We are all grown ups and, as such, we are responsible for our own decisions and their consequences. Hopefully most us have made pretty good choices and, consequently, have a certain amount of confidence in our ability to handle life’s challenges, but we also never stop growing and developing. We are, or should be, nudging the boundaries of our comfort zones and following our curiosity into uncharted lands, even though it can be a bit scary and frustrating to find yourself in those new places. You may not speak the language or have the right money. The denizens don’t get your sense of humor and they wear weird shoes. That border guard frowning at your passport and reaching for his radio can’t be good. It’s hard.
So I think we need some help. Many organizations, notably startup businesses, have a great solution. They need a host of experts to help them navigate tricky situations and to give good advice, so they usually collect these experts into advisory boards to help them. Since our lives are all fraught with so much growth and change -- we are all essentially "startups," so to speak -- I think we all need our own advisory boards.
Some view asking for help as signaling insecurity or weakness, but I think no one is perfect in every area of her life (and anyone who thinks she is probably needs a reality check instead of an advisory board). Seeking advice is about deepening connections with others, and taking something that may already be good to a higher level. I need advisers whose guidance can help me be the best parent I can be for Ethan and Katie -- if you have ideas about how to get Katie to use public bathrooms, please share – and the best wife for Jerome. I would love help wrangling slippery questions about leadership, supervision, working in higher education, being a female administrator, work/life balance, religion and spirituality, politics and citizenship and on and on. I want to do all these things as well as I can and I believe in not reinventing the wheel. I want to benefit from the buckets of wisdom that are all around me, locked in the heads and hearts of my beautiful friends, family and colleagues. And if it helps you to hear what I’ve learned, I’m happy to share it. So, what do you say? Want to be on my advisory board? Here’s a chance to give me advice, so lay it on me, and don’t forget to tell me what I can help you with. I’m listening…