Peer advisory groups are like sounding boards, where business leaders from a range of industries and backgrounds come together to troubleshoot issues, share best practices and receive and offer unbiased feedback with an experienced mentor leading the charge. It’s like having your own personal climb team on your leadership journey.
According to a Stanford Graduate School of Business study, many CEOs struggle with isolation, while almost 75% do not receive outside leadership advice. Simply put, it can get lonely at the top. And when left unchecked, executive isolation can be a debilitating malady that oozes throughout the organization. Fortunately, a CEO peer advisory group can help. If you’re looking to scale to a higher elevation in business and life, below are six time-honored benefits leaders can gain from CEO peers.
A peer advisory group or CEO peer advisory group is a highly-focused, specialized network of support comprised of fellow business owners and executives from non-competing organizations. Through the structured environment of a peer advisory board, leaders work together to tackle tough subjects and topics, helping unlock better decision-making skills, increased profits, and many other benefits for the individual and organization.
The CEO peer advisory group represents a unique opportunity for executives to share experiences, offer insights, and give and receive advice. By participating in a business peer advisory group, you’ll be optimally positioned to navigate challenges, create solutions, and achieve your goals, whatever they may be.
There are many valuable insights executives can gain from joining a peer advisory group. Below are some of the top reasons why considering a peer advisory group can prove beneficial:
World-class leaders seek diverse perspectives on important decisions from trusted peers. They find other CEOs and business leaders who’ve tackled similar issues in different industries. These peers understand the nuances and challenges of the C-suite and bring fresh perspectives unhampered by institutional knowledge. Hearing from CEOs outside their company and industry allows leaders to honestly share any challenges and receive genuine, objective, and unbiased feedback.
Great leaders are high on curiosity and low on ego. These leaders are the first to admit they don’t have all the answers and also the ones who believe most that a breakthrough is on the horizon. They are inquisitive, welcome new ideas from trusted sources that challenge their thinking, and are eager to explore.
Confirmation bias can occur when leaders have already made up their minds about a situation and then seek out answers that validate their point of view. Peer advisory groups help leaders to actively work to prevent that from happening, as CEOs come together with those who they know will challenge their position.
Peer advisory groups offer more than just professional growth; they foster a strong sense of community and social connection. Entrepreneurs and executives alike find that these groups open new pathways for social interactions, where trust and camaraderie blossom over time.
Whether through structured meetings or informal gatherings, the connections made in these groups enhance both personal and professional domains. Engaging socially can lead to lifelong friendships, building a dependable network of peers supporting each other’s endeavors.
Leading people and teams can too often be focused on the most pressing issue of the moment instead of the big picture. Maybe it’s replacing a key hire, launching a new product, reducing costs, or chasing incremental growth. Taking time away from day-to-day operations allows leaders to step back and focus on key strategic decisions with peers.
One of the most powerful tools in peer advisory groups is an exponentially expanded knowledge base. Listening to different approaches, perspectives, and experts can encourage leaders to think outside the box. When CEOs make a deliberate effort to learn from those with diverse backgrounds and experiences, they can tap into new ways of thinking — fresh perspectives that challenge the status quo.
Some leaders may discover that they are thinking about a challenge in a way that doesn’t get to the true underlying issue. If you tell a friend you have an issue with delegating assignments, they might give you a new technique to try. However, a well-trained coach will listen closely and ask great questions that get to the root of what’s holding you back.
By joining a peer advisory board, business leaders expose themselves to a diversity of expertise that may not be available within their own industries. Regular meetings with peers from various backgrounds help broaden one’s expertise, especially in areas such as marketing and management strategies.
This setting thrives on shared learning, as members contribute to each other’s growth. The support system offered through board participation ensures leaders continuously refine their skills and stay competitive in their fields.
As a Vistage member, I’ve learned as much from listening to others process their issues as I have from seeking input. When you’re listening closely to others, it often unlocks a solution for your business that you might not have considered.
While you can certainly attempt to hike a formidable mountain on your own, it’s good to know you have options. If your goal was to climb Mt. Everest, you’d hire a guide and climb with a team who knows the mountain and supports your journey. World-class leaders understand the same is true in business.
Peer advisory groups equip CEOs and business owners with the tools, resources, and guidance so they can make great decisions. Leaders who surround themselves with executive peers who offer differing points of view — and push them to achieve their next peak of success — create a fundamental condition for leadership growth.
