Why Hospitality Legend Edward Mady Relies on His "Personal Board of Directors"

Edward: Many moons ago, I was going through some change. I was living in New York City at the time. And so I chose to sit down and read Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. So in there, as I was looking at one of the aspects of sharpening the saw, whatever it is that you go through. So I went through a series of thoughts and so I wrote up a personal mission statement. And on my personal mission statement, which I, I've read it out loud. in team meetings when I'm doing a variety of things. And everyone asks the same question. So what is a personal board of directors? A personal board of directors is a group of people that you have very close to you when it comes to supporting you in your thought process and decision making. When you're making a decision in life, whether it be personal or professional, you really can't make a choice on some decisions unless you have options. Different people create different opportunities in your mind and your thinking. And so the chairman of the board of my personal board of directors has always been my mom and dad. So you can't, you know, escape that. Obviously, you look at them and you don't tell them everything. As you're growing up, you probably would never kiss your first girl if you did. But the reality is, the reality is that you always add people on that you trust and believe in and they'll never lead you astray. over life's journey there are some people you outgrow and when you outgrow them you put somebody new on the board and you distance yourself or they've given you some misinformation or there's just different reasons why you grow away from different people. So who have I kept on my personal board of directors year after year after year? I probably have I don't know, four or five people that I communicate with. And whenever I really do a deep dive into what is it that I'm trying to accomplish right now, the headline on a personal board of directors is always about growth and adding value. And if somebody can help you grow and add value, then you want to continue being close to them. So when I learned that you don't live life alone, you always live it with a team of people around you. And I've defined a team as a group of people that make you look good. And that's what happens when you're running a business. But how about your own brand, your own name? And you'll hear me talk about the most important thing you'll ever own is your name. And you make some goofball mistakes over life's journey too. And you have some people that put you in the right path. And so who do you talk to when you're going through a process in your own mind? And you know as well as I do. The worst place you can ever be is when you're trapped in your own mind. You want somebody to get you to escape from there. And so that personal board of directors goes through a cycle, and that cycle, and I'm just reviewing in my mind the industries that these people cover. So sure, you could have a priest or a rabbi or whoever, you might have a faith. But on the personal board of directors, the conclusion is you always want to have one foot on the street and one foot in faith. And somehow, some way you get to balance what it is that you're trying to accomplish. And then you eventually get there. And this is how I created some of the content in the book. And I don't want to, you know, get caught up with word salad here, but a personal board of directors, in short, are people that you love, you trust, and you believe in, and they'll never steer you wrong. You will terminate some people from your personal board of directors that have taken advantage of you. But all in all, you know that in your mind, you go with your instinct, and then you make sure that you have people that reinforce you as who you want to be. And that's why I always went back to my personal mission statement. I have written right in there, I think it was in paragraph four, about your personal board of directors.