To diagnose and treat your company's problems, you can't stop with a second opinion.
Throughout history, leaders at the top of business and government have relied on trusted outsiders to test their ideas and pick apart their assumptions. Clark Clifford, who counseled Democratic and Republican presidents for decades, coined the term for these indispensable yet often unknown advisors: the third opinion. These are the folks who tell the hard truths, who give executives their reality check. ¶ Dr. Saj-nicole Joni, a former MIT science professor and Microsoft executive, says the third opinion can be the kind of advice that helps people navigate their way up the corporate ladder. For top-level managers, however, it's paramount - because as they advance, executives become increasingly isolated and find themselves less and less able to get objective input inside their companies.

A third-opinion advisor to some of the top corporate executives in the world, Joni became so convinced of the power of outside perspective that she not only founded Cambridge International Group Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in it, but she also took three years to interview hundreds of executives and their counselors to better understand how and why the third opinion is so vital. The result is her book, The Third Opinion: How Successful Leaders Use Outside Insight to Create Superior Results (Penguin Group, 2004). American Way recently spoke with Joni about when to seek a third opinion, how to find a good outside advisor, and why that advisor shouldn't give you, well, advice.