To increase your odds of success, form a “personal board of directors”
Who’s vested in your success?
Creativity expert Todd Henry writes in his book The Accidental Creative that most of us have blind spots when it comes to making decisions about our careers and work.
We’ll never be the most objective judges of ourselves, and so it helps to have people you admire and respect “shine light into dark places and help you see angles of a problem that you may have otherwise overlooked.”
Henry suggests having a core team of two or three people who are significantly more experienced in areas where you may be lacking, who are vested in your success, and who will tell you the truth even when it’s hard to hear.
He offers the following three tips for creating your core team:
1. Choose people outside your company or organization
You want to be able to speak candidly about the issues you’re facing, and if a member of your core team is part of the hierarchy where you work, “you will always be tempted to soften your comments” or withhold your thoughts.
2. Choose a dreamer
You want at least 1 person on your core team who makes others nervous with the intensity and scope of their ideas — someone who pushes you and challenges your perspectives.
3. Choose people from a variety of industries
There are a few benefits to having the members of your core team be from different industries:
- They bring multiple and potentially contrasting perspectives, which will help to strengthen the foundation of your decision-making process.
- You’ll be more likely to hear about new and interesting ideas that otherwise might not be on your radar.
My reactions:
Henry is talking about creating a core team of people in the context of your career, but you could argue that some aspects of this idea can also be applied to your personal life.
If it’s true that having varied perspectives in your work world helps you make better decisions, wouldn’t this also be true for your friends?
Your closest friends probably have just as much influence on your success as your colleagues and mentors — in some cases, maybe more.
My three best friends come from a variety of industries: one works in a finance role at a tech startup, another is a professional musician, and the third is an academic who studies development economics.
Thinking of their individual talents, and the areas in which they have more experience than me, makes me appreciate them even more.
At first, this might seem like an odd way to look at your closest personal relationships, but as author and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis write in his book Bold:
“There’s an old saying in business: You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Thanks for reading!
My name is Cheo (CHAY-oh) and I believe ideas can change the world.
If you like this post, you might also enjoy my Weekly 3 newsletter: each Sunday, I combine three ideas on one topic to help you think differently and be more creative. You can sign up here.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +401,714 people.
Subscribe to receive our top stories here.
