In the fourth of a six-part series of blogs about the growth of The Little Potato Company (LPC), and the leadership CEO/co-founder Angela Santiago, we talk about how she built and continues to leverage and benefit from an Advisory Board.
Full disclosure: I’m honored to be a member of LPC’s Advisory Board, which has just been named the Best Advisory Board in Canada. This recognition comes from a new, first-of-its-kind annual awards program that celebrates the impact of exceptional governance on the success of private companies—and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of it.
In place for a few years, the value of LPC’s Advisory Board to Angela may surprise people who usually define its role strictly within business terms.
A Safe Place
This Board – different from a governance fiduciary board – is a safe place for Angela to struggle with the challenges of leadership.
“It’s a place where I can go and say that I really don’t know what to do next or I don’t know what my next move is. I’ve never been a leader of this size of company, and you have to find the right places to be vulnerable. You can’t just do that anywhere, with anyone.”
But Board members are not just cheerleaders. They also provide critical feedback to let her know when she’s not doing something right or has a blind spot.
“A cheerleader is someone who is willing to put themselves out there
and be vulnerable with you and call you on your stuff.
Their best intention is to care for me as a leader of a growing company.”
As I explain in Quadruple Your IQ (Chapter 11 of Your Oxygen Mask First), the key is to seek out people who’ve been there and done that. These are the ones who’ve made the mistakes, learned the lessons, and moved past conventional wisdom and theoretical knowledge. They bring true wisdom rooted in real-life experience.
How to Start an Advisory Board
Here’s Angela’s advice about creating a Board that she considers essential to scale and grow:
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- Start small.
- Choose people you trust and respect, with whom you have a professional connection—avoiding close friends or family.
She started with just two people she knew well and worked with closely, gradually expanding her Board as she grew. Here’s her advice on how to get started.
For more, here are links to our recent LPC Case Study and watch the full interview with Angela below.
Other Blogs
- Leverage Business Advisors
- What Would Happen If You Spent Another 10% of Time on Growth?
- The Great Leadership of Charlie Munger
Older Podcasts
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