Why you should never hesitate to seek advice
Had I realized this earlier, it would’ve saved me considerable time, effort and agony over the years!
Have you ever been in a situation where you desperately needed advice about a professional/career issue? You may have approached family and friends, but still felt a void since they couldn’t relate to your professional context. At such times, you wish you could talk to someone senior in your line of work — someone who understands your industry and the background. Such professional advisors/experts can literally step into your shoes to share advice and suggest options. The advantage they bring is their experience in the very professional arena you’re encountering. Its likely they have gone through a similar situation either themselves or seen friends go through it. They may have taken decisions — some right and some wrong, both of which would have given them valuable learnings. They can leverage their professional success stories to teach you how to win and they can leverage their failures to guide you on what not to do.
It is important to understand the difference between discrete instances of professional advice and a long-term mentorship. Mentoring is a much more comprehensive engagement where a mentor is associated with you over a long period. Mentors take time to understand your personality, your career objectives and then guide you across your professional journey. Such mentoring relationships are invaluable, and I will address this in a separate blog. The current article touches upon the need for timely professional advice, where you identify and approach an expert on need-basis.
This brings up a question — where do you find such advisors/experts? If you are working, you could seek advice from a senior person within your organization. Else, you could seek senior people within your professional network or leverage your network to find connects to the right expert in your area. Hence, it is critical to build a strong professional network.
Now that we’ve established professional advice is invaluable, lets look at a few instances when it is important to seek advice.
You need help in making a career choice — The advisor/expert helps you think through the options in a logical manner. They outline the criteria that you should consider and help you evaluate the pros and cons of every option. While the final decision is still yours, the expert’s inputs give you confidence that you’ve made the right choice.
You are caught in a tricky situation and need help to navigate it — The expert would leverage their experience and expertise in suggesting options to handle the situation. They would also be able to articulate the risks and suggest remediation strategies.
You need courage and inspiration as you start a new venture or project — Whenever you embark on a new journey, you tend to feel a multitude of emotions ranging from excitement to fear to insecurity. On such occasions, it helps to hear from someone who has traversed a similar journey. Their experience can inspire you and give you courage as you chart your own path.
You need advice on career growth — Apart from doing a great job, there are many other factors that determine whether you grow in your career. An expert can advise you on how to upskill yourself, how to cultivate leadership traits, how to prepare for a high-visibility project, how to negotiate a salary or ask for a promotion.
There could be numerous other instances where you would benefit from professional advice. Never shy away from approaching someone for advice. What would have otherwise taken you a long time to figure out, can actually become much smoother when you get assistance. And while you seek and take advice, it is also important to give back. Make time for others who may need your inputs or expertise. There is no better sense of contentment than being able to help someone else. Imagine the power of such collaboration! This is one of the key features of the professional platform ‘The star in me’ (www.thestarinme.com). It is a professional ecosystem that encourages women to actively collaborate and support each other to succeed on their own terms.
