If you’ve decided to join a peer advisory board, it’s important that you do everything you can to make sure you’re getting the most you can out of your time and financial investment. Just showing up to events and going through the motions won’t cut it.
During my years of overseeing peer advisory boards at Six Figure Dinners, I’ve seen how certain actions and mindsets can significantly enhance the value members receive from their participation. The members who get the most out of this understand that the true power of a peer advisory board lies in the collective wisdom and support of its members, and they’re committed to leveraging this resource to its fullest potential.
In this article, I’m going to share some of the things you can do to ensure you maximize the benefits of your peer advisory board membership.
5 Ways to Get the Most from Your Peer Advisory Board
1. Come Prepared
Whether it’s a board meeting, a one-on-one session with your Board Chair, or any other event, one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your fellow board members is to show up prepared.
As an example, for Six Figure Dinners board meetings, we share the problems our members will be presenting to the group a few days ahead of time so that everyone has the chance to think about them and come ready with insights, questions, and potential solutions.
This preparation allows for deeper, more meaningful discussions and ensures that the time spent together is as productive as possible. It also shows respect for your peers’ time and contributions, fostering a culture of mutual support and engagement.
To get the most out of your board meetings, I recommend spending some time reflecting on the issues to be discussed, researching if necessary, and considering your own experiences that might offer valuable perspectives.
Additionally, setting personal objectives for what you want to gain from each session can help guide your participation and ensure you leave with actionable insights.
This proactive approach not only enhances your own experience but also significantly contributes to the collective learning and success of the group.
2. Engage Actively
A peer advisory group works best when everyone contributes equally. The best peer advisory groups have a diverse composition, and when each member is engaged, the collective wisdom of the group is fully leveraged and everyone benefits.
Active engagement means more than just showing up to meetings. It involves sharing your own experiences, challenges, and successes openly. It means brainstorming ideas to help your peers overcome their own problems.
This diversity of thought and experience enriches the group, providing a broader range of solutions and strategies for any given problem.
When each member is engaged, it creates a dynamic environment where members are motivated to support one another. This can lead to a deeper understanding of different business models, strategies, and market challenges. I’ve also seen firsthand how this builds a strong sense of community and trust, which are essential for honest and productive discussions.
3. Be Open to Feedback
One of my favorite things about being on a peer advisory board is that it forces you to break out of your echo chamber, putting yourself in a space where your ideas and assumptions are challenged. This can be incredibly beneficial for growing as a leader, but it can also be hard at times.
Being open to feedback is crucial for personal and professional development.
In a peer advisory setting, you’re exposed to constructive criticism from individuals who understand the complexities of running a business and are invested in your success. This feedback can provide invaluable insights into areas of your business that may need improvement, strategies you might not have considered, or new ways to approach persistent challenges.
To really get the most from this feedback, it’s important to approach each session with an open mind and a willingness to consider perspectives different from your own. That may mean setting your ego aside.
Remember, the goal of sharing feedback in a peer advisory board isn’t to criticize but to help each other grow and succeed. Embracing this feedback, even when it’s difficult to hear, can lead to significant breakthroughs in how you manage your business and lead your team.
4. Share Your Experiences
Peer advisory boards work best when everyone is willing to open up and share their experiences.
When you open up about your successes, failures, challenges, and the lessons learned along the way, you offer a wealth of knowledge that can benefit your peers. This exchange of insights creates an environment where all members can draw on each other’s real-world experiences to make better-informed decisions for their own businesses.
In my role at Six Figure Dinners, I’ve seen that the most impactful meetings are those where members are candid about their journeys.
Remember, it’s not just about highlighting the wins, it’s just as important (or even more important) to discuss the setbacks and what they taught you. This level of transparency can inspire others to navigate their challenges more effectively and avoid similar pitfalls.
Your unique experiences can spark new ideas, offer fresh solutions to old problems, and even motivate your peers to pursue new opportunities they hadn’t considered before.
5. Implement the Advice
It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — if you want to see results from your peer advisory board, you need to actually implement the advice you receive. Now, that’s not to say that you need to apply every single thing you hear.
It’s about evaluating the insights and recommendations you gather from your peers, considering them within the context of your own business, and then applying what makes the most sense for your situation.
At Six Figure Dinners, we see the most significant transformations in members who take the advice to heart and act on it.
Implementing entrepreneurship advice from your peer advisory board can lead to breakthroughs in areas you’ve been struggling with, whether it’s refining your marketing strategy, optimizing your operations, or enhancing your leadership approach.
But remember, effective implementation also requires a degree of discernment. Not all advice will fit every business model or situation perfectly.
You have to assess the applicability of the advice, potentially customize it to better suit your needs, and monitor the outcomes closely. This might mean running small-scale tests or pilot programs before rolling out changes company-wide.
Sharing back with your board the results of the advice you’ve implemented can be incredibly rewarding and educational for the entire group. It closes the feedback loop, allowing your peers to learn from your experiences and see the tangible impact of their shared wisdom.
Join Your Personal Business Advisory Board
If you’re ready to join a peer advisory board that can help you transform your business, Six Figure Dinners is here for you.
Our boards are designed to offer a comprehensive support system for entrepreneurs like you. We bring together diverse minds from various industries to provide you with insights, accountability, and the kind of creative problem-solving that can only come from a collective effort.
With Six Figure Dinners, you’ll gain access to a network of peers who are as committed to your success as they are to their own.
Click here to learn more and join us as a guest at an upcoming event.