Brene Brown Is In My Brain Trust

Brene Brown is in my brain trust but let’s go back.

I have a panel of advisors that get me through the day. Folks I can count on to advise and gently turn my shoulders when directional assistance is needed.

I have slowly and deliberately assembled this team, conscientiously vetting every applicant. Once on the board, each advisor has had the opportunity to influence my path.

Serious business.

I was at a Brene Brown concert a couple of years ago. It wasn’t really a concert, although we did sing a folk song at the end, it was more of a lecture, but the fan base enthusiasm was enough to rival a Stones venue.

From the get-go, she referred to her “BRAIN TRUST,” a term reserved for her panel of advisors. She was deliberate about profiling them. They each got a big photo up on the screen.

Now, Brene Brown has arrived. She can have advisors like Oprah, The CEO from Pixar and Maya Angelou. I was resonating with her on how these people had influenced her course in her personal and professional life.

But then she dropped a bomb.

When she appointed each of these people to her “board,” it was at a time she had never actually met any of them. They did not know they were part of a team of mentors who through their inadvertent guidance, shifted her trajectory.

That blew my mind, and she was right.

We all need a panel. We all need an elite team of advisors we can trust and ask for guidance. We need wisdom and experience, and that may come from people we don’t personally know.

In a time when information is king, and knowledge is ubiquitous we need to grab hold. We need to grab hold of a few trusted minds that can steady us in the wind. Those whose counsel we can rely on time and time again. Personalities that resonate with our purpose and in whose life work we deeply believe.

Have you appointed your board, your brain trust?

Can you take fifteen minutes right now and select five inspirators? Some you may actually know, some you may not. (My CEO is Jesus, so there’s that.) But people who you believe in — people whose work matters to you.

Perhaps your brain trust can ground you when times are tough and when you don’t know which way to turn? Maybe your board can guide with their words that speak to your soul?

Your brain trust can keep you from distraction, discouragement or defeat. And maybe they can even deliver a swift kick in the derriere to keep you marching on.

Brene, thank you for this concept. A belief in folks ahead of us on the path that can reach back and figuratively or literally lend us a hand. And, although I am quite sure you have no idea, you have a seat at my table.

If you liked this article you should check out these.

When You Fall, Are You ready?

You Have To Squat Before You Leap

Check Out This Incredible Time Mapping tool For Free.