Who Would Be On Your Board of Directors?
Have you ever thought about how beneficial it would be to have your very own Board of Directors? A group of people specifically focused on supporting you as you navigate all the aspects of your life. A panel of experienced individuals invested in the focus you place on career, family, kids, health, and relationships. A group of people who are your GPS to help navigate the ebb and flow of competing interests towards living the kind of life you want to realize.
Think about it. We are all familiar with the role a Board of Directors plays in organizations. This a group of individuals with varied backgrounds, each offering a unique perspective and expertise whose role is to help the organization ensure its success. They keep it focused on its mission. They confirm that values and long-term vision are considered in key decisions. They are also a great resource when things don’t go exactly as planned. Be it resetting priorities, reallocating or approving investments or just encouraging patience in staying the course – a strong board is a critical element in an organization’s long-term growth and success.
So why not have one in life? What would it be like to engage five people, for a specific period of time, whose job it was to ensure your time, choices, investments, mind space, and commitments were comprehensively serving the long-term vision and values you set for life. Imagine having to report to them on a quarterly basis and grade your performance against the metrics you set for tracking your own version of success.
Who would you choose to be on your board? I suspect if I asked this question with a specific focus on your career, your business, or your growth as a leader, it would be easy to come up with a group of people to advise, guide, and offer expertise. But when it comes to life, it can be a much more complicated equation. It requires consideration about your true priorities and an honest assessment of how those align with where you focus your time and resources. Would you select people who would hold you accountable for your commitments and stated vision - pushing you to think bigger or expect more of yourself? Would they be people willing to share hard truths with you and require introspection of your real motives or would you prefer board members who make you feel comfortable – approving short term decisions with little regard for their impact on your vision or mission?
Determining who you would appoint to your board can be a great exercise into understanding what you really want to be accountable for in your life’s plan vs. what you say you do. It may be that who would appoint today is not who you would appoint five years from now. And by the way – that is fine. Just like corporations, we grow, we change, and we require different levels of expertise at different times. All Directors have a shelf life. For today, would you appoint your spouse or partner? How would you feel if they held you accountable to the commitments you made?
My two kids would be on my board of directors. They would be there because they never hesitate to hold me accountable, love to share hard truths with me, and truly want to see me happy and fulfilled in my life. They only caveat I would have in appointing them would be clarifying our roles – they would not be Co-Chairs of the Board. I would be appointed Chair and I would no longer be their Treasurer.
I would also appoint a friend who had the courage to tell me once that sometimes I make things about me that aren’t about me – stinging feedback I remember to this day and work on regularly. I would also invite a colleague I met a few years ago who I truly admire. She recently shared with me the impression she had of me when we first met. I was shocked - in a very positive way – by her description of how she saw me. She described me as the person I truly want to be but struggle mightily seeing myself as. Having someone on your board of directors who sees you closer to where you want to be than you realize yourself is equally as important as having someone who can tell you what you are missing.
Who do you choose to serve on your board and share the mission, vision, and values you want to guide the corporation of you? What expertise do you need today to help you realize who you want to be tomorrow?Thinking about this can be insightful in determining if where you are spending your resources is aligned with what you say really matters and where you want to go.