Unlike any other forum, peer advisory groups can help you achieve your goals and share in the success. However, not all peer advisory groups are created equal. The cornerstones and benefits of an effective peer advisory group are accountability, confidentiality, network building, and results, such as increased profits. Let’s explore these four proven benefits of peer advisory groups.
The power of accountability can go far. The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) conducted a study on accountability and discovered you have a 65% chance of achieving a goal if you commit to and are accountable to someone. However, when you have a specific accountability appointment with someone you’ve committed to, you can bolster your chances of success up to 95%.
The message is simple: if you want to increase the chances of achieving your goals, accountability is the key. Peer advisory boards help create the supportive, accountable environment you need for success. Unlike a spouse or subordinate, your peer advisory board members have no incentive tied to your success other than the mutual joy of it. The structure of peer advisory boards helps facilitate genuine encouragement for you to stay on track while holding you responsible for progressing toward the objective.
Confidentiality is a cornerstone of trust. Many business peer advisory groups employ formal written documents to establish a confidential framework, which can assuage concerns and allow leaders to share honestly and openly without recourse.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, hosting over 930 million members in more than 200 countries and territories. LinkedIn is where professionals connect, grow their network, receive advice, highlight skills, and more. However, if you’re an executive or leader, you have specific needs only other leaders and executives are prone to understand.
Fortunately, a business peer advisory group is like a supercharged networking platform for business owners, executives, and like-minded leaders. When you join a peer advisory group, you will automatically walk into a room of people who can help you develop professionally and personally. You’ll be able to meet new people, establish new relationships, and make connections you may never have known existed.
As a leader, you aren’t judged by the size of your network or the professional growth you’ve experienced. While the intangibles are admirable, your ultimate measure of professional success and effectiveness is quantifiable in dollars and cents — or profits. The right peer advisory group assists in this area as well.
However, not every CEO peer advisor group is created equally. For example, Vistage CEO peer advisory group members increased their annual revenue by 4.6% in 2020, while comparable nonmembers who ran small to mid-sized businesses experienced a revenue decrease of 4.7% in a Dun & Bradstreet study. With historical returns like this, joining a Vistage CEO peer advisory group is an investment that can deliver exceptional ROI.
By now, it should be clear that peer advisory groups offer numerous benefits. But unlocking the benefits of peer advisory groups hinges on your ability to choose the right one. A few tips and considerations for selecting a CEO peer advisory group are explained below.
Before deciding on a peer advisory board, you should be clear about your personal goals and expectations. It’s the only way you can ensure the group aligns and has the infrastructure to help you get there. While the goals of other members do not have to be identical, mutual victory can be achieved when everyone is moving in the same direction.
To harness the full potential of a peer advisory group, strategic engagement in your membership is essential. Defining clear objectives and appreciating the unique benefits your group offers can significantly enrich your experience.
Actively engaging in meetings, embracing the expertise of peers, and leveraging community support allow members to fully exploit the group’s resources, advice and accountability. This proactive approach can lead to substantial growth in both personal leadership and business operations.
Today, CEO peer advisory groups are available in online and in-person formats. Make sure to identify which method is most conducive and suitable for you and your lifestyle.
Joining a peer advisory group is like joining a community dedicated to shared success and development. Members of these groups meet regularly to exchange insights, participate in discussions, and tackle management challenges together, thereby enhancing their knowledge on topics like marketing strategies and industry trends.
By joining, business leaders gain access to valuable resources and information that might otherwise remain out of reach. Each meeting becomes an opportunity to benefit from and contribute to the collective wisdom, further solidifying connections within the community.
Being part of a peer advisory group demands a commitment not only in terms of sharing insights but also in managing your time effectively. One might face challenges coordinating personal schedules with group meetings, and ensuring regular participation without neglecting other responsibilities.
Effective time management is crucial in reaping the benefits offered by these memberships, allowing members to remain active within the community while balancing their personal and professional obligations.
Bigger isn’t always better, especially for choosing a peer advisory group. The goal is to find a peer advisory group large enough to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion but not so large that you’re nothing but a number.
Properly structured business peer advisory groups can help improve every aspect of your leadership persona, including being vulnerable, getting comfortable with other people’s unique perspectives, active listening, asking insightful questions, getting and giving feedback, and helping others find solutions to their problems.
Research shows effective CEO peer advisory groups range from 12 to 16 high-caliber executives. Look for groups that conform to this best-in-class standard.
