After Q1, I did what most founders do at the start of a new quarter. I looked at the goals we had set for Q2 and felt the gap between where we were and where we needed to go.
Q1 for The Amplified Life Company was about foundation. The right team, the right systems, and our team offsite. Getting the inside of the company optimized, so the outside could grow. We did that work and we did it well.
But Q2 is different. The goals are aggressive. The growth we are developing requires a version of me that does not fully exist yet.
And earlier this year I had to get brutally honest with myself about something uncomfortable:
My husband, my best friend, and my sister were not going to get me there. Neither were the old colleagues who were perfectly happy with business-as-usual results. The people I loved most were incredible for a thousand things. Stretching me toward our biggest goals was not one of them.
I needed to upgrade my personal board of advisors.
Around the same time, The Amplified Life Company began interviewing high-performing executives as part of our research into what separates the top 1%. Over the last month, I sat down with executive after executive, from different industries, different backgrounds, and different definitions of success.
But there was one through line we could not ignore:
100% of the high performers had a mentor or a coach when they were coming up.
Not most of them, not the majority of them, but every single one.
And the ones still performing at the highest level today? They had not outgrown that practice. They had evolved it.
I am building a new personal board of advisors. Here’s why:
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are one of the most well-known examples of this in practice. Gates has spoken openly about what Buffett taught him, and it was not finance. It was how to think. How to protect his time. How to stay grounded in what actually matters when the noise gets loud.
That is what a real board of advisors does. It does not just validate your decisions. It expands your thinking in ways you cannot get inside your own head or inside your own industry.
Most high performers have people around them. Very few have the right people. There is a difference between a network and a board of advisors.
Your network is often transactional. A personal board, on the other hand, is transformational.
Here’s what I am doing, feel free to steal my homework:
I am curating 3 to 5 people intentionally, across different areas: strategic thinking, personal growth, industry perspective, and someone who will tell them the truth when no one else will. I am actively building intentional relationships with hyper-performers across different industries and life experiences, people who challenge my thinking in ways my existing world cannot.
Over the past two months, I’ve built two of these intentional relationships. I engage with these people consistently, not just when I am feeling challenged. And I am bringing as much value to these relationships as I am receiving.
I am not looking for them to agree with me; I am looking for expansion. In fact, I have shared vulnerably my limiting beliefs and patterned behaviors that keep me from not accessing my fullest potential. And, taking it a step further, I have given them full permission to call me out quickly and often.
It’s been revealing and uncomfortable to say the least, but a catalyst for my success this year. I believe in this work too much to not do it myself.
If you are the only one challenging your thinking, your ceiling is already set.
Let’s make this actionable for you:
Who in your life is genuinely challenging your thinking right now? Not agreeing with you, or supporting you, but honestly challenging you.
If you cannot name someone quickly, that is your answer. As someone who was also in that same boat earlier this year, so I did something about it. Now it’s your turn.
As I continue to build and work with my personal board of advisors this year, I will keep you updated on my breakthroughs and learnings. Two weeks ago, one of my advisors challenged me to bring more clarity to our messaging. He did not just challenge me and walk away. He sat with me until we worked all the way through it and got it on paper. I wanted to leave and do the work on my own, but he held my feet to the fire until it was done. It was uncomfortable. I did not have all the right answers. But we came out on the other side with this:
We are the go-to firm for vision-driven organizations ready to build high-performing leaders.
We work directly with CEOs to align their leadership teams, creating a high-trust culture, a coaching-driven organization, and leaders who perform at their highest level.
The result: more leadership capacity, stronger culture, better business outcomes, and people who actually enjoy coming to work again.
P.S. The more uncomfortable you feel, the better. That is where growth and expansion happen. If you feel it, lean into it completely instead of shrinking back. You will be so proud of yourself when you do.
P.P.S. Who is on your personal board of advisors right now? Tell me in the comments.