The Power of One

8. Make a board of directors.

I love this one and it is a great resource for solving problems. You will find this Tool in a book called The Power of One, by Guy Reikman. Guy was the president of my college when I was going to school and has continued his work in the area of education. I saw him speak once and he revealed a Tool to me that I had never heard of. He called it compiling a board of directors.

If you do not have much experience in the corporate world, a board of directors is a group of usually 10 to 12 men and women who meet regularly to deal with company details and brainstorm on problems and issues that face the company. The benefit of this type of round table is that more heads tackling a challenge are better than one.

Quite often the people who sit on these boards bring with them their own education, backgrounds and experiences that strengthen the core’s ability to come up with solid ideas that will ensure success and avoid pitfalls and failures. As you begin to try and construct your successful life, you, too, will have problems arise that need advice and discussion. What if you had your own board?

The way this Tool works is you will select 10 to 12 people who you would talk to if you needed advice on a particular issue. They can be anyone, alive or dead, if you know them or not. Pick the people you admire, a former president, a philosopher, a relative of yours, anyone you would like to hear on a regular basis discuss challenges that come into your life. When you have put this list together, the next step is to put them all in a room at a desk and drop your question in the middle of the table and then listen.

The key here is to imagine how the conversation would go. What concerns would be brought up and what would be the reaction of those you have chosen for your board. At the end, if necessary, they can have a vote or ask you to provide them with new information. The possibilities are endless. The component that makes this Tool unique is how you are hearing their opinion and advice. For starters, you may have limited access to some of the people you have chosen or they may no longer be alive.

Also, this advice is not given one-on-one. It is taking into account a large sample size of the people whose opinion you respect and lets them come to a group conclusion or debate. You may not even get an answer; the group may be undecided. It is my belief that this imaginary forum for discussion will at worst give you perspectives you may have never considered and the ability to make a more informed decision on whatever you have thrown at the group.