast pocket a gold Cross pen and seven or eight pieces of white paper, each about the size of a playing card. When someone said something that he could act on, he’d write the information on one of these sheets of paper.

His handwriting was microscopic. If most people’s handwriting is a font size 12, Frank’s handwriting was a font size six. This meant he could usually fit six or seven of these notes on one sheet, which meant he’d typically have 40 or so actionable pieces of information in his pocket.

When we were in a taxi or waiting for an airplane or any other moment of down time, he’d go through the notes and act on them. This could mean making a phone call or dictating a plan of action to his executive assistant, Elaine Barnes, or simply writing a note to the individual.

When he had acted on whatever piece of information he had heard, he’d draw a line through it and when all the items had lines drawn through them, he’d throw that sheet away.

Part of the reason for Frank Perdue’s success is he listened. But he also made the most of his listening. He wrote down what he heard, followed up on it, and didn’t stop until he had made use of what he had heard.

“Shut up and listen!” is really good advice. And then take it to the next step: act on what you’ve heard. This technique helped make Frank one of the world’s most successful businessmen. Gathering information from everyone and then acting on it is a technique that can help you in your career. Try it!

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Mitzi Perdue is a speaker, author, and businesswoman. She is the widow of Frank Perdue and daughter of Ernest Henderson, co-founder of the Sheraton Hotel Chain.

Permission is granted to reprint this blog post in your newsletter or magazine with the following byline and clickable link: www.MitziPerdue.com. Please let Mitzi know when you do this!

To find out more about her programs and services,write to: Mitzi@MitziPerdue.com or call 410 860-4444.