Small and medium businesses need outside assistance in order to build the depth of capability that is required to compete effectively on the big stage that we now have.

I often advocate they have some sort of ‘Advisory board’ that delivers the guidance and experience to make a difference.

So, what sort of people should you look for to go onto that board? It is easy to suggest it be set up, but very hard to find the right people, particularly for SME’s with limited networks and resources to go and find these people.

Here are some of the characteristics that it seems to me are needed on such a board. It will be rare to find them all in one individual, and two brains are always better than one anyway, so look for some diversity at the same time. Of course, these are the personality traits you should look for, and are on top of the technical ones you may need, finance, engineering, marketing, and so on.

• They spend a lot of time ensuring that the right questions are asked, rather than jumping to the answers.
• They work from the challenge backwards to the current, rather than from the current forward. I call it hindsight planning when developing strategy, but it is also a mindset that ensures the problem being considered is adequately defined.
• They are looking to learn themselves, from the competitive and  strategic problems they see, the people they encounter, and the differing options that emerge from considering a problem. The last thing you want is someone who already knows all the answers!.
• They are biased towards action, rather than riding the status quo. Being prepared to take action, and sometimes be wrong, able to concede the mistake and move on again is a vital personal capability to seek.
• They treat your resources, as if they were their own.
• Underlying everything they do is the recognition that only by creating value for someone else can you move forward: Personally and commercially.

An alternative to an advisory board, is membership of one of the emerging ‘executive roundtable’ services, of which there are several. These ‘tables’ assemble the executives of non competing businesses into groups of 7 to 11, chaired by an experienced advisor and chair, and they act as each others advisory board. This model has the added advantage of addressing the hidden cost of the CEO of a medium sized business, loneliness. It is often a very lonely place, and such a table has a powerful social aspect as well as delivering great commercial value.

Everybody needs informed, and neutral advice and a sounding board to make better decisions.