The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how academic advisors describe the influence of manager support on their competence and confidence in the Southwest United States. The theoretical foundation selected to guide this study was the Self-efficacy Theory. Two research questions were developed for the investigation: 1) How do academic advisors describe the influence of manager support on their competence? and 2) How do academic advisors describe the influence of manager support on their confidence? All participants were community college academic advisors with at least one year of experience. The target population for this study included over 2,000 academic advisors employed in community colleges in the Southwest United States. The sample was 176 community college academic advisors; 12 participated in the interviews, and six of the 12 participated in a member-checking focus group. Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis was used to study the collected data. The results from the thematic analysis provided 84 codes used to develop 16 initial themes, leading to the discovery of six themes to answer the research questions. The findings suggested that managers can influence competence and confidence by demonstrating trust and providing support, encouragement, and training opportunities. Future research could focus on how advisors perceive their organization, non-advising departments, faculty, or administration influence their competence and confidence. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]