#80 Build your board of advisors (without hiring anyone)
Solo consulting can be exhilarating—and also totally overwhelming. Here's what to do about it.
“I’ll give you a few minutes to think about those similes and metaphors to make them actually good, Dad.”
—My 15-year-old son on hearing my response to his funky question yesterday evening, which was “Hey Dad, how is your existence?”
He’s a constant source of inspiration, my boy.
“My existence is like that of a slippery child trying to grip the side of a deep well” I offered—a riff on the ridiculous films The Ring and The Ring 2 that we both watched together recently.
Concerned that this might be too negative, I provided an alternative. “My existence is much like being strapped to the top of a tiger moth aeroplane whilst doing some loop the loops—an incredible feeling of excitement and exhilaration whilst simultaneously shitting myself.”
A note for the em-dash police. That wording above? I wrote that myself. No AI was harmed in the making of this article.
Either way he was dissatisfied with my responses and wandered off down the garden in disgust.
However, the metaphors (or in this case similes) that I used were pretty accurate.
That is what running a business is like.
Particularly a business of one person.
Though I’m very fortunate to have a wealth of people supporting me. My wife, for one, who somehow manages to hold it together on those months where billings “aren’t where they should be” and who in fact suggested I go it alone in the first place.
Then there are my numerous industry friends and former colleagues, relationships with whom I’ve developed over 20+ years—weirdly sometimes with almost no realtime communication for much of that.
In some ways, perhaps the descriptions I gave Harrison not only describe running an independent consulting business, but also just life.
But what makes it both bearable and an incredible journey, for me at least, is having people around me that get me and the game I’m playing.
And I don’t mean they just say “Yes” to every idea I come up with.
I mean they challenge me to be the best version of myself.
They help me develop ideas, concepts, products, marketing—all of that.
They give me a healthy dose of cheerleading and critical friendship.
Some people have a coach. I had one a couple of years ago and the experience of working with Adam changed my life. Whilst we were working together:
- I wrote a book that readers have said “changed their lives”.
- I grew a coaching practice by learning how to create clients and sell big ticket offers, and having accountability for my activity.
I now coach and mentor other people. But I also recognise I’m not the only one with a brain who has experienced some stuff and that can help you grow through the power of insights.
So I decided to come up with a method of providing coaching and mentoring support that would serve you in a differently powerful (powerfully different?) way.
Group coaching isn’t a new concept by any means, and it’s not for me either, but it’s the first time I’ve put together a group coaching product.
It started out in life as an idea for a course. A structured, 6-week course to help my clients go from Zero to One client. I was going to call it Zero to One.
But after trying to flesh it out, I realised I didn’t want to teach, or create a bank of materials for people to wade through, or promise an outcome—because outcomes are entirely in the hands of the participants and their willingness to do the work.
Group coaching, however, creates strength in its very existence. There’s additional power in the group—peer perspectives and critically, accountability.
If you’re an 80s kid, you might remember those Transformers that would all join together to make one MASSIVE Transformer. One became a leg, another the other leg, one for the torso, you get the picture. And they’d fight off the Decepticons together. (Though of course they had their own version.)
Well, transforming is definitely the name of the game.
Transforming into the independent business owner that you know you have in you, but just can’t quite seem to get it out!
In my group, which I’m calling Go It Alone, Together, members will be at different stages in their solo journey.
My role will be a mixture of Coach and Mentor (as I move members into the “hot seat” and coach them live with everyone else present), and Facilitator, as I draw new insights from the other members on what’s fired off in their brains as a result of the conversation.
It’s powerful.
In fact, the first person to sign up said he specifically wanted to group coaching for that very reason. He described the idea of “building a board of advisors”.
I’m limiting it to 6 people in the first group.
So it’s small enough to focus on you and your challenges, but large enough to generate meaningful insights, observations, solutions, and peer support.
So if you’re branching out as an independent coach, consultant, interim or freelancer, and you believe in the power of the group, take a look. I’m closing applications on 14th May.
Or if you just want to have a chat through it and see if it’s for you, book a free call with me.
Oh, and I’m still writing CVs too—if you need that kind of help, just hit reply to this email or get in touch.
That’s it for this edition folks.
Phil
PS: Remember to book that call!
If you’re new to A Sterne Word and are trying to work out what you’re doing in your career, have a trot through the other articles in the series and/or follow me on LinkedIn where you’ll get a full sense of what I’m about..