Personal Board of Advisors

Your Personal Brand NEEDS a Personal Board of Advisors

Large companies have a group of people to consult before making any major decisions that affect the company called the Board of Directors or Advisors. If you consider yourself a brand then you need to take the same precautions for various reasons. Your personal advisory board should consists of people who have your best interest at heart.

Ideally, your board would include a mentor, a motivator, a mother, an optimist, a frankster, a reminder and a friend. If you’re lucky enough to have one person who takes on all of these roles, great! But I would suggest enlisting a few more people so that you can get diverse views and opinions to help you make major decisions.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or trying to navigate and advance in corporate America, there will be decisions to be made that you may need some advice on before you can make those tough decisions. It’s not anything to be ashamed of, it’s actually healthy to talk about things. It’s not a must that you take all of their advice but it’s helpful to consider other views.

The Mentor:

Your mentor should be a veteran in your field. Think of your life and career as a journey, the mentor serves as a tour-guide. This person will hopefully help to make things slightly easier for you. They’ll tell you about their past mistakes and how to avoid or overcome them. They’ll cheer for your wins and help you to bounce back from your failures.

If you don’t already have a mentor, then seek one out. Once you find someone you want to have as a mentor, don’t be afraid to ask them.

The Motivator:

This person’s sole purpose is to push you to your maximum potential. They’re likely full of encouraging words helping to propel you reach your dreams. They encourage you to take risks. This person might overlap as the reminder or the optimist but that’s okay, just make sure you always have someone there to motivate you when you feel discouraged.

The Reminder:

The reminder never lets you forget your reasons for doing what you do. They won’t let you bask in a pit of hopelessness because you don’t have time for that. You have a purpose. You have goals to reach. And he or she will help get you back on track.

The Optimist:

You really should already have an optimist is your life. This person is a glass full of positive energy. We love the #positivevibesonly but this person is more than a hashtag; you can actually talk to them! They are fun, encouraging, and inspirational. This is your go-to person to pitch ideas. And every time you doubt yourself or hesitate on why you can’t do something, they’re going to give you five reasons why you can.

The Mother:

The mother is someone who cares about you in every aspect. It does not actually have to be your mother or even a woman, just a caring and grounded person. While he or she cheers for you, they will also tell you when you’re doing too much. They’ll let you know when they think you should slow down. They care about your health: mentally, physically, and spiritually.

The Frankster:

Yes, I made up a word but hear me out. The “frankster” is the realest person on your squad or board. They keep it “100” all the time. They’re so blunt that it hurts sometimes. You know the saying “the truth hurts,” well… here is the painful truth personified.

 But it’s important that this person is painfully honest out of love. While the optimist on your team will encourage you to jump and worry about the consequences later, the frankster will help to keep you a little more grounded and weigh out all options. They’ll let you know when an idea is completely outlandish. But they’ll also provide other suggestions. They are not purely negative. I think of this person like a grandma, because of the honesty and love.

The Friend:

 At last we get to the friend! “How many of us have them?...Real friends,”­—okay, Yeezy break over. You really do need a good friend who encompasses all of the aforementioned qualities. You can cry on their shoulder, laugh, and do whatever you need to do to take a load off. This should be your real judgement free zone. This person has your back no matter what. The only catch is that you also have to be a really good friend.

 As you read this, some of your friends and family probably popped in your mind for certain positions and that’s great! If not, we have work to do. To be successful and keep your sanity you really need a good support system. Life can be overwhelming sometimes but your board of “handy dandy” trustees can help you through it. 

Honestly, you can call this group of people whatever you want: i.e. squad, team, etc. But these are real #squadgoals! So who’s on your Personal Advisory Board?