Mentors - Who is holding me accountable?

Starting a company is hard, so you're going to need a lot of advice along the way.  If you are like me, you have constant ideas flowing about a new idea for a product or service.  You cannot stop thinking so what should you do to execute at least one of these ideas.  

The answer is finding good mentors.  

I have had some excellent mentors that have held my hand, called my bluff, and gave me pros and cons of ideas.  These people are my personal board of directors that know me and can tell me the holes in my ideas.  Is it a good idea or not?  Is the idea profitable?

I recently read Keith Ferrazzi’s Who’s Got Your Back.  This fantastic book offers the advice to build more supportive relationships.  Ferrazzi provides a nine-step approach to creating what he calls “lifeline relationships,” an inner circle of trusting support peers who serve as advisors, cheerleaders, and accountability watchdogs. These mentors respect you enough to tell you like it is.  Ferrazzi invites you to “let others help.”  Your professional development means more when you let others help.

I have one mentor in particular that I hold a phone call with every two weeks to see how my progress is going.  He holds me accountable for my goals and especially my progress on these objectives.  We discuss strategic tactics and whether these goals are still working or whether we need to change the direction to adjust to changing environmental issues.  I trust him, respect him and he holds me accountable and we work through ideas and execution of those ideas.  In turn, I discuss what is going on with him, and we have a win-win situation where both of us profit both economically and personally.

Without my mentors in my defense contracting business, DynaGrace Enterprises, I would never have known how to organize my accounting records in preparation for a DCAA audit.  My mentors helped me prepare several technical and cost proposals for competitive solicitations and also helped me market my business to government clients.

Because of mentors I have been able to achieve my goals and make them faster because of my personal board of directors.  I suggest you start building that board sooner rather than later and your success knows no limit.

Transparency on the Internet

Is there such a thing in the current realm of the internet? Can you truly remain stealthy in your personal life when everything is posted on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or other social networking sites? I choose to embrace the fact that I am transparent on the internet and methodically post things about myself to ensure my image. I am currently in the process of human branding myself to embark on a new business adventure. The only way to truly do that is to write about what you know and be who you are. The old cliché "I've Gotta Be Me" is one of my favorite sayings.

Society gravitates toward genuine people because of the increasing gift of detecting who a person is by the integrity of their actions and words. Craig NewMark, founder of craigslist.org, says “'Trust is the new black.' I totally agree with this statement and I think being trustworthy is trendy and cool.

I am trustworthy. I keep my word. I let people know about me through my social networking sites. I find having trustworthy behavior in business creates long term relationships. If I share a little too much then so be it. People know who I am.