CHAPTER 10

Developing Your Knights of the Roundtable

Imagine King Arthur sitting around a roundtable with his key advisors giving him extraordinary advice. While this scene may be more from a movie than real life, it is a sound point. Successful people get advice from other successful people, not just in business, but also in life.

If you think about the construction of a corporate board of directors, it will include people with strengths in varying areas of business and different industries, if it is constructed well. They provide insights, challenge direction and strategy, and drive accountability. And they will all be really good at what they do.

Now take that to a personal level. What would your life look like if you were deliberate in creating a personal board of directors to help you be successful? We’ve covered a lot of ground in this book so far. Where are your gaps? What do you want to learn and focus on, both professionally and personally?

All of the people I interviewed for this book have sought advice over the course of their careers. They have people who they can speak with about certain topics—to seek advice and challenge their thinking. They have all developed relationships over their lifetimes that are appropriate for each point in time.

As they’ve grown, they’ve developed new relationships with people who can challenge them at each stage of their careers and lives. They’ve recognized that the insights and understanding of the demands change.

While each would not claim to be deliberate in building a personal board of directors, you’ll find a deliberateness in seeking out advice and creating conditions for holding one’s self accountable.

Many times, people know they need help staying on track, and they pay people to help them stay the course. Like many executives, Alan Weiss hires a personal trainer to stay on track with his exercise program. Marshall Goldsmith hires a person to keep him on track with his personal commitments.

Alan Mulally held himself accountable with his family by using a weekly review process where he and his family went through the family goals for the week. The process forced him to make his personal and family goals a priority.

What they all have done in an informal manner is create a personal board of directors. They have people who push them, share insights, and hold them accountable. And they have changed those board members over time based on shifting circumstances.

There are three performance accelerators we can take away from these successful leaders about how to create and utilize a personal board of directors.

Pozzo Performance Accelerators:

1. Design your personal board of directors that sets you up to outperform.
2. Establish your personal goals.
3. Enroll your directors.

Successful people get advice from other successful people, not just in business, but also in life. A personal board of directors helps you keep focused on your personal goals and objectives, resulting in a fulfilling life. They challenge you. They push you to achieve your personal best. And they hold you accountable when you aren’t focused on the things that you claim are a priority. While you will always have family members who can give you a perspective, it is important to have people outside your family circle and business to broaden your perspective.

Performance Accelerator 1: Design Your Personal Board of Directors That Sets You up to Outperform

As you think about building your personal board of directors, there are several “seats” that should be filled. A number of these can be filled by paying an advisor or coach. Others may be filled by people you respect. Here’s a few you should consider:

• Career advice: Throughout your career, you will need to learn new skills, develop internal and external networks, and have people who help you advance in your roles. You may have several people who fill this role to challenge you on what you are doing well and fill gaps necessary to have a successful career.

  Back when I was at Fluor, a coworker and I mapped out what was necessary to advance our careers, in terms of both education and experience. He and I were both in mid-career and thinking about our career growth. We continued to bounce ideas off each other for a few years. It was a great exercise, and one I’ve found is not deliberately undertaken enough.

• Business advice: There will be challenges in your business from time to time that require you to seek advice external to your company. Absolute confidentiality and depth of experience are necessary when seeking advice.

  Each of the leaders I spoke with reflected that they had people they spoke with at different times in their career. I’ve observed many successful people reaching out to others to inform their decision making. They aren’t just looking for “yes” people. They want their thinking to be challenged. And thus, the people who they are looking to for advice must be similarly situated in their careers. Conversely, the folks I’ve observed struggling to make their businesses survive want to do it all themselves and don’t seek out good advice.

• Liberal arts: Fundamental to the liberal arts is first principle thinking. A first principle is the foundation. If you are trying to work a problem, you have to go to the foundation to find the solution; it requires a logical process. There is a basis in logic and perspective that many times is not taught as part of a business education. Having people who are steeped in the liberal arts will challenge your thinking and provide a different perspective.

