How effective are you at gaining insights & opinions from true experts in business and in life – and leveraging the value of trusted business advisors to support your strategic and life decisions?
These advisors are people who have done what you are trying to do many times before, in business and in life.
“Surround yourself only with people who are going to lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey
I’m really passionate about this because I often see people taking advice from the wrong people. Is the person a master of the situation that you’re trying to solve? Have they solved a situation like this many times before? If the answer is NO, then there’s likely risk in getting this person’s advice. Whether it’s a lawyer, an accountant, a personal trainer, a videographer, a coach, a speaker, a consultant, a therapist, it doesn’t matter. You don’t want to be a person’s guinea pig.
10,000 Hours
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about how mastery comes once you get 10,000 hours of practice. So, when we’re looking for advisors, that’s who we’re looking for: people who already have their 10,000 hours, have made the mistakes, have had the lessons, are beyond the conventional wisdom, are beyond the theoretical learning – who have true wisdom based on their own experiences.
Key point: Have a team of 24 amazing experts literally a text away.
You want to have a whole bunch of amazing people that you can rely on in work, self, and life that you can get hold of right away, to help you solve your most important challenges or leverage your biggest opportunities.
You need to work on this if:
- The full weight of every decision rests solely on your shoulders
- You have doubts about major upcoming strategic decisions
- When you review the list of work, self, and life advisors in the chapter, it’s clear you have important missing links
- When you get stuck on a decision, you often don’t know whom to call, or it doesn’t even occur to you to reach out to someone
- You dislike, don’t trust, or hesitate to call your current advisors. That’s a pretty bad sign.
If you’re a CEO, it’s a CEO who’s already been there and done that. If you’re an executive, it’s someone who is already much farther down the journey than you are currently.
You want to find someone who is already where you want to be in five or 10 years. These are people that have already climbed the mountain that you’re going to climb. They’ve built the business that you want to build. These advisors are often willing to offer a helping hand, and give you advice that will accelerate your ability to get there too.
Worksheet
Download the Expert Scorecard and start by listing your current advisors in column one. Notice the areas where you lack experts. These are items for your to-do list.
Find the 14Xers
Who are the people you know that are 14Xers? These are the people in your network who have done what you want to do 14 times. Connecting with these business advisors will make your journey much easier, and ideally more fulfilling too.
Lawrence & Co’s work focuses on sustainable and enhanced growth for you and your business. Our diverse and experienced group of advisors can help your leaders and executive teams stay competitive through the use of various learning tools including workshops, webinars, executive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.
We help high-achieving leaders to have it all – a great business and a rewarding life. Contact us for simple and impactful advice. No BS. No fluff.