Latest / Career Coaching with Fexingo: Professional Coaches, Career Counselors, and Guidance for Workers / How to Use a Career Board of Directors
Transcript
- Lucas: So I've been thinking about something a listener wrote in. She's a senior product manager at a mid-size tech company — good salary, decent trajectory, but she's stuck on a specific decision about whether to move into a director role or pivot to a completely different industry. Luna: That's a classic fork-in-the-road moment. One bad call and you're off track for years. Lucas: Exactly. And she said she's been talking to one mentor — her former boss from five years ago — but that mentor only knows the old company and the old industry. So she's essentially getting advice from one lens. Luna: And that's the trap. One person, no matter how smart, has blind spots. Lucas: Right. Which is why I think more professionals should borrow a concept from the corporate world: a board of directors. Not the kind that fires the CEO — a personal career board of directors. Luna: I love this idea. Let's unpack it. Lucas: So a corporate board typically has five to twelve people with different expertise — finance, operations, strategy, maybe a customer perspective. They don't all agree. That tension produces better decisions. A career board works the same way. Luna: So you're saying instead of one mentor, you recruit three to five advisors who each bring something different. Lucas: Exactly. And you don't have to call them your 'board' in conversation — that sounds pretentious. You just cultivate a small set of people you check in with regularly. But you think of them as your board. Luna: So who do you pick? I imagine you don't want five clones of yourself. Lucas: No. You want at least four distinct roles. First, a domain expert — someone deep in your current field who can give tactical advice. Second, a generalist who understands business broadly but not your niche. Third, a contrarian — someone who will push back. And fourth, a personal advocate — someone who cares about your wellbeing, not just your career. Luna: That fourth one is key. I've seen people burn out because their board was all ambition, no grounding. Lucas: Exactly. And you can rotate people in and out. If you move industries, your domain expert might change. The advocate might stay for a decade. Luna: But how do you actually recruit these people? I can't imagine walking up to a senior leader and saying, 'Would you be on my personal board?' Lucas: You don't say that. You say something like, 'I really respect your perspective on X. Would you be open to a thirty-minute call every quarter where I run a few decisions by you?' Most people say yes because it's flattering and low commitment. Luna: And you have to be prepared. You can't show up and say, 'So, what do you think I should do with my life?' Lucas: Right. You send an agenda in advance. Here are three decisions I'm wrestling with. Here's what I'm leaning toward. Here's where I need your input. That makes it easy for them to help. Luna: And you should rotate the board's membership over time. I've had mentors who were perfect for one season and then irrelevant the next. Lucas: And you can have a board of peers, too. It doesn't have to be senior people. I know two mid-career engineers who meet every two weeks and challenge each other's assumptions. That's a board of two. Luna: That's a great low-barrier start. But what about the listener's original question — director role or industry pivot? How would a board help? Lucas: She'd bring that to her board. The domain expert could say, 'The director role at your company is a dead end — the last three people got stuck.' The generalist could say, 'Pivoting industries at your level is risky; you lose two years of momentum.' The contrarian might say, 'Actually, you're undervaluing your transferable skills.' And the advocate would say, 'What does your gut say? You've been talking about this for six months.' Luna: And together, that gives her a 360-degree view. She doesn't have to follow any single piece of advice, but she has a richer map. Lucas: And that's the point. The board doesn't make the decision for you. It makes your decision better informed. Luna: So let's talk about the practical structure. How often do you meet? One-on-one or as a group? Lucas: I'd recommend one-on-one for the most part. Group meetings get awkward — people perform for each other. But you can have an annual group check-in if you think they'd enjoy meeting each other. Luna: And you should give updates between meetings. A quick email saying, 'I took your advice on X and here's what happened.' That reinforces the relationship. Lucas: Absolutely. And if someone gives you bad advice — or advice that doesn't fit — you don't have to take it. You're the CEO of your career. The board advises. You decide. Luna: I think the hardest part is actually the first ask. People are afraid of rejection. Lucas: Yeah, and the trick is to start with someone you already have a relationship with. A former colleague, a manager you worked well with, a professor. The first ask is the scariest, but once you have two, the third gets easier. Luna: And you can even offer reciprocity. If you're early in your career, you might not have much to offer, but you can offer to help them with something — research, a project, whatever. Lucas: Exactly. And that's actually a nice way to keep it from feeling one-sided. You're building a relationship, not extracting value. Luna: So let's wrap with a concrete takeaway. If someone listening wants to start a career board this week, what's the first step? Lucas: Write down three people you already know who fit the four roles — domain expert, generalist, contrarian, advocate. Then send each of them a short email: 'I'm working through a few career decisions and value your perspective. Would you be open to a thirty-minute call once a quarter?' Keep it low pressure. Luna: And if they say no? That's fine. Move to the next person. The goal is quality, not quantity. Lucas: Right. And once you have two or three, you've already got more perspective than most people. You're already ahead. Luna: I think this is one of those concepts that sounds formal but is actually very human. It's just deliberately building your trusted circle. Lucas: And it works because it's structured. Without structure, advice is random. With a board, it's strategic. Luna: Alright, let's leave listeners with that challenge: identify one person you can ask this week. And if you do, let us know how it goes.