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Are You Getting Useful Advice?
Look for These 3 Attributes of Good Advisors
Making a decision is a complex process, and having advisors can really help. It’s possible to increase the chance of receiving good advice by selecting the most suitable advisor(s) for the situation you are facing and the decision that needs to be made.
Decision-making is a huge part of our professional (and personal) lives. Whether you are a high school student choosing your next step, or a CEO of a Global 500 company assessing strategic options, the decision-making process involves collecting and analysing information and choosing one path over another.
Fortunately, during the decision-making process, we can turn to advisors for guidance. Students seek advice from mentors, and CEOs from advisory boards. Advisors are a critical resource for any type of decision-making, and the informed opinion of a trusted advisor can be the difference between success and failure.
Useful advice is priceless. On the other hand, receiving useless advice not only wastes time, but can have far-reaching negative outcomes.
It’s possible to increase the chance of receiving good advice by selecting the most suitable advisor(s) for the situation you are facing and the decision that needs to be made. Here, I outline key attributes to look for in advisors to boost the chance of getting useful advice.
Do I even need an advisor? What does an advisor do?
An advisor provides opinions and guidance, and sometimes recommendations, based on their knowledge. In other words, an advisor is “an expert whose job is to give advice to another person or to a group of people”.
Advisors focus on providing advice and supporting the decision-making process. They don’t make the decision but provide additional information that helps the decision-maker.
In this article, I’m focusing on the engagement of advisors for professional needs; however, all the points apply equally well to decision-making in a personal context.
Adviser — An adviser is an expert whose job is to give advice to another person or to a group of people. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/adviser
