ReddHead over at firedoglake has some excellent advice today. She directed it towards lawyers, but I think it’s got applicability in the wider business world as well as the political one:
You do not adequately serve your client by telling him only those things he wants to hear. Period. The most important function you can have as an attorney is to tell your client all the things he does not want to hear — for the sole reason that he must hear them in order to make a fully informed decision. To do less is to fail at your job.
Another cardinal sin is to believe that your argument is the only right one. One of the first things you learn as a litigator is that there is always another side. Always, always, always. And you must give due consideration to every side of an issue to adequately do your job.