I just returned from our annual Fall Business Meeting with Renaissance Executive Forums, and it occurs to me that I have become a far more open person since joining this business 13 years ago. One of the primary reasons CEOs and business owners join the Executive Forums that I lead, is to learn. They tend to be far more open to new ideas, fresh perspectives and change than the CEOs and business owners who choose not to join. They are much more open than I ever was. The Executive Forum members I work with are humble and willing to share. They recognize they don’t know what they don’t know, and they are willing to change and grow. Although my reasons for starting this business were different (
If you type “CEO Vision” in a Google search, more than 145 MILLION results pop up. The sheer number of responses reflect how integral having a vision is to being a CEO. Jack Welch said “good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” So why then, do so many CEOs have trouble creating and communicating a compelling vision? For the past 13 years, I’ve worked with scores of CEOs of small and midsize firms in confidential peer advisory groups. From where I stand, the biggest reason why this vision thing is so tough is simply because CEOs are human. I’ve seen three very human obstacles hold these otherwise succes
Joining a CEO peer advisory group may seem like a “can’t miss” opportunity, but the confidential peer learning experience isn’t right for everyone. There are some important reasons why a CEO may choose not to join a group (or at least not now) or may leave a group they’ve already joined. Let’s look at these reasons in more detail. FIT The primary value derived from membership in a CEO advisory group is the opportunity to get advice from peers. It helps to solve the problem of feeling “alone” or like there’s no one to talk to about key decisions. So it’s essential to choose a group of peers who you respect and can learn from. If this element is missing, it’s not a good fit. Some factors to co
