Cheerleaders are the people we count on to tell us we can do it. Advisors are the people we can count on to tell us whether we should do it.
Cheerleaders applaud us for having an idea. Advisors help us examine whether it's an idea worth pursuing.
Cheerleaders use a mirror that shows us the most flattering parts of our efforts & celebrate them. Advisors use a magnifying glass to help us see into the deeper layers of our efforts and guide us to emphasize the good and fix the not-good.
Cheerleaders are mood boosters. Advisors are effectiveness boosters.
Cheerleaders point out our clouds' silver linings. Advisors ask us to determine why the cloud is there and what might be done about it.
If we slide backward four steps for every one step forward, Cheerleaders will still cheer that one step forward. Advisors will challenge us to acknowledge that we're backsliding and determine how to minimize or reverse that trend.
Cheerleaders and Advisors are both vital members of an entrepreneurs' sphere. Both roles help us do what we do. Sometimes the same person can play both roles for us, depending on the day and context.
Where we run into problems is when we confuse Cheerleaders for Advisors.
If your group of associates consistently heralds every business idea suggested by any group member as “awesome,” you're in a group of Cheerleaders, not Advisors. Heed their encouragement accordingly.
If the people you turn to for business help never have a perspective that differs from yours, you're probably relying on Cheerleaders rather than Advisors. Keep the Cheerleaders, but seek out some trusted Advisors as well.
If someone greets every business obstacle you face with a pep talk but never with provocative questions, that person is a Cheerleader. Rely on him or her for revving up your enthusiasm motor, but turn to an Advisor to help you calibrate your GPS before you go speeding off.
One of the most valuable skill sets an entrepreneur can develop is:
- the self-awareness to know when you need to seek out a Cheerleader,
- the self-assuredness to seek out an Advisor when you need one,
- the wisdom to know the difference,
- and the tact to receive the input of each openly and with appreciation.
★ When do you turn to your Cheerleaders? When do you rely on your Advisors? Do the same people play both roles, or are your Cheerleaders different from your Advisors?
Image Credit: Julie Elliott-Abshire via SXC
I have a committee of advisers that don’t spare my feelings, but they are gentle, kind and smart. That’s what I need.
I like how you differentiated these.
Thanks, Bridget!
Your advisers sound a lot like mine. They don’t sugarcoat, but they deliver advice tactfully, which is important. I wouldn’t do well with advisers that pummeled me with their suggestions. (I need “tough love” only in small doses.) Good advisers are valuable… definitely worth hanging on to when you find some good ones! I’m glad you have. 🙂
I have a committee of advisers that don’t spare my feelings, but they are gentle, kind and smart. That’s what I need.
I like how you differentiated these.
Ooh I would have to say that this is one of the most important distinctions in business. I think it’s easy to just listen to the cheerleaders (I mean it’s all happy stuff, who doesn’t want that right?) but listening and finding advisers is critical!
You’re so right. It is easy to listen only to the rah-rah. Which is fine to do, too… but it’s gotta be balanced with that advisor perspective which is, as you note, absolutely critical to success. I’d never have grown or learned nearly as much in my own business as I have if I’d listened only to the cheer squad. The advisors have been instrumental in my progress, no doubt.
At the moment my cheerleader and advisor is the same person; that must be a great quality to have, to be able to do/be both to someone. I’d like to have that gift myself.
I have some folks who are decidedly one or the other, and I have a just a few who play both roles for me. And you’re right, it is SUCH a gift! I’m really grateful that I have those folks in my life. (Three cheers for the Cheer-Advisor hybrids!) 🙂
I actually started out as a cheerleader, and now I’ve become an advisor. Who will still occassionally cheerlead, but only for the great ideas!
Selective cheerleading! I dig it. But I picture you as instead of picking up a pair of pom poms, turning on a good metal tune & throwing up the rock fingers as your cheer salute. Am I right? 😉
You have it preee-cisely. 🙂
Marissa, you’ve hit it out of the park again. Your writing is so clear, concise and tight.
I’m proud to be a cheerleading champion of entrepreneurs and those who have a belief that they can’t do it, or don’t know what the IT is that they have, AND I’m fiercely proud to take off that hat and dig in with the “hard truths” when that is what is needed/wanting. That’s the balance I seek in my work and in my sphere of influence.
Thank you, Tanya!
I love “Cheerleading Champion of Entrepreneurs.” What a great title. 🙂 As Ryah and I were noting above, someone who can play both roles–cheerleading champion and tactful deliverer of hard truths–is a total gem. Your cheerleadees/advisees are lucky to have you in their corner!