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WHAT IS THE PERSONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROGRAM?

Facts:

Mentoring is great, yet mentoring programs are often not well-defined.
There is no silver bullet for all of your developmental needs.
Ultimately, YOU are responsible for your future and you’ll probably seek out multiple people to guide you along the way.
Traditional mentoring programs establish 1-to-1 relationships between the mentor and the mentee.

What is a Personal Board of Directors?
Think of yourself as the CEO of your career. As CEO, you are responsible for setting a long-term vision, strategy, and plan for achieving your goals. You’ll also need to market yourself, invest in your skills/education and make important decisions. Many organizations and non-profits have a Board of Directors that helps guide the CEO and hold them accountable for their goals. YOU CAN HAVE ONE TOO.

Why a Personal Board of Directors?

The goal of the Personal Board of Directors Program is to create a bridge for knowledge sharing that only comes with experience, tenure, and the dedication of the Top Achievers in the State of Nebraska, and alumni of the 50 OVER 50 NE Awards. It is a means to provide more robust support for the younger generation while they navigate their professional lives, through social support, career advice, advocacy, expertise, network, and developmental feedback in a highly efficient delivery method used by organizations. The Personal Board of Directors is invested in your success and ideally represents a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Their guidance ensures that you’ll have a trusted advisor to turn to at every major decision.

The ASCEND Model
Harvard Business School Professors Ting Zhang and Leslie A. Perlow identified six (6) primary areas of professional support: Advocacy, Social support, Career advice, Expertise, Networks, and Developmental feedback (ASCEND):

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The What: public support (e.g. to get you referred, hired, or promoted, even in the face of resistance), protection from detrimental situations (e.g. from time-intensive or inapplicable assignments), or access to unique “stretch” opportunities that help you learn and grow.

The Who: this person is usually a direct manager or senior stakeholder who has influence or authority within an organization. Importantly, they are willing to put their reputation on the line to advocate for you, even when you’re not in the room.

The What: feedback, both positive and constructive, to help you understand when you are excelling and when you are falling short. Neither purely critical nor encouraging, this person evaluates your past performance and provides specific feedback to help you improve in the future.

The Who: this person is usually a direct manager, teammate, or someone with whom you work closely. This could also include your customers, vendors, shareholders, and other business stakeholders. Feedback is a gift!

The What: private support (e.g. friendship, emotional support, or validation of an individual’s experiences), which promotes productivity, job satisfaction and emotional well-being.

The Who: this person is usually a peer (or a few years older than you) and may share your lived experiences (e.g. race, gender), though not always. Importantly, they practice active listening and hold space for you without judgment. Note that there is a fine line between venting about your problems to someone and thoughtfully seeking their support. Therapists and mental health specialists are particularly helpful here!

What: public support (e.g. to get you referred, hired or promoted, even in the face of resistance), protection from detrimental situations (e.g. from time-intensive or inapplicable assignments) or access to unique “stretch” opportunities that help you learn and grow.

Who: this person is usually a direct manager or senior stakeholder who has influence or authority within an organization. Importantly, they are willing to put their reputation on the line to advocate for you, even when you’re not in the room.

The What: guidance to help you make decisions that benefit your short- and long-term career goals. Advice can be general (“What career paths are out there? How do they match up with my skills and interests?”) or situation-specific (“Should I take Job A or B? How do I have this difficult conversation with my manager?”).

The Who: this person is usually in a position that you aspire to be in someday. As you narrow down the options, you’ll likely seek out many of these people in your lifetime — and the more varied their outcomes, the better. They are especially helpful when it comes to evaluating potential paths 5, 10 and 20 years into the future.

The What: knowledge (the “what”), know-how (the “how”) or concepts (the “why”) — like an entrepreneur sharing their tips for B2B sales, a software engineer walking you through the codebase, or an analyst walking you through your first financial model.

The Who: anyone with more industry experience or subject-matter-expertise than you, regardless of seniority. They could also be professors, authors, podcast hosts, content creators or thought leaders outside of your network.

How does The Bloc's Personal Board of Director Program work?

Thank you for joining The Bloc's Personal Board of Directors Program. Unlike a traditional 1 to 1 mentee/mentor match mentorship program, The personal Board of Directors mentorship Program is a 1 to 3 match that brings a mentee (referred to as the executive) together with 3 local business and or community leaders. These 3 local business and or community leaders represent the mentee's Pesonal Board of Directors. A properly built Personal Board of Director includes a:

Mentor
Coach, and a
Sponsor

These roles are interchangeable.

The Personal Board of Directors program is an action-driven leadership and mentoring program in which your goals, and development are prioritized. You will learn new skills and shadow prominent Nebraska business and community leaders, and be giving the tools to apply your new skills to attain your professional goals.

When you join the PBD Program as an executive, we will help you elect your board of directors based on your goals and board members' availability.

Board candidates are 50 OVER 50 NE alumni, successful business owners, professionals and local community leaders. They have a lot to offer as members of your Personal Board of Directors. For the 2022-2023 cohort consideration, please apply by December 17, 2022.

Thank you for joining The Bloc's Personal Board of Directors Program. Unlike a traditional 1 to 1 mentee/mentor match mentorship program, The personal Board of Directors mentorship Program is a 1 to 3 match that brings a mentee (the executive) together with 3 local business and or community leaders. These 3 local business and or community leaders represent the mentee's Pesonal Board of Directors. A properly built Personal Board of Director includes a:

Mentor
Coach, and a
Sponsor

These roles are interchangeable.

As a Board Member, you will work with your peers and guide the executive as you would any other executive on the professional boards you serve on. You will identify two or more areas within the ASCEND model through which you can support the executive's goals, and help them develop business and community leadership skills. The development of your mentee/executive will depend on exploring career and leadership aspirations, strengths and weaknesses; collaborating on means to “get there;” implementing strategies; and evaluating along the way. You provide the “light” to follow by sharing your wisdom, experiences, and support.

You also have the opportunity to network, collaborate and get to know your fellow board members through this working relationship. We hope this sparks conversations and collaborations that benefit the community at large.

Some benefits of the Personal Board of Director Program include:

Increased self-confidence
Leadership development
Professional development
Increased opportunities
Increased self-awareness
Develop strong communication skills
Growing a personal network within the business
Exposure to new and different perspectives
Learn to self-reflect
Improve goal-setting
Learn from other's experiences
Learn to ask good questions
Being supported by someone
Better work-life balance
Higher salaries
Being advocated for
Increased chance of promotion
Increased job satisfaction

Commitment hours logged towards one of the top civilian awards from the Office of the President of the United State; The President's Volunteer Services Award (other qualification criteria apply)
Reverse mentoring
Leaving a legacy
Exposure to new and different perspectives
Growing a personal network of up & coming leaders
Increased self-esteem
Supporting another person
Paying it forward
Learning new things from someone else

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WHAT IS THE PERSONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROGRAM?

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