Even though most peer advisory groups operate under confidentiality and nondisclosure standards, this may not always be the case. Require your peer advisory board to maintain and prioritize strict confidentiality standards facilitated by signed documents.
There has always been immense power in diversity — whether it’s across industries, company size, race, genre, age, and so forth. The power of diversity comes from the unique perspectives, interests, and experiences each individual brings. These commonalities and perspectives may be directly associated with increasing profits. By choosing a business peer advisory group that prioritizes diversity, you’ll be better positioned to turn the potential benefits of peer advisory groups into reality.
As an alum of a peer advisory group, you will have gained tremendous momentum. Here are a few ways you can keep it going.
One popular way to continue personal and professional development is to join the board of nonprofit organizations, which can expose you to different ideas, ways of thinking, and situations. Additionally, you can:
A core benefit of participating in a peer advisory group is the expansion of your network. When the peer advisory group ends, your job shifts to actively nurturing those relationships. Whether you set aside a monthly chat, dinner, or whatever suits your schedule, your group connection has value.
As an accomplished executive or business owner and alumnus of the Vistage peer advisory board, you may be eligible to become a Vistage Chair or a program leadership development guide. Vistage Chairs are accomplished leaders who have led their companies and wish to share the knowledge and wisdom gained to build and lead CEO peer advisory groups. Best of all, Vistage will provide you with the tools, support, and solutions you need to get started and build a great team.
As a leader, it can get lonely at the top, and even if you’re willing to accept advice, finding a confidential and suitable platform is often easier said than done. This is where Vistage’s peer advisory group can help.
For more than 65 years, Vistage has helped CEOs, executives, business owners, and business leaders elevate their professional development and profits to the next level. Our CEO peer advisory groups are tested, tried, and proven to deliver the results and return on investment you want and need.
Benefits of mastermind groups for CEOs
Why every CEO needs a peer group & business coaching
We are at a unique time in history. Enabled by technology, marketers can deliver the right message to the right prospect at the right time based on their unique characteristics. Marketing can influence enterprise value, unlike ever before.
Yet, marketing efforts are tempered by a backdrop of economic uncertainty. Whispers of a slowdown led many companies to freeze or rethink their marketing strategies. This deep freeze didn’t only impact marketing. Many small and midsize businesses report a significant stall in their broader business development efforts, which frames fundamental changes that companies need to make to their approach.
Marketing used to be centered on big, bold creative concepts but has evolved into a domain ruled by data, activations and analytics. Also, the impact of generative AI can’t be minimized, up 116% vs. last year. We’re seeing a strategic recalibration, with dollars flowing toward areas of higher ROI and long-term value creation.
For our annual benchmark on marketing spending and practices, we once again lean on the findings from the CMO Survey, a joint effort from Duke University, Deloitte and the American Marketing Association.
As we reported last year, our strategic advisory clients with revenue between $20 and $400 million spend only 2% of their revenue on marketing. That’s far below what CMO Survey companies spend, yet it’s these year-to-year benchmarks that make this data useful to the rest of us.
The headline numbers from the CMO Survey show a contradictory tension — 44% of respondents said they decreased their marketing spending in the past 12 months, largely due to inflationary pressures and economic caution. Only 14% reported an increase. Yet, there has been a retreat from tariff-war hysteria, reflecting a potential shift in the tide. There are large variances in spending by sector:
Total marketing budgets are expected to grow 3.3% in 2025, with digital marketing increasing 7.3%. That disparity provides an important learning: marketing leaders aren’t cutting indiscriminately. They’re reallocating — away from brand spend and traditional channels, toward digital platforms with measurable ROI. This approach can be taxing on smaller marketing departments that do not have specialized staff or the powerful analytics that larger companies deploy. But where investment is being deployed is shifting. For example, new product introductions are down 27%:
Another nugget from this year’s survey — companies expect 13% growth in their largest market segment over the next year. That’s a powerful signal.
In uncertain times, businesses are betting on their base. For midsize B2B firms, that often means refining ideal customer profiles (ICPs), optimizing their sales funnel, and leaning into performance marketing over brand-heavy campaigns.
The single fastest-growing challenge for marketing leaders today? “Finding and utilizing useful data.” Not gathering data — using it. Most private companies are not measuring customer lifetime value (CLV), customer acquisition cost (CAC) and return on marketing investment (ROMI). What’s worse: only a third of companies claim to be using AI and automation to improve performance.
What do your customers actually care about? Customer service is table stakes. Most customers will trade superior product quality over price.
