{"id":6014,"date":"2014-01-29T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=4545"},"modified":"2020-03-30T19:09:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T23:09:20","slug":"12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member","title":{"rendered":"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our friends at the\u00a0YEC<\/a>\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here’s what they shared:<\/p>\n

Coaching Ability<\/span><\/h3>\n

“The best advisors don’t just tell you the answer. They know that they don’t know the answer, and the best way to help is to ask powerful questions that get a mentee to think differently and question his own assumptions. Ask questions — don’t give advice.”<\/p>\n

\u2014 ERICA DHAWAN of Erica Dhawan, LLC<\/p>\n

A Passion for Something Other Than Making Money<\/h3>\n

“Increased revenue and profitability are byproducts of honesty, hard work, thought leadership and authentic passion around your trade. Find someone who’s not willing to sacrifice those most scalable attributes while they consult.”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0ANDREW LOOS of\u00a0Attack!<\/p>\n

Excitement About Your Idea<\/h3>\n

“We want someone who is as excited about our idea as we are — because that’s what gets people motivated to help you beyond what’s necessary. ”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0BENISH SHAH of\u00a0Before the Label<\/p>\n

An Action-Oriented Personality<\/h3>\n

“The one quality we always look for when thinking through an advisory board is the ability for the person to translate his advice to action. When choosing between a big name and someone who actually greases the wheels and participates, I would always pick the latter. ”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0AZITA ARDAKANI of\u00a0Love Social<\/p>\n

Deep Industry Knowledge<\/h3>\n

“You want someone who has strong industry expertise that you can use for strategic planning. Their involvement in your industry will also mean a larger professional network that you can utilize. And their deep knowledge of your industry will help you to avoid making major mistakes.”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0DAVID EHRENBERG of\u00a0Early Growth Financial Services<\/p>\n

Culture Fit<\/h3>\n

“Culture fit sounds like something that is talked about frequently during employee hiring, but not during board-building processes. If the advisors of the company don’t understand the personality, passion and purpose of the startup they’re helping, their advice is likely to miss the mark, and the entrepreneurs may end up taking it with a grain of salt.”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0SHRADHA AGARWAL of\u00a0ContextMedia<\/p>\n

Alignment With Key Team Members<\/h3>\n

“One of my favorite ideas for adding advisors is matching them up with one of your executives\/key team members. They often need them just as much as you do!”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0DEREK FLANZRAICH of\u00a0Greatist<\/p>\n

Communication Skills<\/h3>\n

“Communication skills are essential. If he can\u2019t communicate advice \u2013 or communicates it badly \u2013 it won\u2019t help you succeed. All that knowledge is wasted.”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0JORDAN GUERNSEY of\u00a0Molding Box<\/p>\n

Networking Skills<\/h3>\n

“The ability to network is crucial. People don\u2019t realize how important it is to have a strategic advisor who can connect you with the right people and resources to help expand your company faster.”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0AARON PITMAN of\u00a0RA Domain Capital<\/p>\n

Intelligence<\/h3>\n

“Intelligence is essential. Advisors should be wicked smart, with black-and-white common sense so anything can be debated (and never argued). ”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0ZIVER BIRG of\u00a0ZIVELO<\/p>\n

Diversity<\/h3>\n

“I stacked my advisory board with a cross-section of people: doctors, vice presidents, managers, retirees and average Joes. I also went with customers and non-customers who were people I respected and wanted advice from. Don’t forget that these people need to share a diverse background of experience to draw from if they’re going to be of assistance to your company.”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0ROBBY HILL of\u00a0HillSouth<\/p>\n

Experience<\/h3>\n

“One quality you need from an advisor is experience in the trenches of business. If you have someone on your advisory board who\u2019s been where you want to go and can help you avoid pitfalls, you’re saving yourself a lot of headaches. ”<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0JOE BARTON of\u00a0Barton Publishing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our friends at the\u00a0YEC\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here’s what they shared: Coaching Ability “The best advisors don’t just tell you the answer. They know that they don’t know the answer, and the best way to help is to ask powerful questions that get a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":884,"featured_media":34293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our friends at the\u00a0YEC\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here's \u2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our friends at the\u00a0YEC\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here's \u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ideas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-29T20:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-30T23:09:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Creator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Creator\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Creator\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3e2bc5c0752a17243d4c1be710f27f26\"},\"headline\":\"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-29T20:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-30T23:09:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024\",\"articleSection\":[\"Professional Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member\",\"name\":\"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-29T20:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-30T23:09:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Our friends at the\u00a0YEC\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here's \u2026\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Professional Development\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"name\":\"Ideas\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WeWork\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"width\":55,\"height\":55,\"caption\":\"WeWork\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3e2bc5c0752a17243d4c1be710f27f26\",\"name\":\"Creator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb563d5ddf6491c43bbad28f4b2a5dce3c156c680f8fc10cff7e176ac9666823?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb563d5ddf6491c43bbad28f4b2a5dce3c156c680f8fc10cff7e176ac9666823?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Creator\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author\/creator\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member","description":"Our friends at the\u00a0YEC\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here's \u2026","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member","og_description":"Our friends at the\u00a0YEC\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here's \u2026","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member","og_site_name":"Ideas","article_published_time":"2014-01-29T20:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-30T23:09:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Creator","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Creator","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member"},"author":{"name":"Creator","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3e2bc5c0752a17243d4c1be710f27f26"},"headline":"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member","datePublished":"2014-01-29T20:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-30T23:09:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member"},"wordCount":604,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024","articleSection":["Professional Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member","name":"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024","datePublished":"2014-01-29T20:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-30T23:09:20+00:00","description":"Our friends at the\u00a0YEC\u00a0asked 12 entrepreneurs to share what they look for in a potential advisory board member. Here's \u2026","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024","width":1280,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/12-qualities-look-advisory-board-member#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Professional Development","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"12 qualities to look for in an advisory board member"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","name":"Ideas","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization","name":"WeWork","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","width":55,"height":55,"caption":"WeWork"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3e2bc5c0752a17243d4c1be710f27f26","name":"Creator","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb563d5ddf6491c43bbad28f4b2a5dce3c156c680f8fc10cff7e176ac9666823?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb563d5ddf6491c43bbad28f4b2a5dce3c156c680f8fc10cff7e176ac9666823?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Creator"},"url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author\/creator"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/board-meeting.jpg?fit=1280%2C1024","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/884"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46347,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6014\/revisions\/46347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}