Imagine an old shepherd herding his flock of sheep in a remote pasture high in the mountains of Colorado.

Suddenly, a brand new Land Rover advances out of a cloud of dust. The driver is a young man about twenty-five, and he is dressed in an all silk Louie Roth^® suit, Gucci^® shoes, Ray Ban^® sunglasses, and has a Rolex^® on his wrist.

He leans out the window and shouts at the shepherd; “IF I TELL YOU EXACTLY HOW MANY SHEEP YOU HAVE IN YOUR FLOCK, WILL YOU GIVE ME ONE OF ‘EM?”

The old shepherd looks, shrugs, and says; “Yeah, sure.”

The young man parks his car, whips out his notebook computer, connects it to a cell phone, selects a NASA page on the internet where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system, scans the area, opens up a data base, and prints out a one-hundred fifty page report on his hi-tech miniaturized printer. Then, he turns to the shepherd and shouts; “YOU HAVE EXACTLY 1,586 SHEEP.”

The old shepherd stares, blinks, and says; “That’s right, help yourself to one of ‘em.”

The shepherd watches as the young man selects the animal he wants and bundles it into the back of his Land Rover. Then, just as the young man is about to drive off, the old shepherd holds up his hand and says to the young man; “Wait a minute, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my animal back?

The young man looks impatiently at the old shepherd and says; “Well, alright.”

The old shepherd says; “You’re a business consultant!”

The young man looks surprised and says; “THAT’S RIGHT, HOW DID YOU KNOW?”

The old shepherd says; “That’s easy. First you turn up here although nobody called you; second, you want to be paid for the answer to a question that I already knew the answer to; and third, you don’t know squat about my business – because you just took my DOG!”

That’s the end of the story. But, have you ever gotten counsel from someone that was worthless or worse? Have you ever wondered who can you TRUST when you need some counsel?

John Patrick is a business consultant, but his approach and his integrity is much different than the "business consultant" in this story.

 How can you determine who you can trust - especially when it comes to getting counsel? The answer is to TEST. By this we mean check out, try out, question and observe. Here are eight things you should look for when you are seeking counsel.

1. Look for someone who cares about you and what happens to you. If you seek counsel from those who care primarily about promoting themselves or getting money out of you, you are not likely to get good counsel. 

2. Look for someone who will help you embrace personal responsibility. You are responsible for yourself and you will be held accountable for your thoughts, words, actions, and motives. You need counselors who will help you embrace this, not those who will act as wizards with magical answers or baby-sitters who will protect you from the consequences of your actions. You need counselors who will help you examine yourself and accept personal responsibility, not help you blame others or your circumstances for what you do. You need counselors who will help you make decisions, not make the decisions for you.

3. Look for someone who has paid the price you are going to have to pay. You can learn the most from those who have already done what you are trying to do. For example, if you want counsel regarding building a business, you should not seek it from a government employee who has spent twenty years building seniority in order to retire with guaranteed income and benefits. Instead, you need to talk to someone who has built a business – maybe several businesses. 

4. Look for someone who has knowledge about what you are concerned about. This knowledge should be real (tested), not merely from some textbook. You should beware of those who act like they have all the answers. And you should remember, the knowledge you think you want is not necessarily the knowledge you need. You may want superficial formulas or quick answers to solve problems or relieve pressure. You need to examine where you are and why, define and understand your options, choose the best course of action, and follow through with the decisions you make. Someone with the knowledge of these things will be of the most help. 

5. Look for someone who is objective. Objectivity here means a lack of prejudice or hidden agendas. Objectivity is important in three areas. First, the person you seek counsel from needs to be objective about you – an employee who depends upon you for a paycheck, for example, is not likely to be objective about you. Second, the person you seek counsel from needs to be objective about the subject of the counseling. For example, someone who sells a particular investment is not going to be objective about where to invest. Third, the person you seek counsel from needs to be objective about the results of your actions. If your actions are likely to affect the counselor (financially, personally, or publicly), then their counsel may be tainted.

6. Look for someone who has the integrity to speak the truth. Many will flatter you, especially if they care more about your money (if you are paying them) or your approval (if they are your “friends”). Few will tell you the truth. Even fewer will be able to tell you the truth in a way that will help you.

7. Look for someone who can help you see the truth. It’s one thing for someone to tell you the truth. It is quite another for someone to help you see the truth.

8. Look for someone who will encourage you to do what you should do. It does little good for someone to help you see the truth, if seeing the truth is depressing or leaves you without hope. And it’s not enough to have someone encourage you by patting you on the back and telling you that “you can do it.” You need someone who can give you reasons for hope in the midst of struggles. You need someone who can help you see why it is worth it to do what you should do – even if it will be difficult or painful. You need someone who is willing to stand by you (with you) as you proceed to do what you should do.

FINALLY, you should not rely on only one person for counsel – you should seek a number of different counselors and then discern what you should do.

Here is an invitation: If you are a business owner, and you would like to find someone who you can TRUST to give you wise counsel without taking advantage of you, then please TEST John Patrick. Simply click “contact” at the top right of this page or call us at (503) 927-2750. John will come to your office and spend up to a couple of hours with you with no charge or obligation. You can use this time to TEST him and see if you think he is someone you can TRUST to give you further counsel or service. You can also learn more about John and how he counsels business owners by reading some of the stories and other material on this website.