Despite the AI hype, only 10% of companies are fully using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT in marketing, and 51% are still in testing or pilot phases. Yet, companies using AI are outgrowing their markets by 3.4% — a sizable edge in tight-margin sectors.
The tools are ready. For SBMs, practical AI adoption might look like:
Another subtle yet meaningful shift: Companies are relying more on channel partners to reach customers. This is especially common in sectors where the cost of direct sales is rising or where margins require a lean go-to-market strategy. We’re seeing a resurgence in affiliate strategies, white-label distribution and co-marketing partnerships.
Companies selling products online report a predictable pattern: post-COVID ecommerce sales are down, but still significantly above pre-pandemic levels. Self-service, transparency and instant access to pricing and specs are the new norm. If your website isn’t your top-performing sales rep yet, it’s time for a performance review.
Even with more money flowing into marketing, senior leaders are struggling to consistently implement key activities that drive business impact. The table below highlights which challenges are gaining urgency — and which have slipped — between 2023 and 2025. Notably, data and analytics is the fastest-growing pain point, while proving marketing’s financial impact remains the top ongoing concern.
The companies growing in 2025 aren’t spending more — they’re spending smarter. They’ve embraced AI not as a gimmick, but as a growth engine. They’ve refocused on the markets that love them most. And they’ve replaced marketing theater with performance-driven execution.
So ask yourself: Is your marketing department a cost center or your growth engine? The time is now to leverage marketing to enable sales.
Small business confidence rises; costs, tariffs bite margins [WSJ/Vistage May 2025]
How business owners will adapt to AI
Brett Pyle was recently at a funeral when he caught himself thinking about transformational leadership.
A former 10-year Vistage Chair and 2022 Speaker Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Pyle focused on the words mourners said about the deceased. He began to think about the significance of their messages, about the impact this individual had on those around him. Those at the funeral were grateful to have known this person, but they were also grateful for how they grew because of that person.
That, Pyle thought to himself, is transformational leadership.
“As we unpack this concept called transformational leadership, it brings together those two things,” the Greenville, South Carolina-based Pyle says. “Did we find and fulfill the life of meaning and purpose for which we were created, and are we lifting others along the journey?”
Transformational leadership is a powerful ability to inspire teams, foster innovation and drive organizational success. By embodying core principles such as idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, leaders can enhance employee engagement, boost performance and encourage creativity.
Transformational leadership requires a clear vision, trust-building and a commitment to continuous learning. While challenges like resistance to change and sustaining momentum may arise, overcoming them can unlock transformative results.
“Transformational leadership is the ability to move people, processes, products and an entire ecosystem to a significantly improved position or place,” says Holly G. Green, CEO and managing director of The Human Factor, Inc., in Parker, Colorado. “Transformational leaders can guide with vision and intent to create something different.”
To understand transformational leadership, Pyle believes it’s important to consider the two words separately. To him, “leadership” means lifting other people up, whether it is part of a job description or not.
“If we’re going to live a life of meaning and significance, it’s got to be about more than just ourselves,” he says. “In that sense, everyone who is here and doing something meaningful is a leader.”
That definition is fairly straightforward. “Transformation, on the other hand, can have many meanings,” Pyle says.
There is physician transformation, intellectual transformation, emotional transformation and spiritual transformation. Each is significant and represents a powerful change.
A classic example of transformation is a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly. That’s a physical transformation. It physically becomes something different.
Transformation doesn’t have to be seen. Often, the change that comes is internal. Transformation appears in a feeling, mindset, or attitude that may never have shown itself before.
For example, reading insightful books can transform how you think. Having a child can transform how you feel.
Pyle says the key concept to understand is that transformation is always happening. There is no middle ground, so leaders must decide whether they are positively or negatively transforming their teams and organizations.
“It’s always a battle,” he says. “We’re either going to move forward in this thing called growth and development, or we’re going to slip backward.”
Four core components are critical to effective transformational leadership: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration.
When Green thinks of transformational leadership, her mind immediately goes to Paul Brown.
Brown spent five years as CEO of Arby’s, where he was credited with transforming the company thanks to, among other things, an innovative mindset and a team member training program. In 2018, he founded Inspire Brands, a fast-food restaurant franchise company that now owns Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC Drive-In.
The goal was to create a company that can ignite and nourish flavorful experiences. Today, Inspire Brands’ portfolio includes over 33,000 restaurants across more than 50 global markets.
