Are You a Trusted Advisor?

In every position I have ever held, one quality that made or broke my success was my ability to be viewed as a trusted advisor. It didn't matter if it was an individual contributor in an early career role or when I was a Sr. Director.

This quality is so important David Maister wrote a book on it ~ The Trusted Advisor. It is a book I highly recommend everyone read and gives sound advise for being seen as a trusted advisor. But before you read the book, before you go any deeper on the subject, I want to break this topic down looking at the two words that define it and why it is important not only in your professional life to have this quality but also in your personal life.

Let's flip it and focus on Advisor first. Why? Let's face it, we all are advisors in some form. As humans we cannot help but share our opinions and give our advice. It could be anything from how to work through dealing with a difficult employee to relationship advice on your best friends current partner. We thrive off of giving and receiving advice, with receiving often being a challenge for most of us. Advising is a two way street, if you are unable to receive advice or take constructive criticism you will never be seen as a trusted advisor. I can already hear it "But I give great advice". That may be true, but if you, as the advisor, are incapable of swallowing the advice pill given to you why should anyone listen to anything you have to say? It is difficult being on the receiving end of advice sometimes because we don't want to hear what clearly needs to be said.

This is where the trust part comes in. If you trust the person giving you the advice, does it make it easier to accept? Trust isn't about having all the answers. It is not about giving the best advice. Trust is not even about the result. Many of us will say we put our trust in something based on an outcome. But think about it, if we always based trust on an outcome, how would society grow? How would change occur? The definition of trust is a 'firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something'. There is no outcome in this definition. It is a belief in something, a belief in a person. So think about it, in your life when you have not believed in someone, did you trust them? I beat the answer is no, and I beat right now some of you may be questioning some of your relationships. I also beat that if that person tried to give you advice you probably rolled your eyes and carried on (well that may be how I did it).

Being a trusted advisor comes with humility, accountability, a belief in yourself and others. Every relationship you have, professional or personal, comes with the fortune of being a trusted advisor. It begins with you. So listen, learn, be authentic, patient and receptive.