  You may be scratching your head on this one. Through the course of conversations about this book with successful leaders in the business community, this topic came up more than I would have expected. Leaders who have both business and liberal arts educations credit their liberal arts education with giving them a broader and more strategic perspective.

  Stephen Babson believes a grounding in the humanities leads to a broader perspective, the ability to communicate with and relate to people on a deeper level, and a broader appreciation for the issues of the day. This grounding also leads to pattern recognition—the ability to spot trends and patterns across a wide array of conditions.

• Philanthropy: Philanthropy is a highly personal subject. Many people provide time and money as they become more successful in their careers. But not all philanthropic endeavours are equal. Understanding organizational effectiveness is important. Having a trusted perspective with no skin in the game is helpful in determining where to give back.

  Becoming involved in philanthropy at some level is something many leaders find grounding. The higher you move in an organization and the more financially successful you become, the farther away from the daily struggles of life you become.

  The most successful leaders I spoke with felt part of their success enabled them to give back to the community in areas where they had a passion. They all had a common view about ensuring their contributions went toward the mission, not overhead. They deliberately evaluated the impact of the organizations they supported. And many times they had a neutral perspective in making that evaluation. Accessible to everyone is Charity Navigator. More sophisticated and wealthy individuals have personalized, typically hired, support in making their decisions.

• Personal financial advice: The point of financial planning is to ensure you have the lifestyle you want when you retire. If you plan to retire at 60 and expect to live until 85 or 90, that is 25 to 30 years of income to cover. The key to this is to start early and assign someone to keep you on track.

  Surprised to see this one here? Most people think they are on track financially until they are about to retire. Divorces, kids in college, medical emergencies, etc., have a way of derailing many people. Retirement has been delayed years for a number of executives I know, because finances were not in the right place to support their lifestyle.

• Physical well-being: Getting daily exercise can become a challenge with all of the pulls on your time. It is much easier to get to the gym, take a walk or run, or do an exercise video if you have others doing it with you.

  The most successful executives who do well in this arena have a level of commitment to a person or group of people. Some have a personal trainer. Others have a team exercise, like basketball, baseball, or soccer. Still others have a group class they take where relationships have been developed. There is a level of accountability to the trainer or group that causes them to keep going.

• Emotional well-being: Life has high and low points. When you hit a tough patch, who can you reach out to for support? Having this relationship is important before it is needed.

  The most successful leaders I’ve seen have a support network that kicks into gear when major life events happen. Usually there are many who provide support at different levels and from different aspects. For some, church plays a role. Close relationships at the gym allow for stress relief. Individual friends play varying roles—from meals and lodging to a shoulder to cry on. They also push the person not to wallow, but to come to grips quickly and move on in life.

• Positivity: You know those people who are great to be around because they are always upbeat? You may be one and have an unlimited source of positivity. If you aren’t, make sure you have people in your life who are and spend time with them.

  A consistent theme with all the successful leaders I’ve observed is a positive outlook. They are deliberate in creating a positive mindset every day. They don’t spend time with people who are constantly negative. They cut them out of their sphere. They consistently spend time with people who are positive in their outlook. That doesn’t mean they aren’t realistic. It means they enjoy life and look forward to living it.

• Accountability Partner: Marshall Goldsmith has shared one of his secrets to making progress on things that are important to him, such as spending time with his family. His secret is having someone who calls him every day to ask him five or six questions. They are yes or no questions, and the call takes no more than 5 minutes, but it keeps his priorities front and center.

Each of these considerations may or may not fit with what you find important today and for your future. The great thing about a personal board is you can add or subtract at any time. The key point is you have a support system to help you achieve your goals and stay focused and balanced in your life.

Performance Accelerator 2: Establish Your Personal Goals

At different stages of life, you will have different priorities. As a leader in your business, it is important that you feel satisfied and whole in your personal life in order to be effective at work. You only have one life, and how you feel about each aspect of your life will affect how you show up.