“Paul Brown was able to envision a model of service, embed core values, and lead others to create entities that far exceed their competitors,” Green says. “His balance of IQ and EQ is crucial in ongoing success.”
In 2023, Newsweek named Inspire Brands one of America’s Greatest Workplaces based on employee satisfaction. Having a motivated and committed workforce like that is a key benefit of transformational leadership.
While many leaders may think the best way to develop a motivated workforce is to offer various incentives, Green says leaders should instead focus on their image and tone. They need to model what it means to be motivated.
“Leaders cannot motivate others,” she says. “Individuals must be motivated themselves. You can create the conditions by informing, inspiring and engaging continuously.”
Green believes transformational leaders can help develop a motivated workforce by providing clarity on seven distinct aspects of the business:
1. The mission statement says why you exist
2. Guiding principles dictate how you will behave
3. Value propositions explain what you offer to key stakeholders
4. Destination points highlight where you want the company to go
5. Strategic priorities offer areas of focus for the organization
6. Key initiatives outline what you will do to reach your destination points
7. The difference details what changes will impact an individual, their responsibilities, and their team
“Engaged employees bring more than just their bodies to work,” Green says. “They bring their hearts and souls, as well as their best thinking, and they are more productive if fully engaged.”
That productivity, coupled with creative thinking, adds to the benefits of transformational leadership. However, these attributes don’t develop on their own. Organizational leadership must create and model the culture and mindset.
Role-modeling techniques to think differently are great ways for leaders to encourage creativity and innovation within their organization. That includes making sure everyone within the company has the core set of skills required to be innovative.
“You have to develop practices and processes that provide the time and space to ponder, wonder and explore periodically,” she says. “Encourage questioning ‘the right answer.’ Develop structures that force changing perspectives with intention. Grow abilities to unlearn since what got us here won’t get us to the next place.”
Pyle agrees.
“Inspire me,” he says, ” then empower me and take the obstacles out of the way.”
It’s great to say that transformational leadership is important, but how do you incorporate it into your organization? Here are 4 steps to building transformational leadership.
It starts with developing a clear vision that is more than a set of words. The vision needs to be crafted and communicated strategically in a way that resonates.
Doing that requires leaders to go beyond the words and focus on the impact.
“Talk about what it means to yourself,” Green says. “Create a clear picture of the win with specificity, using language that defines it with meaning consistent to all.”
The Masser Family of Companies, an eighth-generation family-owned farming company in Pennsylvania, exemplifies this. The company farms and transports potatoes and potato products across the country. Its mission is straightforward: Grow experiences that nourish.
“It is crucial to this family-owned business that they nourish the community, employees, consumers, everyone in their ecosystem,” Green says. “It answers the question, why do we exist? It’s not what we do, but why.”
Explaining that “why” builds trust and credibility between leaders and those who report to them. However, to truly understand the organizational “why,” a leader must first understand their own “why”.
According to Pyle, self-awareness is pivotal for transformational leadership. A key component of this is sharing past failures and the lessons learned from them.
Did you make a bad business decision? Did you advocate for a product that ultimately failed? Pyle suggests being comfortable with those mistakes, learning from them, and then sharing those lessons across the organization. That openness demonstrates authenticity and integrity and shows the importance of continuous learning.
“It’s just a matter of saying, listen, none of us are going to get this perfect,” Pyle says. “Let’s be human as we go along. Let’s give each other grace when we fail, and let’s be on the path to lifting everybody. If we’re all lifting others, then the organization is getting bigger and stronger as we go.”
Transformational leaders help lift others — and their organizations — in part because of how they provide feedback. Constructive feedback is an art, and it can be done in a variety of ways.
When Pyle started his career, he learned to view feedback like a sandwich — start and end the conversation with positive observations, and in between, provide areas for improvement. While that can be effective, one of the most memorable critiques Pyle ever received came before his career even started.
Growing up, Pyle spent a summer working at a local drugstore. He enjoyed interacting with customers, but he despised getting new merchandise from the warehouse and having to stock shelves. When it was time to do that, he went slow. He was careless.
Simply put, Pyle mailed it in, and his boss called him on it.
Her name was Connie. Pyle doesn’t remember her last name, but 50 years later, he still remembers what she said. She told him that she knew this was just a summer job and that he would likely grow to have countless professional opportunities in his life. Then she pointed out other workers who were more committed — workers who likely would not have the same type of long-term opportunities.
