Best Advice: Having a personal "Board of Directors"
I wanted to do a little series on my favorite pieces of advice that I have received in my career, and I thought that I would start with one of the pieces of advice that I rely on the most. When discussing mentorship with someone who I ironically consider to be one of my mentors, she said that she didn't really like the idea of having "just one" mentor. Instead, she suggested the idea of curating your own board of directors.
The concept is: much like a company needs a range of leaders with different backgrounds to provide strategic direction, each of us needs a range of advisors to help point us in the right direction. Your board of directors may change throughout your career as you have different roles, different needs, different challenges - and as you develop new relationships. Unlike the traditional "mentorship" model where you seek out someone whose career or style you might want to emulate, in your board of directors, you might have people who you work for, your peers, who work for you, trusted friends or family. The important piece in having a board of directors is a group of people who will be honest with you, or perhaps said differently, who will give you the "kind truth" when you need it.
I've always loved this concept -- for a number of reasons. First, true "mentorship" takes a lot of time to build. Periodically, I have had people ask me to be their formal mentor; but at least for me, as a mentor and mentee, I find that I do better in mentorship relationships for the people with whom I work most closely and have naturally built the mentorship relationship organically. That said, sometimes you outgrow those relationships; other times you need the advice or perspective of someone outside of your immediate day-to-day to give you a different perspective on a challenge that you are working through.
Second, I've written about how I've found few "mentors" who are in the same career place as what I aspire to be - an executive working mother in consulting. They exist, but are rare. I sometimes joke that there aren't a lot of female executives in consulting and then among that pool it gets even smaller when you are looking for a female who is married, who has young kids, who is in a two career relationship.But, that said, that doesn't mean that I am lacking for guidance during this stage of my career; just that I might not find it with someone who has shared a similar path.
My board of directors has some pretty incredible people:
The concept is: much like a company needs a range of leaders with different backgrounds to provide strategic direction, each of us needs a range of advisors to help point us in the right direction. Your board of directors may change throughout your career as you have different roles, different needs, different challenges - and as you develop new relationships. Unlike the traditional "mentorship" model where you seek out someone whose career or style you might want to emulate, in your board of directors, you might have people who you work for, your peers, who work for you, trusted friends or family. The important piece in having a board of directors is a group of people who will be honest with you, or perhaps said differently, who will give you the "kind truth" when you need it.
I've always loved this concept -- for a number of reasons. First, true "mentorship" takes a lot of time to build. Periodically, I have had people ask me to be their formal mentor; but at least for me, as a mentor and mentee, I find that I do better in mentorship relationships for the people with whom I work most closely and have naturally built the mentorship relationship organically. That said, sometimes you outgrow those relationships; other times you need the advice or perspective of someone outside of your immediate day-to-day to give you a different perspective on a challenge that you are working through.
Second, I've written about how I've found few "mentors" who are in the same career place as what I aspire to be - an executive working mother in consulting. They exist, but are rare. I sometimes joke that there aren't a lot of female executives in consulting and then among that pool it gets even smaller when you are looking for a female who is married, who has young kids, who is in a two career relationship.But, that said, that doesn't mean that I am lacking for guidance during this stage of my career; just that I might not find it with someone who has shared a similar path.
My board of directors has some pretty incredible people:
- My husband who is ironically maybe the person who is closest in career to me - in terms of career trajectory, consulting background, and tackling the same personal challenges as me
- My sister who is a dynamo, a rockstar woman, who has broken down barriers for women in professional sports and is the most personable and warm person I know
- Several bosses or former bosses who have shepherded me, challenged me, and become almost like family to me throughout professional and personal challenges
- Several members of my team who work with and for me whose candor, energy, and perseverance inspire me daily (I can't wait to work for them one day!)
Comments
Post a Comment