By Doug Baarman

A few friends (and fellow entrepreneurs) along with our families recently vacationed together. It turned out to be one of my most educational experiences in many years…and all I did was listen.

Prior to being around these successful individual business owners, I made the conscious decision that I was going to listen more than I talked in order to learn from them. It really paid off for me both personally and professionally. The following are two of the personal examples that I want to share with you:

• Playing golf
  I am an average golfer at best. For those of you that are like me, you often end up getting lots of ‘advice’ while you are out on the course. After 18 holes of multiple tips and trying to implement them, you end up in worse shape than when you started. As we played our round of golf, I was not given direct advice but was able to listen and observe as they discussed their game and how they were going to approach each shot. These ‘tips’ have already helped me improve.
• Running
  Both of my friends are excellent runners. Each day, we went for a run around the resort with several of our family members. One of them was coaching his daughter as we ran and I was able to learn some valuable tips regarding proper stride and the positioning of my arms helping me to conserve energy and increase my distance.

What made this a better learning experience for me? I chose to use my ears to grow and learn. We can use this same strategy as professionals to grow our businesses. My tip for all of you – get around people that you want to learn from…and listen.