What would you tell your kids as they take their first steps into the real world? Here’s what I said.

<> 

A few weeks ago, we dropped our son off in Chicago for a summer internship.

Over the past few months, I’ve thought about all the “brilliant” business guidance I could impart before he started.

Luckily, I kept most of it to myself and instead decided to follow the advice I’ve been giving leaders for 22 years – keep it simple.

No one (especially me) wants to drown in ideas, concepts, and strategies – what we want is straightforward tactics that work.

As a result, I told him to follow 3 rules:

1. Be wildly curious – ask tons of questions.
2. Stay off your phone – be the 1 intern who doesn’t feel the need to be entertained by social media every spare second.  
3. Do what you promise – be dependable.

That’s it.

I didn’t recommend a book, video, or podcast. I wanted to give him ideas he could memorize and put into practice on day 1.

Keep the “simplicity” mindset in place when you’re tempted to believe that a solution can only bring value if it’s complicated.

<>

—CJ McClanahan

Speaker | Advisor | Recovering Overachiever

CJ McClanahan