RIP 'trusted advisor'?

Sadly, it seems the axiom ‘trusted advisor’ has become a devalued, frequently abused cliché. 

It has been hijacked by too many collectively conscienceless professional services firms whose business models, short-term and long-term objectives are a direct conflict of interest with the needs of the clients they profess to serve.  

The pressure to generate on-going fees and maximise margins using the cheapest available staff at the highest possible fee rates undermines objectivity, independence and client value. For privately-held small to mid-sized professional services firms driven by the goal of growing revenues and profits fast enough to sell out for a princely sum, clients are also a means to an end.

It’s an example of what happens when decent people subvert their principles and personalities for personal ‘stability and security’. This often leads them down the road of defending the indefensible - I’ve listened to them doing it – as otherwise they would have to admit they had sold their souls to sociopaths and narcissists for career, financial/material or ego advancement and the embarrassment or guilt is too acute. Denial is preferable.

As in other sectors those who profit most in professional services rely on others to play ball, do as they are told, and occasionally hold their noses or look the other way when it gets distasteful. Unfortunately, that’s what the majority will do when push comes to shove.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing. Leave the Drink Trade alone and it will throttle all that is good in a nation’s life. Let it alone, that is all that is required. Cowardice will suffice for its triumph. Courage will suffice for its overthrow." Edmund Burke

What might a 21st Century trusted advisor look like?

Trusted advisors still exist; the clue to finding them is in the word ‘trusted’. They are trusted by many, but not because they work for a well-known brand. Ultimately trust is a function of individual character and integrity. The Internet makes this dramatically more transparent and allows individuals to build an international following. It is slowly equalising the playing field, allowing exceptional individuals to make their mark.

Trusted advisors are admired and respected – you will have no difficulty in finding people willing to enthusiastically endorse them. They will have built a reputation, sometimes over many years, for honesty, reliability and effectiveness. They steadfastly refuse to compromise their principles for personal gain, which is gold dust in today’s post-truth ethical climate. They are passionate about helping others to succeed in business because they recognise how challenging it is. They will always be your friend and sounding board, even when there is no foreseeable prospect of them getting a sale from you, such as when you lose your job, retire, or change direction altogether. It’s said that it’s only when you suffer a major setback that you find out who your true friends are – if this happens you will always be able to count a trusted advisor amongst them.

Trusted advisors do not shrink from telling you the truth or sharing their concerns with you. They are courageous and constructively ‘critical’, always helping you to see positively how you could improve rather than dwelling on your weaknesses and picking over them like bosses often do. We all know it’s easier to see the strengths and weaknesses in other people than in ourselves. Trusted advisors hold a mirror up so that you can see for yourself what needs building on and what needs improving. They are always there for you, but they are not always counting the clock to bill you! 

Throughout my 20-year consulting career I have strived to be a trusted advisor for my clients. Whilst employed by someone else this created occasional conflict for the reasons described above - the inherent conflict of interest in conventional consulting - which led to my eventual departure from a full-time position after eight years, in 2005.

Resolve Gets Results (www.resolvegetsresults.com)

I founded Resolve in 2006, rooted in the principles of authentic trusted advisory work. I have since held firm to those principles throughout the most difficult times, sometimes to my cost, but it is how I am wired. Everything I have done has sought to build Resolve’s reputation as a trusted advisor, individually and collectively. The business model is designed to reflect that – we do not have offices or expensive overheads, we think and behave long-term, and we nurture enduring relationships with likeminded clients and business partners.

As many people know I have been deeply inspired by studying the numerous independent research studies into what I call the Top 1% most consistent performers – those organisations whose long-term cumulative financial performance dramatically exceeds everyone else. It transpires that these organisations put trust at the heart of all they do – with customers, employees, business partners, regulators, shareholders and the wider community. They do not shout about it – they quietly get on and walk the talk, focused on consistent, reliable execution.

My longstanding convictions about Top 1%-inspired leadership and organisational development inform Resolve’s approach to helping individuals and their organisations to face reality, evolve, adapt and grow healthily and with discipline. This has produced approaches grounded in knowledge of the Top 1% and focused on suffusing the trusted advisory role with true independence and objectivity, as well as passion. Examples include St. George’s Den (a confidential ‘personal board of directors’ behind closed doors for senior executives); Top 1%-inspired coaching and mentoring; a culturally intelligent protocol for conceiving, planning and delivering mergers and acquisitions; and various forms of sustainable long-term business development and fundraising for clients. Much of our work is captured in the phrase 'NED (Non-Executive Director) Plus' coined by my longstanding associate David Grundy, former Managing Partner of Grant Thornton in North West England. Like him I have a strong belief in the need for effective NEDs who go the extra mile to help guide the organisations they support.

Paradigm for Profitability

"We try to remember that medicine is for the patient. We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we remember that, they have never failed to appear. The better we have remembered it, the larger they have been." George W Merck, CEO, Merck & Co

Over the last few months it has been a great pleasure to get to know Dr John Young, Honorary Irish Consul to North Carolina, and Chairman and Founder of McLaughlin Young, a company based in Charlotte NC which is focused on helping public, private and third sector organisations to deal effectively with the full range of human factors. For forty years John has pioneered work into what he calls prospective organisational medicine – diagnosing the underlying ‘genetic’, ‘environmental’ and ‘lifestyle’ factors which govern an organisation’s future health. The most critical factors turn out to be rooted in trust, or a lack of it. John developed the following model, the Paradigm for Profitability, to support the diagnosis of organisational health and the adoption of appropriate methods to improve it.

PARADIGM FOR PROFITABILITY MODEL - copyright McLaughlin Young

In this model Profitability means benefit or gain in its widest sense, not only financial.

The model is based on the empirical reality that all benefit in organisations and other human interactions flows from solid foundations of knowing each other fully, respecting, listening actively, communicating effectively and being in relationship. These five foundational factors create enduring trust; when they are weak or absent trust breaks down with ultimately catastrophic consequences. There is far more to achieving these five components of trust than a superficial glance would suggest. 

Recently John has kindly offered to work with me to help grow Resolve’s business in the UK and Europe. We intend a close collaborative partnership between McLaughlin Young and Resolve, enabling us to blend John’s methodologies for employee surveys, 360-degree reviews, psychometric profiling, cultural analysis, measurement of employee engagement, change management, succession, and leadership selection and development with our own techniques for organisational diagnostics and problem solving. 

Conclusion

Most businesses would say they are founded on trust, but the reality is that when it comes to the crunch, they are willing to flex their approach to trust and integrity in the interests of profit, because they see profit as the be-all-and-end-all and believe the ends generally justify the means.

Top 1% businesses see trust as a sine qua non and refuse to compromise on it, whatever the pressures may be. They see enduring profit as a natural outcome of building and sustaining trust in all aspects of their business.

In this post-truth era many businesspeople are crying out for trustworthy suppliers, customers and partners. Business is done by human beings with human beings. We are not robots. Trust creates stability when everything around you is chaotic and in flux. It busts stress. It is the solid foundation for more rapid, yet relatively safe, business advancement.

What can you do to create or further develop a climate of sustained trust inside your organisation and between your organisation and others? How should these principles apply to your life outside work?