The right advice, at the right time, is priceless.

My business is tiny. I’m the only employee. My wife has a solo practice as a counselor.

We are both professional advisors. Even though we are advisors, we have a lot of advisors. This is both individually and as a couple. We invest heavily in other people’s help, expertise, and opinions.

Our advisors include Two attorneys, a CPA & tax advisor, a financial planner, a coach, a clinical supervision group, a mastermind group, plus mentors. May have forgotten a few.

We pay for access to almost all of them. Some we work with regularly. A few we just call when we need them. Some do things for us at times. But generally, the relationship is about advice.

Our advisors help us build a ‘bigger’ life than what we would be able to do on our own. They have expertise and experience that we don’t. They aren’t emotionally tied to our situations.

Surrounding yourself with good advisors is the smart thing to do. I’ve learned that all of the best advisors surround themselves with advisors too. Leaders without advisors end up in some very complicated situations that can be very challenging to untangle. Ironically, the more success they have the more complicated their problems can become.

Because my wife and I are advisors and we engage so many advisors, I have a robust perspective on what does and doesn’t work well when working with an advisor.

I often refer clients to advisors who have skills or backgrounds that I don’t have. But many hesitate to reach out and get that help. Some end up wasting years or lots of $0000’s as a result. I’ve learned that many are uncomfortable with finding an advisor, nervous about the costs, and aren’t sure how to work with them.

That’s what this article is about.

The value of professional advisors:

Let’s keep this simple, people choose advisors for two reasons:

• They know things we don’t. We want access to that knowledge.
• They can provide an objective, outside view.

That’s mostly it.

Some advisors can go beyond providing knowledge and objectivity. They can also show us how to leverage what they offer to multiply our returns. Not all advisors can do this. Not even all good advisors can. But the best ones will.

The value of advisors:

I’m a huge Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup fan. Two of my favorite things chocolate and peanut butter combined in one.

Here are two of my other favorite things: Good decisions and getting results fast. Good advisors create a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup out of those two ingredients. They help us make better decisions faster.

I’ve learned that often many of my clients already know the right answer. Sometimes they are just stuck on making a decision. I may offer nothing new in terms of “the right decision.” But if the right decision is never acted on, it is worthless.

Often, the biggest service that I offer is just helping my clients act on the right thing they already know to do (but aren’t.)

As one of my advisors, Craig Ballantyne, often says, “Success loves speed.”

The challenges: DIY and friends

I like to DIY (do it yourself). But through many slow, expensive lessons, I’ve learned that trying to DIY everything is just stupid. Sometimes DIY ultimately costs more, takes more time, and will need to be redone anyway.

Also, while I think friends are important and are great mentors, they often make poor professional advisors. And this is for two reasons:

1. We overestimate their expertise.
2. They overestimate their objectivity and minimize conflicts of interest.

Random tips for finding the right advisors:

• Ask: Ask friends or peers. Ask current advisors. If you hear someone give a talk or write an article, and you feel you connect, ask them if they are available.
• Interview: A good advisor is fine with being ‘checked out’. They are grown-up adults, if an advisor can’t handle you checking them out they won’t be a good advisor.
• Clarify the desired outcomes: Be as clear as possible about the results you want. Don’t try to prescribe the solution for yourself. Ask what you want about solutions but don’t try to self-diagnose or prescribe. Only a poor advisor will allow you to self-diagnose.
• Look at past experience: For advisors, past performance is the best indicator of future performance. Look at their reviews, and testimonials, and ask for references.
• Evaluate: 
  • Professional skills: Do they have the skills you need to produce the results you want?
  • Objective: Advisors tend to be opinionated. But do they stay objective about your situation?
  • Relationship: Do you feel they care about you? Do they treat you with respect? Do you trust them?

How to work with advisors

Set Expectations: Advisors need to know the outcomes we hope they will achieve. Additionally, let them know the expectations we have in terms of communication, timelines, deliverables, etc – ask for or communicate these.

Respect time: You are busy. Assume the advisor is busy as well. Be timely with scheduling. Show up when you say you will communicate ASAP if you can’t. Most advisors will drop clients who don’t respect their time (or they will bill for the lost time).

Feedback and Adjustments: Advisors are often insightful. But they can’t read our minds. If something isn’t working for us, we need to communicate it. Look for adjustments that can be made.

Confidentiality: Many advisors have a code of conduct or licensure requirement around confidentiality. But it is fine to ask about that or even ask for a non-disclosure agreement if preferred.

View the relationship as an investment: Advisors have different fee structures. But in general, fees will be associated with their experience or the return on investment they can provide for you. It’s perfectly reasonable to ask them about this. But expect that a good advisor will set fees commensurate with the value they provide. If you don’t see that value – ask about it.

Put in the work: Most advisors do just that – they give advice. Generally, we have to do the work. If we don’t do the work, we won’t get the benefit of advice.

Summary

As the saying goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Successful leaders surround themselves with successful advisors.

“To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.” – Wilson Mizner

“Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.” – Erica Jong

“In the multitude of counselors, there is safety” – The book of Proverbs

Take good care,

Christian

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