Good to Great Advisors
May 6, 2010 by Harvey Wigder
In my view there are two essential characteristics of Great Advisors. The first is broad experience coupled with analytic skills, an understanding of how operations impact results and the ability to identify trends, opportunities and issues. Progress results when the right problems are solved. The second is the skill to work within the frame of reference of the client to help the client identify a solution that he or she believes in and will implement. I will discuss each of these characteristics below.
Scope of Knowledge and Wisdom to Select the Right Problem
Most advisors have been well trained as specialists in their disciplines. The good ones are on top of their profession and supply the contracted product and service with precision and at the state of the art. However there is also parochialism that comes with their training. What if they provide an excellent solution to a problem their client asked them to solve that was really the wrong problem for the client to expend resources on? That wastes resources. Worse, what happens if the advisor knows that this isn’t an essential issue but provides a solution in any case? Is that ethical?
Like a well trained advisor, an entrepreneur who has developed his or her business has been trained by success and has habitual ways of responding to business situations.
Most of the time, the good advisor will be solving the right problem and most of the time the owner’s solution to a problem will be the right one. It is at the margins where interesting situations occur. These margins occur at those moments that call for “out of the box” thinking. In those cases, wisdom involves stepping back and identifying the right problem as a precursor to solving it. The Great Advisor can stand back and identify critical issues.
An owner should look for an advisor who challenges him or her to find the right problems to solve. Advisors who meet that criteria might be ones who have run businesses or who belong to multi-discipline groups such as I have mentioned previously, Exit Planning Exchange or The Family Firm Institute. This exposure to other disciplines and ways of thinking helps train them to step back from the problem a client presents and help identify a deeper or more fundamental problem. This directs resource to solving problems that will benefit the business.
As good as this broad knowledge is, it not enough for Greatness. I think a second characteristic is needed for a person to qualify as Great Advisors.
Respect for and Acceptance of the Client
Because of the broad experience in dozens or even hundreds of companies a good advisor brings to any one client, that person will often see opportunities for improvement. It is very common for advisors to be frustrated because their client doesn’t get it! Why is he or she resisting good recommendation?
I am going to make my point by asking you to drawn on your own experience. Let’s say you have a problem bothering you and you talk to a few people about it. The first person doesn’t have the patience to let you “get it all out” and gives advice on how to solve the problem. How annoyed and frustrated are you? The second listens and asks a lot of questions. After awhile you solve the problem yourself (eureka) or are more open to discussing alternative solutions. Does that feel better to you, and are you more likely to go with the decision made in that situation?
The Great Advisor takes the time to explore, understand, and respect the psychological and cultural context and then works within that framework to get done what the person or system is capable of doing. The Great Advisor has developed skills as an active listener and has learned to understand and explore before jumping to action.
Trust
You will notice that a Great Advisor doesn’t always get great results. However, the Great Advisor does build relationships and acts in a trustworthy manner. They understand that they can be influential but in the end, the decision is with the client and that the client has the right to do “the wrong thing”. At the end of the day, The Great Advisor has the satisfaction of knowing that he or she worked in the client’s best interest, has not been self serving, has done no harm and hopefully has helped the client make progress. The Great Advisor stands ready to provide greater value when the client is ready to take a broader view.
The books I recommend are Dirty Rotten Strategies: How We Trick Ourselves and Others into Solving the Wrong Problems, Precisely by Ian I. Mitroff and Abraham Silvers, and Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help, by Edgar H. Schien.
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3 Responses to “Good to Great Advisors”
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great post as usual!
Hi Harvey, Excellent post! You capture and define the essence of an all to common consulting dynamic perfectly and break it down into powerful key elements. I found the post enlightening and confirming. Thank you!
Wonderful post. I just tweeted it! best, Paul