There are plenty of director jobs out there that allow you to put together your own staff or your "cabinet", and just like President Andrew Jackson so many years ago, you can get a lot of good from them. The term kitchen cabinet refers to a small group of intimate, trustworthy advisors, and when you want to excel at executive jobs or director jobs, you will find that this is something that you need to work on.
The first thing that you need to consider when you are building a kitchen cabinet of this sort is trust. The trust that we place in people is something that many people consider to be important, but that very few people actually spell out. Remember that you can have trust in people for different things and that you should know how you trust people before you select them for your circle of close and trusted advisors. For instance, give some thought to the people that you have chosen. Do you trust them to always do the right thing? Do you trust them to support you? Do you trust them to work towards the same goals as the ones that you have? These are important things to know.
Another thing that you need to consider when you are building a kitchen cabinet is that you are likely going to want people on it that do not agree with you in all respects. That doesn't mean that you should put an adversary on your cabinet! What it means is that if you have a group of people who all think like you and who will tend to agree with what you are doing, you are going to miss out on some important opportunities and you are going to be opening yourself to making some big mistakes. Take a moment and consider how someone who questions you is going to be bringing up things that you did not think about or do not want to think about. This can make a huge difference.
Finally, remember that when you are looking at management jobs in general and when you are looking to surround yourself with people who are going to be valuable to you that you need to consider finding people who have a lot of experience. Look into what they have done and what they have accomplished and take what you know about them into consideration. Where do you think that their success trajectory is going to take them, and what do you think are going to be their best strengths? There are some great options open to you when you are looking at people who are experienced and the more time that you spend looking into it, the better your staff is going to be.
Remember that you are looking at decisions that can mean a lot to you and that the more careful you are and the more selective you are, the better your options are going to be. This is something that can make a lot of difference for you at the end of the day.
