Blessed are those who can change their mind when presented with new ideas, evidence, proof or results, for they will not be limited to their original position, and will be able to grow.

But ask yourself this – does it have to come from a credentialed expert or someone higher up in order to change your mind?

Would you be able to accept advice or observations from an employee, an “underling,” the new guy, or someone in another department? Can you consider the source of what you hear and the content at the same time?

We all know that experts can be wrong and the new guy can be right, so we should look at our own interactions.

Starting a business and launching a brand is difficult to say the least. Solving a problem in a new way means that you were able to see something that remained a mystery to everyone else. Successfully executing those things is an amazing achievement.

But an amazing achievement – or even a string of them – should not blind us to the possibility that the information, advice, ideas or challenges we hear about our business could have merit despite their source. Being able to create the business does not mean we can always see or solve the problems involved in operating it.

We must be open to ideas about our businesses from anyone, even if it’s not a highly paid consultant or senior board member.

Additionally, truly hearing employees and publicly adapting our behavior to new information strengthens our business because it gives people confidence to speak their mind and reason to be creative and involved.

Here’s something to try: the next time someone has an idea, comment, suggestion or question, observe your response before speaking out loud or typing a response. Can you determine how much the person’s position, job, or experience is affecting your reaction? Are you responding and accepting the content of the remarks?

Repeating this process over time will develop the habit of truly hearing, which leads to progress and growth.