Early on in my entrepreneurial journey, I realized that I could not possibly do everything on my own, and for two reasons: I was either not equipped, or I didn’t have enough available time with everything else I was managing within the company. My time in the Marine Corps provided a lot of insights and tactics on how to deploy strategies for successful leadership. So, I borrowed these and started applying them in my ventures. 

Personal Security Detail (PSD) is exactly what it sounds like: a team of experts that surround the core entity in order to protect it and enable it to operate at maximum capacity. The core entity is typically thought of as a person; usually a high value, high ranking individual. In that case, the PSD Team will be made up of weapons, tactics, and logistical experts whose purpose is to use their expertise to protect the individual at all costs. But the core entity doesn’t have to be a person; it can be a business. Stick with me on this.

In business, just like in the military, a PSD Team is assigned to protect you and your organization from vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities may jeopardize and could even destroy you and/or your business. In the business world, a PSD Team consists of trusted advisors, proven professionals, and experts who are at the top of their game. Their purpose within your business is to use their expertise to protect your business at all costs. Readily available when you need them, the members of your PSD Team are your secret weapons.

“It’s mastery you need in order to grow and scale fast.”

Now the question becomes, how do you build a PSD Team? First, you need to assess your weaknesses. Don’t think you have weaknesses? You’re wrong. As a business owner, you need to put your pride aside and be completely honest with yourself. Where do you have knowledge gaps in your business? Where are you lacking information? Where are you being held back because you’re missing vital skills? Most people think entrepreneurs should be able to do everything – to be a “Jack of All Trades”. But remember the rest of that saying? “Jack of all trades, master of none”, and it’s mastery you need in order to grow and scale fast. 

For example, in our company, part of our PSD Team is not one, but several attorneys who specialize in core legal disciplines. This includes a real estate attorney, a contract attorney and even an attorney that specializes in trademark law. Our company has a CPA, who has the ability to advise us not only on corporate tax law but also our personal taxes. Our PSD Team also includes an insurance specialist. He works with a team of underwriters to protect all of our business entities, from employees and contractors, to brick and mortar buildings. These are paid experts who we not only rely on to deliver us the right advice, but we also go out of our way to learn from them so we never become dependent on people who hold this knowledge and may one day decide to leave the company. This type of education also equips us with a deep understanding of how to run our business and how to ask valuable and relevant questions. If you’ve outsourced these roles, and refused to learn from these experts, you’ve chosen to stay in the dark. Without a PSD Team you have a narrow lens of your world because you don’t have multi-source reporting, and that makes your intelligence incomplete. This is why you need to curate your very own strategic counsel with experts who can provide not only expertise but a detailed “how-to” roadmap. And yes, you will need to pay for this. Rather than seeing this as “bleeding” money, I want you to see this as an opportunity to learn.

“It’s an opportunity for you to learn.”

In this era where we can outsource everything, bringing paid experts into your business is not an opportunity for you to free up your time, nor to achieve the four-hour work week. It’s an opportunity for you to learn, and learning should always be a priority in your business. Not only do you get to fast-track and 10x the speed of your growth, but you get to acquire specialized knowledge others spent decades obtaining. Doing so strengthens your bulletproof vest, and in business you definitely need one.

The relationship you have with your PSD Team is different than the relationship you have with Coaches and Mentors. Your PSD Team is highly paid for their expertise and high-end consulting, and you should be able to pick up the phone and call them at any time. You need to know you can meet with them beyond your weekly scheduled appointments, and you need to be able to know your investment in them allows you to be able to access them and their trusted Rolodex of multi-industry contacts.

Consider a PSD Team the next time you review your team structure. Even if you’re fresh in your start-up journey, a PSD Team is something you should aspire to have, and it should be a priority in your business from the beginning. If the idea of building a PSD Team feels overwhelming or you’re experiencing resistance from your partners, it’s most likely because you or they are fearful. Building a team doesn’t come naturally to everyone. It may also mean that you’re lacking the leadership skills to build a proper team. You may have expertise in some areas, but leadership may not be one of them. Again, this is a time you have to be completely honest with yourself for the good of your business. Consider how fast you want your business to grow. You need to choose whether staying in your comfort zone rewards you more than taking the time to build a brilliant PSD Team, which will reward you and your business forever.

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