Page 217 - The Way to the Top

Dale WINSTON

Chairwoman and CEO of Battalia Winston International

The best way to get good business advice is to create a forum that enables
you to seek counsel. In our case, as the executive search firm of Battalia
Winston International was beginning to grow, we created a Board of

Advisors. We met with them on a regular basis and shared with them
information about our business, our successes, and our failures.

Founded in 1963, our national search firm began with only one office in
New York. It was becoming evident to us, through the Board’s advice, that
in order to continue to be national, we needed to open offices elsewhere.

The key advice we received from our Board was to take what we had done
in New York and to “duplicate and replicate” it in other parts of the
country, as well as the world.

Today we have five offices in the United States and, through our

association with the Accord Group, thirty-six offices throughout the world.
Thanks to this advice, we are now ranked among the top fifteen search
firms, both in the United States and worldwide.

Not only companies, but also individuals, need to create an opportunity
to receive advice. I have often advised executives to create their own

advisory groups—to find two or three people to consult with about their
own careers, and to meet with them on a regular basis.

Seek counsel