It seems to me that the notion of governance can be applied to one’s personal and professional development.
Just as in other applications of a governance model, we can benefit from an oversight that is focused on our personal and professional direction and strategy. This oversight is also concerned about our sustainability, and provides a mechanism for accountability of actions and outcomes. And like good governance models, this oversight does not take responsibility for execution. That is up to management - or in the case of our own development, we are the ones who are solely and personally responsible.
How then might you think about what kinds of “Directors” you would invite onto your personal “Board”? Here are what I believe to be the three essential types of role:
· The Mentor, who is a door-opener, who provides access to a network, and who is a role model we would like to emulate in some way
· The Trusted Advisor, who is a counselor, who has wisdom and experience to impart, and who will tell us what we need to hear – even if it’s not what we want to hear; and finally
· The Coach, and not the sports model of coach who calls the plays, but the therapist/listener/reflector model of coach, who lets us gain access to our inner wisdom, and helps us to manage our internal saboteur.
No one can play all
three roles, although some can be both Mentor and Trusted Advisor, or Trusted
Advisor and Coach. I don’t believe a
Mentor has enough detachment from his or her protege to be their Coach as
well. And of course, one’s personal “Board”
can – and typically should – have more than one of each.
So who’s on your Board
of Directors? Who should be on your
Board but hasn’t yet been recruited?
Don’t you think the Enterprise of You deserves the best possible governance?
