We often hear that it’s important to “surround yourself with good people to be successful”. What if we all had a small group of people to guide us towards success in our careers and balance in our lives?
Advisor boards in startup companies
Many startup and early growth companies today rely on external advisors to accelerate their growth. In addition to the board of directors, startups often form informal or formal advisory boards. These boards are made up of experienced seasoned business people who can provide strategic advice from an external standpoint.
At Busbud, we currently have about 7 people on our advisory board. We have travel industry veterans who ran companies such as Expedia, Orbitz and TripAdvisor, as well as technology and marketing experts who operated at senior levels at Google and Facebook. During the past two years, our advisors have provided us with very useful advice that has saved us a lot of time. They have frequently helped us to see things in a different light and regularly opened doors for us with their business networks.
This got me thinking recently. Why wouldn’t business people also similarly have an advisory board or committee for their own career development?
Creating your own personal advisory board
Your personal “advisory board” will generally actually be pretty informal, and its role will be to help you make progress more quickly.
Who should be on this “committee”? You can have a mix of colleagues, peers, business contacts or even friends. You may want some of them to be outside of your direct workplace so they have the necessary distance for greater objectivity. They could also be more professional mentors, business coaches or human resources professionals. It’s really up to you.
Personally, my career advisory committee is comprised of a few key people around me. Some are more experienced entrepreneurs and investors, as well as executives or leaders from more traditional businesses (ie non-tech and non-startup). Some are also peers who are also young entrepreneurs themselves, whom I consider smart and thoughtful peers.
The key is to have a little variety. If your committee is made up of only of 1–2 people, or 5 of your co-workers, you may lack the wealth of perspectives that a larger and more diverse group could provide. It’s exactly this diversity that makes an advisory board approach more appealing than relying on one individual mentor, and avoids you from get trapped in a single monolithic view of the world or of a particular problem. A variety of mentors generates a variety of perspectives to consider, which leads to better outcomes.
My personal “committee” is neither formal nor official. In fact, it’s more a group of people that I try to meet about once a month. I meet most of them individually, but occasionally there can be a few of them around the table. It’s not a monumental event. It’s usually a lunch or a coffee, with some time to connect and to exchange on the current challenges.
The right type of advisors
What are the desired qualities for an ideal member of your committee? Here are a few I look for:
- Critical thinking: The ideal member isn’t afraid to question or challenge you directly. Usually, close friends and family members want only the best for us, but don’t have sufficient distance from us to be objective when it comes to our choices.
- Empathy: The ideal member is able to listen and assess without immediately passing judgement. He or she should also be able to put themselves “in your shoes” so they can understand your context, rather than simply telling you mechanically what to do.
- Trust: There must be a healthy climate for exchange based on mutual respect, in which both sides feel comfortable to confidentially discuss real challenges, delicate topics and difficult decisions.
- Availability: The ideal member must be ready to invest a reasonable amount of time in these exchanges and do so on a regular basis. A monthly frequency is conducive to pertinent conversations, but a quarterly frequency can also work well.
- Capacity to add value: The ideal member doesn’t just listen. He/she is able to participate and add value to the conversation, either by citing his/her own baggage of experiences, by asking questions for further reflection or by making introductions to move a project forward.
Obviously, this relationship can and should be reciprocal. In fact, I would even say that it often is by default. For the people with whom I exchange, I am always ready to provide constructive assistance, to listen and even to help when I can. With active listening and a willingness to help, it is almost always possible to contribute.
Getting started
Where can you find these people for your career advisory committee? For business people, it’s often possible to meet them at conferences or networking activities in your city. In Montreal, for example, you may try the regular networking events of the Jeune Chambre de Commerce du Québec and try to find experienced leaders from your industry or function, or even professionals who have similar challenges. For students, you can try to tap your school’s alumni network. For entrepreneurs, there are more structured mentor networks like the Réseau M organized by the Fondation de l’Entrepreneurship (3,300 members). That said, the best route is often to further in your own network beyond the first level of your direct entourage.
Look around you. There are people ready to help you. There are people who have the ability to accelerate your professional development if you are ready and willing to invest some time into it and be open to the process. These people can also potentially help you achieve your careers goals, as well as a long-term work-life balance. It’s easier to find success in your career and in your life when you have a small support group.
[Note: This article was originally published in Les Affaires.]
Photo: Source.