From the Russian Edition of The Trusted Advisor
by David Maister 2004
The Russian language edition of this book is very welcome. The warm reception given to this book around the world since its English-language publication in 2000 suggests that it addressed an important topic. The concept of trust is not a new one, but it is often overlooked in business and needs to be rediscovered and re-examined.
In some parts of the world, whether or not you are trusted depends on personal background and personal networks: What village are you from? Where did you go to school? Who do you know? A little of this thinking will always remain.
However, as economies grow, and business becomes a little more anonymous, these biographical details become less important. Whether you are trusted becomes less a matter of background and more a matter of personal behavior, attitudes and skill. The questions now become: Do I want to work with you? Are you really trying to help me, or are you just in it for yourself?
As we try to show, there is a methodology for getting people to trust you. To get what you want from someone else, you must first persuade them that they want to enter into a relationship with you. The essence of trust is convincing the other person that you are sincerely trying to help them rather than just trying to get what you want. This is not a new thought. The American author Dale Carnegie wrote back in the 1930s that you have more fun and success if you help other people achieve their goals than you will by focusing on your own goals.
When I first heard that, it struck me as a call to be self-sacrificing. But it is not. Everything you want in the world has to be given to you by other people—whether it is your riches, fame, or respect. To get another human being to give you what you want, you must first give them what they want. If all you do is say, “me, me, me—please give me what I want,” you get less. If you spend more time focusing on giving people what they want, you get more of what you want. It is a basic human paradox.
Learning to earn trust is not about moral principles, but about how to be effective in building beneficial relationships. You can learn to be good at relationships, although few of us have ever received formal instruction in it.
We also try to stress that there is meaning in the word “advisor.” Unfortunately, many people who provide professional services do not act like advisors, and do not know how to perform the role. In our view, there is a difference between being an expert and being an advisor. An expert solves the client’s problem; the advisor helps the client solve his or her own problem. An expert provides answers; the advisor provides reasoning. The expert is in charge; the advisor serves.
Finding experts, somebody who can solve your problem, is often not that difficult. But finding somebody that you want to work with, somebody that you can trust with your problem, is often very difficult. It is scarce in the marketplace. That does not minimize the importance of technical skill. You need to have the skill. But you can’t make yourself special on what is common. You can’t earn a high income differentiating yourself on things that everybody can do. The skill is an entry fee.
This perspective sheds an interesting light on the competition between global and local providers, between large firms and small. Being an expert often requires sophisticated techniques, tools and global knowledge, strengths of the large, global firm. These are all very important, but they do not make you an advisor. Becoming an advisor is more about interpersonal skill, an attitude of service and an ability to empathize and relate to clients as human beings. These are available to all competitors, large and small, local and global.
Russian readers, as well as the authors, owe a debt of gratitude to Michael Ivanov and Michael Ferber, who not only translated the book, but acted as trusted advisors in arranging for its publication. They are entrepreneurial, smart and trustworthy. It is a pleasure to work with them.
David Maister, Boston, January 2004