Dear Dave,
My father-in-law owns a fairly successful dental practice. After reading EntreLeadership, though, I see that he could stand to implement some of your principles. What’s your advice for approaching him about this?
Alan

Dear Alan,
I think the first thing is to make sure you don’t point out what you feel is wrong with his business. That will put him on the defensive, for sure. Maybe you could tell him that you just read this great business book, and you think he’d love it too.

If my son-in-law brought me a book and told me that it rocked his world and he thought I’d really like it, chances are I’d pick up a copy and check it out. He wouldn’t need to take a chance of making me angry by telling me I’m terrible at business and some book would suddenly make me a wonderful businessman.
My advice is to keep it light and simple. There’s no guarantee he’ll read it, no matter what you say. But whether it’s a book or even a movie, there’s probably a better chance someone will listen to you if you talk about how great it is rather than beating them up or trying to force it down their throat.
—Dave