Want to Advance in Your Career? Build Your Own Board of Directors

Author: Susan Stelter

If you’re reading this, chances are that you have a lot of questions about building a career. What path will fulfill your personal and professional needs? Should you be focused on making an impact or learning new skills? Is it better to find work-life balance or put in more hours to prove yourself?

When you’re new to the workforce, these questions are hard to answer on your own—especially when things feel so uncertain. You may lack the information necessary to make a confident decision. You may be unsure of what the next steps should look like. You may even require more time to figure out your core values. Knowing what you want and how to go about getting it takes trial and error, and you’ll likely need some help to figure things out.

You need a career board of directors.

The concept, originally proposed by Jan Torrisi-Mokwa in her book, Building Career Equity, is not the same as having multiple mentors. Traditionally, a mentor is a senior colleague or professional whose work you deeply admire. You may want to emulate their leadership style, learn from their experience, or follow in their footsteps. Mentorships are often formal, one-on-one relationships that can require a significant time commitment.

A career board of directors, on the other hand, is a more expansive network of individuals who act as independent advisers to you. Just as a company looks to its board for guidance, these people are there to offer you support in a broader sense. Each director usually specializes in a different area: a great manager, a skilled writer, a savvy freelancer, a wise parent, a compassionate friend, a talented peer, and so on. As such, each is able to offer you advice specific to their expertise.

The goal is to put together a group of people with experiences completely distinct from your own who can offer you a fresh perspective when needed. You can reach out to them with smaller asks than you would a mentor—though, over time, a few of them may grow into that role.

While there’s no right or wrong way to build a board, here are a few tips I often suggest to my clients to help them start out on the right foot.

Step 1: Understand Your Strengths, Gaps, and Aspirations

You can’t enlist someone’s help without knowing what you need from them first. To figure that out, you need to know what your strengths, weaknesses, and goals are. Begin by assessing where your career and personal life currently stand and how you want them to change (or not) in the future.

Ask yourself:

• What do I want my first job to look like? (if applicable)

• What do I like about my current role? What do I dislike?

• How can I do more of what I like and move away from what I don’t?

• What do I enjoy outside of work? Are there hobbies I’m passionate about or new activities that I want to explore?

• What skills am I lacking right now? Do I know what to do to improve?

• How do I imagine my career path will look?

• Do I want a promotion? Do I want to make a lateral move or find a completely new role?

• How will I navigate my professional growth along with my personal goals, like starting a family or relocating?

These questions may vary depending on what stage of your career you’re in. For instance, someone who is thinking about starting a family may be more focused on work-life balance, whereas a new grad may be more interested in defining their values and career interests. The big idea is to push yourself and dig deeper into what is important to you now, as well as in the next three to five years.

After jotting down your answers, use them to write a short letter (300 to 500 words) to your future self. Think about where you want to be three years from now, what you want to get better at, what you need to be more accountable for, and the areas in your work or your life where you could use some guidance.

Here’s an example:

Dear future self,

I know that I’m a highly motivated, creative, collaborative, and determined person with a passion for helping others solve complex challenges. I know that I want to become a better data scientist and use my skills to create social impact, especially to tackle climate change. Three years from now, I hope to:

• Be promoted to a managerial role and lead a motivated team underneath me

• Learn data visualization skills to become better at my job as well as understand the skills required to manage a team

• Expand my professional network by connecting with fellow data scientists and people working in the climate and energy sectors to learn from their experiences, gain regular feedback on my skills, and build new relationships

• Prioritize my health by maintaining a regular four-day-a-week exercise routine and not compromising on my sleep as I do now

• Set aside time to engage in volunteer work at least once a week, something I’m unable to get started on right now

Writing this note will help you figure out what your aspirations are and where you need to improve. It will also help you understand what kind of guidance you need and which individuals may be most useful to you as you create your board of directors. For instance, your interest in addressing climate change might push you to find other peers who are passionate about the energy sector and who can help you brainstorm ways to approach the problem. Your desire to build a healthy routine may encourage you to connect with people in different stages of their careers to learn about how they set work-life boundaries.

Finally, understand that your goals are not going to be static. They will evolve with your career, and as they do, you should reach out to new individuals for different perspectives.

Step 2: Pick Your Board Members

Begin by looking around you. Are there people in your life whom you find inspiring? Depending on the advice you need, this could include a former peer, a friend’s parent, a career coach, an alumnus of your college, or even your supervisor. Reach out to individuals from varied socioeconomic backgrounds, industries, roles, and organizations. Having people in various industries and life stages on your board will broaden your perspective, teach you new ways of doing things, and allow you to expand your network.

As you consider whom to include, ask yourself:

• Have I chosen a couple of people who already reached a goal that I have for myself or who have inspired me?

• Have I chosen people from diverse backgrounds?

• Have I chosen people who will challenge me to think and act critically? Have they been supportive of me and my goals in the past?

• Have I chosen people who will benefit from this relationship too?

I typically advise my clients to limit their board to three to six directors.

Step 3: Reach Out to People

Your board can be as casual or as formal as you would like. Some people choose to simply treat their picks as board members without explicitly telling them, while others make more official requests.

If you choose to inform the people on your board, set up a call or an in-person meeting with them. Be direct, concise, and professional. Explain why you’re reaching out, what you hope to get out of the relationship, and what you admire about or believe you can learn from them.

In your initial message, you could say:

Hey [name],

I’m reaching out because I’ve been building out a career board of directors—it’s basically a group of people I really admire from whom I hope to learn as I grow in my career. You’ve been a great friend to me over the last five years, and I really value your guidance. Your passion for advocacy inspires me, and I would love to learn more about how to support the causes that resonate with you.

Would you be open to chatting with me on a call, or maybe over coffee? I’d love to include you in this group.

During your chat, have an honest conversation about what your expectations are and whether the potential board member can meet them. Do you want a monthly meeting? Would you prefer connecting over a call or in person? Try to stay flexible and be willing to adjust as the relationship progresses.

For instance, you might say, “My hope is that we’d be able to meet in person or hop on a call once a month to connect over the projects we’re both working on. I’d love to share any useful insights with you and vice versa. I’d also be curious to learn more about the nonprofits you support and how best to advocate for the right causes.”

If a prospective board member can’t commit, that’s OK—thank them for their time and ask if you can revisit the opportunity with them later on. You could say, “Thank you for being honest with me about your current commitments. Would you mind if we revisited this in a couple of months, when you may have more time?”

Step 4: Give Back to Your Board

Managing a career board of directors requires a degree of time and effort. Remember, it’s not just about you. Just as your board is helping you find fulfillment in your career, they should receive that same fulfillment by being a part of your journey. For instance, if you receive a promotion after a bunch of mock interviews with different directors on your board, take them out for a celebration, write them handwritten thank-you notes, or recognize them on LinkedIn.

There are so many meaningful ways to potentially engage with your directors. If a member of your board is looking to move out of their role into a new industry, for example, maybe you can give back by connecting them with someone you know. If one of them is looking for feedback on their kid’s college application, step in and offer to help. If a member is looking to expand their network, introduce the different board members to one another. The stronger your rapport becomes with each director, the easier it will be for you to recognize ways you can contribute to their success and growth.

Deciding how to move forward in your career can be an isolating, anxiety-filled experience. You don’t need to go it alone. Building a career board of directors is a great step toward taking ownership of your future, cultivating a valuable network of supporters, and, ultimately, finding fulfillment in your life and through your work.