“‘Your future is so much bigger than this particular store, but I want you to compare the effort you’re giving versus the effort of people who aren’t going to have your opportunities,’” he remembers her saying. “‘I want you to ask yourself, Is this the very best you can be doing? Because these guys are giving more than you are.’ She didn’t put nice stuff on the front end. She didn’t put nice stuff on the back end. She just went right after that thing.”
That was all Pyle needed to hear.
“The beauty of what she did was she said, ‘Listen, I know you’re better than this,’” Pyle says. “This was this idea of ‘I have high expectations of you. I also have a high belief in you.’”
Belief is great. So, too, is giving space to innovate, create, learn and grow. But no matter the organization and no matter how supportive and authentic leaders are, there will always be resistance to change.
Transformational leadership comes from understanding the different phases of reactions to change. There are six phases, according to Green:
“Recognize where you are in these cycles when change happens and help others to recognize where they are in the phases as well,” she says. “Remember, you start over in the phases every time there is an unexpected change, so manage the phases constantly.”
Transformational leadership also comes with resilience. Resilient people are positive, focused, flexible, organized and proactive.
“Grow your resilience so you manage through transition even more effectively,” she says. “Resilient people get the right things done with a great attitude, and they are always focused on continuous improvement without getting worn down by constant changes. They spring back, bend and adapt to achieve.”
That flexibility brings Pyle back to the funeral he recently attended. He’d previously been to a funeral where the speakers didn’t have lots to say about the deceased. The person was nice, but they didn’t inspire those around them.
This person, at the most recent funeral, clearly did.
“What I saw was people standing up and talking about this individual who had passed and the impact that he had on them,” Pyle says. “It becomes part of our legacy. I think in that gentleman’s final moments, it proved deeply fulfilling and satisfying as he reflected back on the life he had and all the people he was able to influence.”
Now that you understand how to master transformational leadership, read why Pyle believes purpose is the gateway to transformational leadership.
Discovering the leader’s code: Driving winning performance in organizations
4 ways CEOs can become better leaders in 2025
Mergers and acquisitions are powerful growth tools, but integrating teams is often the hardest part. Cultural alignment, employee trust and clear communication can make or break the transition’s success.
If the 2 companies aren’t aligned philosophically and culturally, it just won’t work. So the most important thing is making sure the values align prior to actually moving forward with the acquisition itself. — Alex Cohen
In this conversation, 2025 Vistage Member Excellence Award winners Becky Sharpe, CEO of ISTS, and Alex Cohen, COO of Enhanced Therapies, share what they’ve learned from leading through acquisitions, offering real-world strategies for bringing teams together without losing momentum, morale or talent.
As Becky Sharpe puts it: “I was emotionally engaged in this process, and I had this moment where I thought—what would I want to know if I were an employee?”
If your company is planning an acquisition, or already navigating one, don’t miss this discussion on what it takes to merge not just systems, but people.
Key takeaways include:
Watch now to learn how thoughtful integration leads to lasting success.
About the Presenters
Becky Sharpe
2025 Tennessee Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Becky Sharpe is the CEO and Owner of International Scholarship and Tuition Services. She has been teaching A Sharper You workshops for over a decade, focusing on effective leadership and innovation through the lens of continuous growth. Becky led the business to significant organic growth and became the sole owner in 2008, transitioning the company to 100% women-owned. Her focus on company culture and living the organizational values has led to national recognition, and she has been acknowledged with various awards. Becky holds a Bachelor of Arts in German and French from Vanderbilt University and an MBA in international marketing from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cycling, gardening, and international travel, and is currently pursuing her private helicopter pilot’s license. Becky is also a proud mother of three young adults and loves singing Patsy Cline’s Walking After Midnight at karaoke.
Alex Cohen
2025 Los Angeles Impact Award Winner
Alex Cohen is the COO of Enhance Therapies, one of the largest national providers of therapy and therapy-related services to the long-term care industry. In his time as COO of Enhance Therapies, Alex has expanded the company from 1,800 clinicians to nearly 8,000 and played a crucial role in the company’s acquisition of nine brands between 2021 and 2023. Alex Cohen never expected to work in healthcare, much less become a chief executive at one of the nation’s largest therapy providers. As COO of Enhance Therapies, Alex has expanded the company from 1,800 clinicians to nearly 8,000. He heavily integrated technology solutions in 2024, which led to $1.75 million in cost savings annually. At just 35, Alex is on a mission to revolutionize the healthcare industry.
Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
The main idea of Angela Duckworth’s bestselling book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” is that grit — defined as a combination of two aforementioned traits — plays a crucial role in achieving long-term goals. Duckworth argues that maintaining focus and consistency over time can distinguish world-class achievers from others, often outweighing innate talent and intelligence.
“Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out,” says Duckworth, a New York Times bestselling author, MacArthur Fellow, TedTalk speaker and pioneering voice on the subject. “Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
In this 1:42 clip, Duckworth explores sisu, a Finnish concept that embodies inner fortitude, and discusses how CEOs can challenge themselves to foster a culture of grit.
In developing grit, Duckworth identifies three essential elements for success:
She emphasizes that the last element, immediate and informative feedback, is crucial for developing grit. This feedback closes the learning loop and enhances skill improvement, making coaching a vital part of the process.
Duckworth recalls a conversation with NFL head coach Pete Carroll, in which he expressed his belief that “nobody can reach their full potential without a coach.” She concludes with this powerful statement: “Who among us has done what we could do without the wisdom, without the support, without the emotional ballast of our mentors, of our coaches, and yes, our peers?”
For more insights, she explores this topic further in a 45-second clip.
In addition to building grit within your organization, Duckworth emphasizes searching for and finding it through your hiring process. To do so, she says, look for two outlying traits while evaluating résumés: multi-year commitments and a clear record of progression.
“It often comes out in athletics, it often comes out in music, but the general pattern is what it is,” Duckworth says, “Somebody has stuck with something and gotten somewhere.”
In this 1:49 clip, Duckworth explains how to build this framework for grit into your hiring process.
What separates world-class performers from everyone else?
According to bestselling author Angela Duckworth, it’s not just effort — it’s vision, and the coaching that shapes it. “You are giving the leaders, the members of your group, a mental representation of something they may not have done before,” she says.
Drawing on the legacy of psychologists K. Anders Ericsson, Duckworth highlights the critical role of coaches and mentors in setting intentional goals. Without guidance, even the most talented can fall short of their potential.
This 45-second clip is a compelling reminder that great leadership starts with helping others see — and strive for — what they’re not yet able to do on their own.
In a candid reflection on leadership, coaching, and meaning, bestselling author Angela Duckworth circles back to football coach Pete Carroll and shares a powerful lesson inspired by his brief retirement: “Nobody can be what they could be without a coach.”
Drawing on both that and the wisdom of psychologist Viktor Frankl, Duckworth explores how we find purpose — through our work, our response to suffering and, most profoundly, through love.
This heartfelt message resonates deeply with Vistage Chairs and the CEOs they support.
In this 2-minute clip, watch Duckworth connect the dots between mentorship, growth and the transformative power of believing in what others “are not yet, but can be.”
Be sure to watch the full discussion with Duckworth (member login required) to learn how to be a grittier and more successful person at home, in the office and as a leader.
The 6 Habits of World-Class CEOs
Building ‘Atomic Habits’ with James Clear: How to get 1% better every day
As you look at your life, what is the number one determinant of your performance as a CEO, spouse, parent or human being?
I believe our mindset is the number one determinant of our performance, because it’s the one thing we always have control over. At any moment, we can operate from two very different mindsets, the victim mindset and the ownership mindset. The results we produce while operating from these two mindsets are vastly different, profoundly impacting our leadership, relationships, energy, performance and the quality of our lives.
As you consider this, do you know which mindset you are operating from at any given moment?
I’ve spent a lot of time coaching people in every stratum of the human experience, and so far, I have never met a person who hasn’t spent time in the victim mindset. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with the victim mindset, it just isn’t fun. It’s not fun because we give up things — our sense of control, energy, and confidence — but most importantly, we give up being present.
So, how do we enter the victim mindset? The moment we start reacting to life is the moment we enter the victim mindset. Whether that reaction is to a pandemic that threatened our business, leaving us lost or stuck for days or weeks, or our upset 5-year-old, whom we can’t entirely control, causing frustration and anger. Reaction causes us to go to the victim mindset, but fear keeps us there. Fear prevents us from taking risks or making bold requests of others or ourselves. Fear is the killer of possibility, and it is the foundation of the victim mindset.
On the other side of the equation is the ownership mindset. It is rooted in the awareness that we are responsible for our lives. In essence, we own that we are the cause of our lives. Who else is causing our lives?
We enter the ownership mindset when we start actively creating our lives, and a created life starts with intention. Living without intention is a lot like being a boat without a rudder. How could you have an amazing marriage, relationship with your kids, career or an amazing life if you weren’t intending it?
