Who Do You Go To For Advice?

I’ve written in the past about taking advice. I’ve even written about leaving advice. But, who do you go to when you need advice?

I suppose it all depends on the type of advice you’re looking for, right?
If you need advice on running your business you might ask someone with a different background than if you needed advice on buying a house.

No matter the type of advice you’re in need of, there are certain characteristics of an advice-giver that you’ll want to be present in the individual.

Empathy
The advice giver needs to be able to put themselves in your shoes in order to feel what you’re feeling (stress, confusion, fear, anger, pride, etc.) so they can provide the advice and direction that is not only good for you, but that you’re in a position and mindset that will allow you to follow the advice.

Honesty
You want advice from someone who isn’t afraid to hurt your feelings with the truth. It might be painful for you to hear the truth, you might not be ready to face the truth, but you don’t want your advice giver to be pulling punches to only tell you what you want to hear versus what you need to hear.

Experience
The advice-giver’s experience doesn’t have to be in your exact same field — sometimes it can be an advantage, but other times having an advice-giver that is in any industry except your own can prove the most beneficial because they are bringing new ideas to the table that can be applied to your own field. However, it is important that they have some sort of real-world experience out in the cold, hard world of getting beat up, knocked-down, and bouncing back to tell the tale. Their past experience can be translated and adapted to your current situation and provide you with successful strategies for overcoming your challenges.

Now you know what to look for in a person you want to consult for advice

But now you also know what kind of characteristics you should have when it’s time for you to give advice to others.