'I Mentor a Lot of People. But Who Mentors Me?' Why Every Woman Leader Needs a Personal Board of Advisors

Loretta Stagnitto is a longtime Chief Guide and founder of Loretta Stagnitto Leadership Associates, specializing in executive coaching, high-performance teams, and workplace mental health.

You mentor others. You model ambition and leadership success. You lift other women up — often without even realizing it. And, if you're fortunate, women have done the same for you. But there's a meaningful difference between support that finds you organically and support you build intentionally. One depends on circumstance. The other depends on you.

Chief Members cultivate this support intentionally. It’s one of the many reasons executive women join. In essence, they seek out personal advisors, or by participating in Chief’s Core Group offering, they join a personal board of advisors (BOA). By meeting frequently with a curated group, led by a Chief Guide (like me), members support each other in building leadership acumen, advancing their careers, and lifting each other up.

Having launched eight Core Groups with nearly 80 members over the past five years, I’ve witnessed firsthand what happens when women genuinely inspire each other. When they experience the type of peer connection a personal BOA brings, one of the first things I hear is: “I’m relieved that I’m not the only one dealing with these exact challenges.” And in almost every new group kickoff, members share the same sentiment: “I mentor a lot of people, but who mentors me?”

In one of my earliest Core Groups, a member who arrived perfectly content in her current role listened to her peers share their ambitions, and something shifted. Near the end of year one, she announced she’d accepted a CMO role at a well-known, publicly traded software company. “I was so inspired by everyone that I started recognizing I wanted more.” That’s the power of a personal BOA.

Whether it’s an organized group like Core or another form of intentional professional connection, a personal BOA is one of the most effective strategies women leaders can employ to accelerate and navigate their careers — especially in times of rapid change. (And when hasn’t the past several years brought rapid change?) As natural connectors, we know this. But knowing it and taking the time to build and use a personal BOA are very different things.

3 Key Benefits of a Personal BOA

I know many leaders, men and women, who have used a mentor intentionally to guide their development and navigate their careers. Here are three important reasons to consider building a personal BOA to do the same:

• It makes leadership less lonely. A safe space with trusted peers — people who can offer perspective when you’re navigating tough decisions or facing a challenge alone — isn’t a nice-to-have anymore. It’s a must-have. And it actively develops your leadership even when you don’t have time for a formal coaching engagement.
• It delivers access, accountability, and awareness. A diverse network of colleagues provides you access to fresh perspectives and expands your decision-making. Trusted advisors surface your oversights, hold you accountable to your goals and commitments, and — in the words of organizational psychologist Adam Grant — serve as your “challenge network:” people who give you radical transparency to help you grow.
• It accelerates your network and opens doors. Research confirms that women must hold broader, more central positions than men to reach comparable executive and board roles, making support among senior women especially critical. A personal BOA builds that network with intention. I’ve seen Chief Members connect each other to fractional and permanent roles, speaking opportunities, and openings on corporate and nonprofit boards.

5 Tips for Finding and Activating Your Personal BOA

Effective peer advisory boards pair 8–10 executives from non-competing organizations across industries. Joining one is a quick way to get started. In several Core Groups I’ve guided, one-time strangers have become each other’s most trusted advisors organically over time. Here are tips for activating your own personal BOA and sustaining its value:

• Define your goals first. Before assembling or joining a personal BOA, get clear on what you want from it. Knowing the “why” behind the effort helps you find the right people and make the most of their expertise.
• Mine your current network to build your own. Start by reaching out to a few people you think would benefit from the idea. Then, let early members invite others they trust until you have a group spanning industries where everyone knows at least one person. Ask candidates: “How much time can you commit?” and “What are you hoping to gain?” Ask yourself: “Does this person fill a gap or duplicate a voice I already have? Will they stretch me, or just validate me?”
• Know each member’s strengths and make specific asks. The value of a great BOA member isn’t that they give you answers, it’s that they ask the right questions and help you find your own. Before you engage, understand what each person brings and come to them with a clear, purposeful ask. A well-functioning board keeps you honest, grounded, and brave; both supported and stretched.
• Build in structure and use your board for accountability (not just advice). Once you’ve formed your personal BOA, establish a charter: when and how you’ll meet, how sessions get facilitated, attendance expectations, and norms around feedback. Then, use it for accountability. Share your goals, your wins, and your challenges. Commit to checking in with individual members between group sessions. A personal BOA that holds you accountable as both a professional and a whole person, is one of the most important assets an executive can have.
• Deliberately give back: Psychologist Robert Cialdini’s principle of reciprocity notes that people feel encouraged to help those who they’ve received value from first. The best way to enroll and retain great advisors is to offer them the support you know they need.

I’ve watched Chief Members rise to CEO roles, land public company and nonprofit board seats, launch successful companies after leaving corporate life, take long-overdue sabbaticals and then return to more fulfilling work, and so much more. All were inspired, challenged, and lifted by the power of their personal BOA.

I’ll close with a shoutout to a Core Group I’ve guided for nearly five years; a group that has served as a valuable personal BOA for each other through professional milestones and personal challenges. When I asked what makes their BOA work, they named five things without hesitation: chemistry, accountability, structure, shared values, and commitment.

When all five exist in your personal BOA, the impact on your career, and your life, will be immense.

Get matched with your own personal board of advisors. Learn more about Chief's Guide-led peer advisory circles for senior women leaders.