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Comment by adamgordonbell | Hacker News Reader

Some CEO's have executive coaches that they pay lots of money to. Are good executive coaches good CEOs? No, they are good executive coaches, but that's ok, because that is their job.

Are there executive coaches who are successful and yet give bad advice? Probably, but probably some excellent executive coaches learn to pattern match on problems and deliver a lot of value.

So, this is my long-winded way of saying advice can be valuable even if it comes from someone lacking the skill to use the advice. So, take advice with a grain of salt, realize much advice is autobiographical, but still, it can be valuable.

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this is what i came here to say (take with a grain of salt of course, because i also do developer advice).

Magnus Carlsen has a coach. Serena Williams has a coach. To some extent you really don't care whether your coach is themselves independently capable, you only care that they make you better. it could be a rubber duck, it could be a talking tree, it could be a blog on "how to be great developer".

that said, yeah some of the advice out there is definitely bullshit, some other advice works for some but not others. you have to sift through all that/keep an open mind to just find the advice that works for you.

"Be wary of advice from people who suffer no consequences if that advice is wrong" - someone

If I'm a CEO, I'm going to take advice from people who are successful CEO's, then people who have been CEO's longer than I have, then my peers, THEN maybe everyone else. MAYBE. But doubtful.

Most of these "executive coach" positions are cheerleaders, and for sure cheerleaders have a purpose, but advice aint it.

It's one thing if we're talking about an investor who has watched many CEO's over the years, it's another if it's a dude who is paid to give soundbites.

In any field there are obvious mistakes that all the beginners make and are well understood. The message that beginners need to hear - "this is a common mistake, don't do it!" - can be farmed out to an adviser who doesn't understand the field.

In my experience, even having someone to repeat things I already know every so often can be a helpful form of advice.

That's a reasonable caveat but we both know that isn't what these advisors are advertising.

I read the advice you quoted in Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb.

What consequences does a CEO suffer if the advice that he gives other CEO's turns out to be wrong?

“Take the advice of other successful CEOs” … are those other CEOs working for you day to day? How are they giving advice tailored to your company’s needs that go beyond the typical “invest in your employees” line that everyone knows.

There’s a reason there are coaches as they can do the work full time and can offer better advice.

Importantly: a lot of advice is contextual. If you lack the context, then it’s just noise.

Part of what makes an executive coach any good is the relationships they develop so that they can offer relevant advice.

A lot of startup “advice” is like that. What people think matters probably didn’t, and what worked in one case probably won’t in yours. Context is king.

Context is king. I like that.

So if someone is writing from experience similar to yours, it might be pretty valuable, but it will never be as context specific as having a coach would be. Same for friends who you know are a step or two ahead of you and who have the time to give you advice - it sounds like that would be super valuable as well.

There's two sides to this though:

> Are good executive coaches good CEOs? No

No, but what do executive coaches do / contribute to a CEO's day-to-day & are they good at executing on that specific domain in their own lives/careers - yes.

In the same vein:

1. are development bloggers knowledgeable about the subjects they write about but less talented at executing on those topics efficiently.

2. are development bloggers both knowledgeable and effective in their chosen subject & also excellent time managers (prolific in both blogging and developing)

3. are they bad

I think all 3 of the above are possible (though the 2nd is extremely rare, & the 3rd is likely pretty common).

Slight variation on this one: You can spot what great developers are doing even if you're not one of them. I may at the same time not think of some situation when writing code, but also notice that someone did catch it, that it's important and non-obvious, and that the comment they wrote about it is very thoughtful.

You can spot SOME things great developers do, others you'll think are terrible ideas because you yourself are not a great developer.

Or:

"those who can, do; those who can't, teach"

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