#53 - Personal BOD
Before we conclude this section on decision making, I want to raise one final point. A huge advantage to making good decisions is seeking advice from the right people—that’s what we’re going to talk about today.
Mary Ellen Gillespie, Athletics Director at UW—Green Bay coined a term which I’ve now heard numerous times. It is your “Personal Board of Directors.” A board of directors for a company are individuals who are selected based on their expertise and experience to serve as representatives of the company’s shareholders to control the company. Mary Ellen’s term is the idea that you should have people in your own life that you trust, respect, and can learn from based on their knowledge and experience.
Chances are you already have some people whose opinions you seek when faced with a difficult decision. Maybe your parents, a teacher, friend, or mentor. The purpose behind the idea of the personal board of directors is to consciously evaluate who you trust and respect. To consider your personal board of directors, ask yourself these questions:
Who do I admire?
Who do I try to emulate?
Who do I respect?
Who has my best interests in mind?
These individuals can be people you know personally, people you’ve met, even people you’ve never met. The point of the personal board of directors is that you can learn from their knowledge and experience. I would recommend that your PBOD includes some people you know well (that you could ask questions of) and some people you may not even know (but can read their books, listen to their podcasts, etc.).
In our life, we benefit enormously from those who came before us. Take for example, technology. Imagine if instead of using the inventions of previous generations we all had to start at square one—figuring out fire and wheels. Clearly our life would be drastically different! Instead of starting at square one though, we start on square ten-thousand—we have computers, phones, books, cars, air conditioning, refrigeration, vaccination, etc. In the same way, we can start our own life journey at square one or we can take a shortcut by learning from the experience of others. Instead of making the same mistakes as our parents, we can make new mistakes—different mistakes—better mistakes. It also means we have the ability to advance even further than our parents—what comes after smartphones?! Isaac Newton said, “I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” That sums up beautifully the opportunity we have because of the hard-won success of our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.
Just because someone is willing to give advice—just because they’re older or richer doesn’t mean that you should take their advice. One of the advantages of the PBOD mindset is that you select people who you wish to emulate. So, they are more likely to give advice that you agree with. Even still, let others advise you, but never let them decide for you. Never blindly accept advice—listen carefully, think critically, and only then follow cautiously.
I hope that this week of Advancing Daily has been helpful for you. Don’t be afraid of making decisions, but choose carefully being careful of how you choose, and not making the same mistakes as your PBOD. Have a great weekend!