E10 : Who are your Personal Board of Directors?

Hello Career Trekkers, Welcome to 10th of our newsletter. In this edition I am sharing about the concept of "Personal Board of Directors". We usually hear about the a company having, "Board of directors" who act as a sounding board, mentors for the CEO and the top management of the company. As a popular saying goes, "Each one of us are CEO's of our career". Hence it is important to have a board of directors support you, while you make your all important career strategy and key decisions.

If you are doing well on your own in your career, then you will do 10x better with personal board of directors supporting you.

Whom should have on your board is the next question?

A Mentor from a similar or same industry

You should definitely have a Mentor, who is in the same or similar industry who can guide on your developmental needs and future career path. He/She is one who has walked a similar path that you would like to take. What do I need to do to take my career to the next level is something that you mentor will answer for you? Once a quarter kind of discussion is good for future gazing the industry trends and tweaking your career development roadmap.

A Challenger

The Challenger can be your peer or senior who has your best-interest in their mind. He/She is capable and comfortable to tell you on the face, what is working well and not working well for you. This person should be having a close-view of your work-life. It is fantastic to have a challenger you trust in your company or department. He/She may not say pleasing things to you always, but surely helps you grow and be on the right track.

A Cheer Leader

Having an all weather friend, who cheers you up always is equally important. They lift up your spirit and always helps in reinforcing the confidence

A Pacer

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal credit each other for their success. They brought their best game out while playing against each other. It is important to have someone on your board, who is as successful if not more. He/She will bring the best out of you and make you constantly stretch your boundary.

A Pole Vaulter

It is important to have someone whose world-view/Network is much much larger/richer/wider than yours. He/She can from time to time open up a new world for you to explore. This person can be very resourceful network breaker, who can help you connect and access ideas, perspectives, opportunities and platforms that are essential for your next leap.

A Reverse Mentor

A reverse mentor is someone much younger than you and can help significantly in bridging the perspectives that you miss because of the generational gap. Your world-view will get much richer and helps you know and learn things which you would have not done otherwise.

If you don't have any one of the above, do onboard them quickly. I assure you that regular interactions with your personal board of directors would immensely accelerate your success.

Also do remember to play one or more of the above roles for your colleagues and friends. You should be a member of someone else's Personal Board of Directors as well.

PBOD acts as a spring board for your success and your should be a spring board for someone else as well. To be successful, you should more people succeed.

Lets take the next few days/weeks in setting up your PBOD if you don't have all positions filled. If you already have someone as your mentor, cheer leader, challenger, reverse mentor, do tag them here and share your gratitude.