How a Good Advisor can Really Help You

tl:dr; what is the role of an advisor? To help connect the dots between today’s challenges and yesterday’s lessons.

I’m making my way through a fantastic book called On Grand Strategy.

Actually, I’m listening on Audible and the narrator makes it even better.

The title sounds like you are set up for “overpromise, underdeliver” but for me, it’s totally delivering.

In a section about Macchiavelli’s The Prince, the book talks about the role of the advisor.

“Princes need advisors. The advisor can’t tell the prince what to do, but he can suggest what the prince should know. For Macchiavelli, this means seeking patterns across time, space and status by shifting perspectives.”

I bring this up because, by now, I’ve worked as an advisor for a fair number of crypto projects. I’ve had some successes and some failures along the way, but this quote has helped me realize a bit more as to why.

For much of the crypto space, the advisor has just been a form of “social proof” that says “we have a big name in the industry and we have his/her picture on our website…therefore you should have confidence in us.”

For others, they mistake advisors for consultants. They want you to go out and do things. To a point, that is fine. I don’t believe in being a totally passive advisor.

But then there are those who carefully choose and vet advisors. They recognize that there are people who have been through previous revolutions with some successes and failures and can be leaned on to do exactly as Macchiavelli suggests, offer insights as to patterns across time, space, and status.”

This isn’t just about crypto. It’s about finding people who can advise you in your own life and career and then understanding what value they can bring to you as you formulate your own grand strategy.