Recently I had the opportunity to speak to a group of 175 business leaders of small and medium-sized organizations. The speaker prior to me told a fascinating story of rapid growth and success. That was all well and good, but I couldn’t help thinking out loud that whereas a lot of people were involved with them, no one was looking out for them!
Allow
me to expand up this story but I will omit all the names to protect privacy. As
I mentioned, I was the second speaker of the day, but the first speaker was
this incredibly energetic leader. They had grown their start-up focused on an
emerging technology to one of the most promising in the Southeast raising over
$1 billion in capital in an incredibly short time frame. They are the start-up
poster child – young, attractive, smart as a whip, incredibly well-spoken,
engaging and persuasive with just enough edge to them. They were also the epitome of what entrepreneurs hope
for. Rapid scaling, hockey stick growth, angel investors standing in line to
throw money at the enterprise, and almost instant rock-star status with the business
press. Sounds great, right?
The
story took a serious turn, though, when they shared that eventually they found
themselves in a precarious health situation and literally almost worked
themselves to death! The resulting stress and lack of support landed them in a
three-month hospital stay. Fortunately, they made a full recovery but as I was
listening to their story, they kept referencing a series of advisors and
investors they would interact with, however, as a leadership coach, I wanted to
ask the question, “Were any of these advisors, advocates?” I am
sure they were quick to offer business advice (mostly to protect their own
interests) but surely one of them could see what was happening to this gifted
leader. You would think they would have noticed the physical decline and the
subsequent drop in performance and offered assistance. Now perhaps one or more
of them eventually did, but it just appeared to be a little too little too
late.
I
wanted to ask another question that I am asking you now. This individual, like
you, has a lot of people wanting something from you and/or is depending on you,
but who is looking out for you?! Granted, when we put ourselves
in leadership roles, a certain degree of expectation is to be anticipated. This
is what John Maxwell refers to a Level 3 Leader where you are recognized as
high-potential due to your competence and what you have given or
produced to an enterprise. Eventually, however, if we do not receive,
then we can end up in such dire straights as described above. Perhaps if they
had a personal board of directors versus just a corporate board, then
the situation could have been avoided.
I
was first introduced to the concept of a Personal Board of Directors by author
and speaker, Dr. Tim Elmore. During a seminar, Tim described a group of
individuals who were pivotal in certain key aspects of his life that could
provide expertise and support in areas such as his business, faith walk, family
strength, personal finances, etc.
Much
like an executive coach, a Personal Board of Directors is intended to focus on you.
Keep in mind, though, that whereas the focus is on you it is not intended to
enable self-indulgent frailty. The purpose of such a board is so that you can
grow stronger, more resilient, and more knowledgeable so that you, in turn, can
do that for others. Leadership is ALWAYS about improving the condition
of others.
Author
Jeff Henderson outlines this concept in his book, What’s Next? and
provides guidance around how to develop your own board of directors:
Purpose:
you are not meeting to meet, rather the purpose is to help you in your decision
making, leadership, and effectiveness.
Guidelines:
in establishing the Personal Board of Directors, you should adopt key postures
to make the relationship mutually beneficial.
- Ask the right questions. Are you being strategic with their time?
- Clarify for yourself a realistic expectation. Your goal is improvement, not perfection!
- Nurture a learner’s mindset.
- Respect but don’t idolize your board members.
- Apply what you learn and tell them how and when you did!
- Reward your Board’s investment in you by getting better.
Who:
this is entirely up to you, but the most important decision you will make in
this process. Jeff recommends those men and women who are older, wiser, and
more experienced. 3 – 5 seems to be the ideal number of advisors at any given
time. Write out a few bullet points of what you are looking for in an advisor to
increase the likelihood this will actually manifest. Ask yourself key questions
as you consider who you would like to ask.
- Who believes in you?
- Who has time for you?
- Who encourages you?
- Who will speak truth to you?
- Who will challenge you?
Time:
a consistent meeting cadence of meeting once every six weeks for 12 months is
recommended. Offer to buy the coffee, breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Agenda:
it is your responsibility to be prepared for these meetings. Leadership expert
and author John Maxwell was mentored by the legendary coach, John Wooden. Maxwell
shares that every time he met with Coach Wooden, he would have legal pad of
questions prepared. Here are a few suggestions for you to share and ask:
- What you are excited about.
- What you are worried about.
- One area you need the most help with at the time of the meeting.
- What would you do if you were me?
Whereas
the story I shared in this blog is compelling, it is not unique. If you read
enough profiles of successful business leaders, you will find this is an all-too-common
theme of leaders burning themselves out because the people around them were
advisers but not advocates. There is also the recurring theme of these same
leaders eventually relying on sages and guides to help them through their “hero’s
journey”, to get their lives back in balance.
As always if I can help you and
the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I invite
you to contact me.
Yours in leadership,
Bill Faulkner
Independent Coach, Speaker,
and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Certified DISC Profile System
Consultant and Gallup Strengths Coach
Certified Designing Your Life
Coach
Email
= bill@outloudinc.com
Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com
For more information on the
John Maxwell Team, please visit
http://www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner/
Feel free to “LIKE” our FB
Page www.facebook.com/outloudinc
No comments:
Post a Comment