Build Your Own Board Of Experts

The most successful entrepreneurs rely on their advisory
boards to help spot new opportunities and potential pitfalls.

Now you can have your own advisory board: a shadow
board of directors.

A shadow board of directors is a low-tech technique for
accessing the expertise of others and increasing your
confidence and options. A shadow board can help you get a
variety of perspectives and access to information just like a
regular board. Shadow boards of directors can push you out
of your rut and help you find alternative solutions and expert
advice. The only difference between a regular board and a
shadow board is that shadow boards exist only in your own
imagination.

Because your shadow board is portable, light and easy to
carry, it's always available. It will challenge you to sharpen
your thinking skills and expand your perspective. Your
shadow board of directors teaches you to consider the
views of others whether you agree with them or not. It also
makes available experts who are living or dead, known to
you or strangers; talent you could never buy.

To build your shadow board of directors, choose a variety of
people for their strengths and skills. Choose them for their
specific skills and talents, knowledge and gifts, no matter
what their limitations might be. You'll be tapping their
strengths, not their limitations.

Make sure you have the people you need or could profit
from, no matter how outrageous anyone else might find
them.

Use your shadow board of directors to help you think
through and make tough decisions. You'll use them for input
and advice.Some of the members will change depending
on the topics or the questions, others will be your old
standbys.

My standard members include Einstein, just because he
was so smart. I can only hope to emulate his thinking
process. Liz Taylor is on my list because she is gorgeous
no matter what her size, very loyal to her friends, not afraid to
speak out on difficult or unpopular issues, and is one classy
lady. I just wish I had her violet eyes.

Marti Burns is a composite character, a combination of two
cognitive therapists: David Burns, who wrote Feeling Good:
The New Mood Therapy, the best book on combating
depression I have read and recommended, and Martin
Seligman, a psychologist whose pioneering work includes
Learned Optimism and What You Can Change... and What
You Can't. Together these two men, in my embodiment of
Marti Burns, help me deal with my bouts of feeling bad and
help me confront myself when I get into irrational thinking. I
also check in with them when I'm faced with clients who
present difficult interpersonal issues.

Jane Johnson is another composite member, taken from
two friends and colleagues who are the best technical
manager and human resources manager I've been
privileged to work with. Their high ethical and moral stance,
willingness to do the hard work, and clarity in thought and
action challenge me to meet their level of expertise. I ask
them how they would handle the hard situations I face in
corporate consulting challenges. Then I listen.

For family issues, I look to Fitzhugh Gottman, another
composite character. He is a combination of Fitzhugh
Dodson, my favorite child rearing expert and John Gottman,
known for his solid, experience based work with couples
and relationships. No sound bites or stereotypes for these
two. They know what works for kids and couples.

The list could go on, but you get the picture. These are
people I have known personally, or through their work, or in
my image of them. I match their expertise to the challenges I
face.

If my question involves critical thinking and creativity,
Einstein is always the chairman of the board. But I don't
even think to include him for grooming or social questions.
Liz gets the honors here. A quick conversation in my head
with her, and I know how to solve the problem with dispatch,
class, and grace. I wouldn't use her as my marriage
consultant, though. Wedding consultant, yes; marriage
consultant, never.

A shadow board of directors complements the real experts
you know and rely on. They can get you started with your
own research, in your local library, browsing bookstores,
and searching the Internet. By going step by step, asking
good questions, and thinking through the answers, you'll get
closer to the information you need to help you face your
challenges.

Start building your own Shadow Board today.

(c) 2004, Pat Wiklund. All rights in all media reserved. This
article may be reprinted so long as it is kept intact with the
copyright and by-line.

About The Author

Pat Wiklund is known as the One-Person Business
Turnaround Specialist. She works with professional
services business owners so they can make more money
and get more personal satisfaction from their work. Start
taking charge of your business and your life with her
Business Tune-Up mini e-course by sending a blank email
to tuneup@1personbusiness.com

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