In Lesson 7 of the Chair e-Course we talked about building a formal or informal group of "super breed" Trusted Advisers.
Let's assume you don't yet have 3 deep relationships with "super breed" TAs in each category on the Master TA Category List and Tracking Tool. Where would you start to find these "super breed" TAs.
I'd really like to hear from you what techniques and methods have been most successful for you. Here are my ideas:
1. Over the next 12 months, take a few minutes in each group meeting and put on the flip chart one category, such as Business Lawyer. Ask the Group who they use and who they've heard is the very best in your geographic territory. You will usually hear the same names mentioned over and over.
Allow me to share a personal example:
Let's pretend for a moment you would like to have a high level executive recruiter in your portfolio of "super breed" TAs. You ask the group for names by going one-by-one around the table. Out of 12 members, my name is mentioned 6 times. Other recruiters you hear their name once. Maybe your hear one person gets mentioned twice. The very best people in your geography will most likely already be known to your CEO members. If one of these names gets mentioned multiple times and they are not in your portfolio - time to add them.
2. Ask your "super breed" TAs who they think is the best business lawyer in the Fontana area of Socal, Vancouver, or Cincinnati. The "super breed" TAs all know each other in selected communities. They belong to the same golf clubs, they use the same catering companies, they buy their cars from the same dealerships and sales reps, they go to the same fund-raising events, and they sit on the same community foundations, boards, agencies, and civic organizations along with the CEOs you would like to recruit for your group. Ask 12 TAs who they would recommend for a specific type of TA, and you'll hear the same names over and over - just like in your member group.
3.In your one-to-one meetings, have your member pull out their rolodex and cycle through with you who they use for services in recruiting, benefit consulting, strategic planning, etc. Track and follow these individuals. Are these the folks you should be connecting with and developing a relationship with as "super breed" TAs?
4. Search on LinkedIn in each of the master categories where you have "holes". Do some TAs just jump right off the page in terms of their recommendations, size of network, publicity, pr, personal branding, and reputation? Check to see if some of your existing members or TAs know of these individuals?
What works best for you? How have you discovered the "super breed" TAs in your local communities?
Barry Deutsch
