The full version of this article was first published at: The 5 People You Should Have in Your Network
You know how important your network is for your new company. Your network will help you find answers, share ideas, and solve problems. Not all networks are created equal, though. If all your network has to offer is the latest fashionable business trend from an overrated blog post, you need a better network. A network of mentors and facilitators can help you make the right decisions and take the right actions to accomplish your audacious schemes. Here are five people whose help, advice, and examples are critical to you. The Anti-Mentor The Anti-Mentor is the most valuable member of your Five. This fictitious person is the compound of every bad boss or weak executive you’ve worked with. Your Anti-Mentor has been teaching you important anti-lessons for most of your career. It has shown you how to be an unethical, insecure, uninspiring, risk-averse, self-promoting, spirit-killing dictator. Frequently, when faced with a tough decision, I turn to my Anti-mentor first. Whatever my Anti-Mentor would do, I don’t do. In fact, I regularly do the exact opposite. Anti-Mentors teach us things such as: Always focus on this quarter. Build a disunified, under-achieving executive team. Fire people to hit bonus targets. Surround yourself with yes-men. Buy and kill great little companies because, you know, “Acquisition Plan.” Align whole departments to policies and processes, not values and strategy. Manage through coercion and fear while marginalizing high-performers. Make a “not-to-do” list of all the things your Anti-Mentor taught you. You’ll (almost) develop a sense of gratitude…
Read More: The 5 People You Should Have in Your Network