The Pros and Cons of Personal Advisory Boards

What are Personal Advisory Boards?

Personal Advisory Boards (PAB) are  a group of experts that you assemble who act as a sounding board for your ideas. It can be made up of insightful friends,  mentors, coaches, or peers who you consult about the range of challenges and opportunities that you face in your business.

Yesterday I was having a discussion with a great guy about personal advisory boards, how they differ from peer-to-peer mentoring groups and how useful they can be.   So I had a think about the pros and cons. Here’s my list – perhaps you have other ones?

Pros of Personal Advisory Boards:

Diverse Perspectives: A personal advisory board brings together individuals from various backgrounds and industries, offering a range of perspectives and insights. This diversity can inspire innovative ideas and solutions and make you look at your challenges in a very different light.

Tailored Advice: While a coach or mentor provides focused guidance, a personal advisory board can offer additional, tailored advice aligned with your unique needs and goals, making the overall guidance more comprehensive.

Accountability: Regular meetings with your advisory board can give you an accountability structure. Knowing you’ll discuss your progress can motivate you to stay focused and overcome challenges.

Networking Opportunities: Advisors often come with extensive networks. Their introductions and recommendations can open doors to new opportunities and resources.

Cons of Personal Advisory Boards:

Time Commitment: Coordinating schedules and preparing for advisory board meetings can be time-consuming. 

Conflicting Advice: Multiple advisors can lead to differing opinions. It’s important to stay clear about your goals and navigate these perspectives effectively.

Potential Costs: Some advisors might expect compensation for their time and expertise. Some organised PABs can be quite costly, but often the benefits outweighs the costs.

Over-Reliance: While a PAB can provide valuable guidance, it’s essential to make autonomous decisions. Over-relying on the board, or any advisor, can mean you forget to follow your gut, at the end of the day you need to be able to make autonomous decisions.

My Conclusion

Overall, I think personal advisory boards are a great tool for senior professionals and entrepreneurs (especially solo-entrepreneurs). I think they give a nice broad perspective and can complement coaching/mentoring where you can dig deeper.

What are your thoughts on Personal Advisory Boards? Have you participated in one? Are you considering it? On-line versus virtual? Share your experiences in the comments below!