Get advice, don’t steer your own boat

Shelter Chieza Change Management
You may have often heard that the higher you go, the lonelier it becomes. It’s true especially if you reach the ivory tower in business, it is a very lonely but warm place.

You receive information that is sifted to please and massage your ears sometimes. There is a possibility that you will receive processed data that is attuned to a particular cause.

Being the ultimate decision maker, you will need trusty advisors. Getting into the CEO position may be hard, but managing it is much harder.

For you to successfully manage your new responsibilities, you have to be knowledgeable about everything that comes about the job.

General management position requires you to know about your competitors, the trends, the possible problems and their solutions.

Business advice from a trusted business consultant is usually helpful. Advisors and mentors help in giving a rationale thought to your existing ideas.

Without them, it is like you are driving a car without a steering.

Managing the business requires managing finances. In as much as you may have been schooled in the area of financial management, you will need other people that have a different perspective to yours.

Experienced and professional advisors know how and when to spend money. You will get advice on how to budget so you streamline your financial management side.

There are those that may be starting afresh in business that may encounter challenges that will need business advisors.

Typical questions that look simple and yet crucial such as how to secure capital, how to market your products, finding an office may pose numerous challenges.

Those issues that you may need answered such as staffing, growth, business partnerships and in some cases, the roadmap for the company require the services of advisors.

The trend for most executives is a deviation from the basic personal assistant who types your minutes and makes appointments for you and answers telephone calls.

These have been replaced by the professional assistants who may be more knowledgeable in the area that you are in.

This is a person with high experience and educational qualifications that will assist you in strategic issues, attend some of your meetings and do so much more that the personal assistant cannot do. For me, that empowerment forms an important part of your success as a manager.

Some people would like to completely eliminate the advisor because they say they take up time and money and are distractive.

However, when some companies are looking for partners or companies to invest in the first thing they check on are financial advisors.

The mere mention of your advisors can give you an edge over your competitor, the elimination of those details on your company profile can be an indication that you do not have advisors and some clients will not deal with a company that has a singular way of looking at things.

What most people may not realise is that advisors are outside parties that have a different view of the business because they are looking in from outside.
Issue like sources of finance, business planning, strategies sometime are too much for a lot of managers.

I remember at one point we hired a gentleman as an advisor that had been through the start-up process a lot of times.

Such seasoned entrepreneurs bring extremely important insights into critical issues around building a business, particularly the legal issues. They can come in very handy when negotiating with your employees.

All advisors are very different, don’t take everything they say as prescription, combine it with your own observations and you will get a more rounded approach to things.

Having access to high-quality advice can enhance an organization’s odds of success. Entities seeking advice can obtain it from a board of directors, consultants or networks of one sort or another.

Advisory boards can help managers to come to terms with a decision. Managers must feel comfortable accepting advice from an external group.

Advisory boards provide safe havens for executives who may be able to test their options before they are forced to be more definitive and assertive when they go before the board of directors.

Do not confuse the boundary between advisory board and board of director activities. They have a different role to play in steering the organisation to success.

Musicians need managers that can help them manage their affairs, contracts, distribution on a day to day basis.

So do managers, they need advisors to bring in skills that may be lacking in the current team.

Many advisors provide people with information about legal matters, the best practices used in their industries, and common trends and pitfalls.

Often times, if you turn to a business advisor, they are able to pinpoint areas where and why a business is going wrong so that you can turn it around.

Till next week, may God richly bless you.