As you think about your personal goals (which may include a professional component), consider the questions on the worksheet in Table 10.1:

Table 10.1 Your focused personal goals

You shouldn’t have more than three significant goals at any given time, as more than that will draw your focus away from real priorities. Goals may include:

• Getting a promotion
• Running a larger business
• Spending more time with family
• Starting a family
• Retiring in the next 5 years
• Improving your personal financial position
• Losing weight
• Adopting a healthier lifestyle
• Learning about other cultures or places

These goals should fit in with your long-term priorities—the stepping stones to get you to where you want to be.

These goals are the basis for your focus for the year—and the driver for who to engage as part of your personal board. As you share your short- and longer-term perspectives, you may find that you don’t have the right goals for the near-term to accomplish your longer-term perspectives.

Having an open mind and willingness to be challenged by your personal board of directors are important to having a successful relationship. The board should be there to push you to grow—which requires you to adjust your approach to be successful.

Performance Accelerator 3: Enroll Your Directors

You will accomplish what you make a priority. It is an easy concept, but hard to implement and really embrace. But once you do, your personal board of directors can help you stay on track. Here are a few characteristics to consider when selecting your board members:

Who Will Challenge Your Thinking?

It is really easy to surround yourself with people who think like you and agree with your perspectives. That doesn’t help you grow. Who in your circle has a different viewpoint that is at odds with yours? Who stretches your thinking by getting you to see possibilities you hadn’t realized existed?

Who Inspires You to Grow?

These people may or may not be working in your current business. They see the potential in you and challenge you to develop your skills. They understand your passion and challenge you to be your best. They push you to align your values with what you do every day. They inspire you to become your best self.

Who Will Call B.S. When You Start Making Excuses?

You do many things well. And some things not so well. Who knows you well enough to give you an unvarnished, helpful perspective? There may be two people—one at work and one in life. Build on your strengths, and shore up your weaknesses. It is important to be specific on the areas that need help, and not to generalize them. Conversely, generalizing strengths is appropriate. Who can you recruit to give you a frank and constructive perspective?

Who Is Trustworthy?

You can never guarantee absolute confidentiality and must be careful not to reveal sensitive information in your conversations. But, the people you are enrolling as personal board members should have high character and not repeat conversations you have with them.

Imagine a board table with 10 to 12 seats around it. Half should be people that can give you professional advice and the other half, personal advice. Each of the seats represents a role you would like represented on your personal board. It may look like the one shown in Figure 10.1:

Figure 10.1 Your personal board of directors

When thinking about who should fill each seat, you may want to consider a few candidates, as your first choice may not have the capacity to serve on your personal board at this time. The selections should have the characteristics previously described. Here’s a worksheet that can help you think through your selections (Table 10.2):

Table 10.2 Your personal board of directors slate of candidates

You should also think through how much time you are going to ask of them. Is it an hour per quarter over lunch or dinner? A periodic phone call for 10 minutes? Be thoughtful in how much time you ask for.

When you engage your personal board of directors, invite them to participate on your personal board. Explain your goals, why you are reaching out to them, and what role you would like them to play—and make sure they are OK with all of it. When they fill that role, make sure you are ready for conducting the board meetings. Time is a limited resource, so you should be fully engaged when you are working with your personal board of directors. There should be something in it for them. Buy them lunch or dinner, or provide support to them in other ways. And don’t forget to express your appreciation.

The seats on your board may change over time, as you grow and your life changes. Relationships will naturally run their course and conclude. New needs will arise that may drive the need for new directors.

Your Actions

The most successful people have coaches, mentors, and a support system. They may not officially call this a personal board of directors, but they have one nonetheless. Do you want to accelerate your success by creating a personal board of directors? Here are some questions to consider:

• What seats do you need to fill on your board based on your current goals?
• How are you finding blind spots and getting advice to avoid them?
• Why did you not fill certain seats (because focusing on it is too hard, or is it actually not needed now)?
• Who is your accountability partner?
• How will you respond when you get pushed by your accountability partner?
• What actions are you taking to enroll your directors?
• Who are your board candidates?
• What is in it for them to be on your board?
• What other gaps do you need to close after reading this chapter, and what resources do you need to close them?