We firmly believe that mothers usually give great advice, but, no matter who is giving the advice, you need to consider it and decide if it’s the best advice for you.
We were reminded about the importance of avoiding blindly following advice from anyone, even your mother, recently when we heard Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, describe her dilemma when Bill Gates first asked her out. We heard Gates when she was a guest on the National Public Radio program “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!”
Melinda Gates was working for Microsoft, and Bill Gates, of course, was her boss. In fact, he is the co-founder of Microsoft.
Melinda Gates called her mother and asked her what she should do.
Her mother told her that she should not go out on a date with her boss.
That’s usually good advice, of course, but Melinda Gates didn’t take it.