| When you are looking for a Peer Board of Advisors, you are basically looking for a group of close friends with whom you can be honest and expect honesty in return. That’s a tall order. First, honestly requires trust and comfort. That takes time. Honesty also requires intimacy; knowing the person beyond just the surface knowledge that they like golf or fishing. That takes time. Lastly, honesty requires a safe environment. To share honestly and openly, one needs to know that the climate of the room is safe; free from power trips, and not mired in discount and revenge cycles.
Like I said, a tall order. But not impossible. Look for the following 4.5 things when you want to form or participate in a Peer Board of Advisors.
Who — The peers with whom you participate are the beginning and the end of the factors that will impact success. A strong Peer Board of Advisors is all about the relationships among the members. Everything else is just a supporting element. A well-matched peer is someone who is in a similar but not identical place. Goals align, challenges are relatable, and empathy is easily accessible.
How – How the group manages itself is the foundation for the climate of safety and freedom members need to express themselves. If you need a bunch of rules to make something work, in all likelihood the participants are not ready to work with each other. Rigidity by its very nature excludes options. In a Peer Board of Advisors you want to tap into the depth and range of experience and expertise each member brings to the table. Rules of Order automatically limit the ability to access all that someone has to offer.
Responsibility – Participation in a Peer Board of Advisors is a commitment to every member in that group. Before agreeing to participate, each member needs to be absolutely clear about what that commitment means. Most importantly, it means sharing of oneself. As soon as some members limit themselves and do not share, other members instinctively limit themselves as well.
Facilitation –Do not run the Peer Board of Advisors without outside facilitation. And do not use a facilitator that is not fully trained on how to facilitate a meeting. A skillful facilitator recognizes that facilitation does not mean an agenda, timeline, and making sure everyone gets an opportunity to speak. A few tries at it and pretty much anyone can write an agenda and adhere to it. The facilitator’s role is to set a climate of interaction, ensure participation, and enable opportunities for members to receive value. The best facilitators are tuned into the people and the relationships – how they are interacting and whether they are on the positive or negative side of contributing to and receiving value.
These are the four major elements for a strong Peer Board of Advisors – the people, the process, the sense of responsibility, and a skilled facilitator. The one-half element is everything else. That includes locale, meeting notes, social atmosphere, connections outside the meeting, and other resources. And all of these elements should fall into place if the four critical elements are firmly established.