I heard a piece of advice yesterday that I absolutely loved.

It came from Alain Thys during a panel discussion superbly chaired by Francesca Lagerberg at the PM Forum Conference. The panel were discussing how to truly listen to clients’ needs, and Alain shared his golden rule for meetings with clients.

“I always walk in stupid,” he told us.

That ability to put all of your preconceptions and expertise to one side and take on a learning mindset is so powerful. On The Connected Leadership Podcast a few months ago, Daniela Landherr asked “How can we move away from trying to be the smartest in the room to being the most open to learning?”. I’ve quoted Daniela so many times, I think I’m going to add Alain’s question to my list of quotes!

Walk in stupid. Seek to truly understand what clients, colleagues and others are trying to achieve, what they are experiencing and what they want from you before then sharing what you can do and what you can add to the conversation.

Walk in stupid. Alain talked about how he seeks to clarify his understanding at every stage, repeating what has been agreed and the next steps to the nth degree – and then revalidating his understanding on follow-up.

Walk in stupid. Park your ego and put others in the spotlight. By walking in stupid, you force yourself to be a better listener and, by being a better listener, you can shape a message and actions that meet the needs of the other and have a bigger impact as a result.