Do you have a daily practice focused on creating your life through intention? If not, consider starting your day with some form of practice — prayer, meditation, or directed thought — that has you intending your day. We are incredibly good at creating what we focus on, but if we’re not focused on anything, we will just get what we get. Twenty minutes a day can have a huge impact on your performance and your life.
When we operate from the ownership mindset, our energy is very high, and our confidence is grounded. We have clarity and a strong sense of who we are and what we’re up to. It’s from this created state that we produce our best results both at work and at home. The biggest benefit of the ownership mindset is that we’re slowing down. We’re way more present with others and ourselves.
I have distilled the ownership mindset into love, purpose and presence.
Love is the foundation of the ownership mindset. The following are three modalities of love.
Choosing love over fear. In many ways, this choice dictates the quality of our lives and our relationships. What if you chose love over fear just 10% more often in your life? Because you can. We’re born loving, but what gets in the way of us being loving is fear. Fear can block our willingness to be kind, generous, empathetic or vulnerable — all critical elements of leadership.
Loving yourself enough to push through the fear. Fear is all around us. Leadership is not about being fearless; it’s about being courageous. Courage is a created state. No one was born courageous. It is a manifestation of loving yourself enough to push through the fear.
Loving life enough to intentionally create fun. Whatever you do for fun, the reason it’s fun is because it calls you into being present. And you can’t be too present. And the more present you are, the better your life will go. What do you do for fun? How often are you doing it, and what if you did it a little more often? Are you having fun at work? If not, why not? What would you need to do to make work more fun?
Purpose has a strong relationship with something powerful in the human condition called discretionary energy. The higher the purpose, the more willing we are to give our discretionary energy. In terms of leadership, the critical question is, are you pulling the discretionary energy out of your direct reports? If not, why not?
One place to look is purpose. Specifically, is the purpose of your organization clear and compelling? Would your employees know the purpose of your business? FYI, money is not a purpose; it is a result of a purpose.
Presence is the portal to everything meaningful as a human being. I have never met a person who could articulate one positive, meaningful experience they’ve had when they weren’t present. How present are you with your direct reports? Or more importantly, how present are you at home? What if you were 10% more present in your life?
Being present is not a skill; it’s a willingness thing. Am I willing to slow down with the person right in front of me and overwhelm them with my presence? What would that do to the quality of your life and the relationships in your life?
Victim vs. Owner. It is the vital choice. What mindset are you choosing today?
Want to learn more? Then check out Todd’s discussion, The Victim vs. The Ownership Mindset. The discussion includes a Q&A session with Vistage Chair Ola Sage.
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Following the high of the 2024 election, the introduction of tariffs has deflated the optimism of CEOs of small and midsize businesses. Our latest research reveals that nearly 70% of CEOs expect negative impacts of changing tariff and trade policies, a major driver of increasing economic pessimism among CEOs. While the tariff playbook has not changed, the uncertainty about when, where and how these changes will impact makes planning challenging. The issue at hand may be tariffs, but the problem is uncertainty.
This CEO Pulse collects insights around the topic of tariffs, bringing together both expert and peer perspectives to help you navigate decisions around these changing policies, mitigate the risk and plan effectively. Here’s the latest from Vistage Research, which includes a “tariffs playbook.”
To help with decision-making, we have curated:
AI Adoption Surges Amid Economic Uncertainty: What You Need to Know
Economic downturns are accelerating technology adoption. Explore how today’s tariff uncertainty is driving AI adoption by CEOs and leaders.
Small Business Confidence Rises; Costs, Tariffs Bite Margins
The May WSJ/Vistage Small Business index rose slightly, but uncertainty still looms, affecting demand, investments and hiring plans.
Why Tariffs Are a Pricing Strategy Problem
Vistage Chief Research Officer Joe Galvin explains how tariffs drive uncertainty, forcing CEOs to rethink pricing, supply chains and investments amid rising costs, inflation and market instability.
Volatility and Uncertainty Erode Confidence
The April WSJ/Vistage Small Business index dropped to 69.7, revealing that 57% of CEOs expect a declining economy over the next 12 months as they prepare for more volatility and uncertainty. Read more in our report.
Developing Pricing Strategies while Navigating Uncertain Times
Iris Pricing Solutions President Kirk Jackisch shares his insights into managing pricing strategies amid inflation, tariffs, stagflation and other economic concerns.
Handling Tariff Turbulence: Strategies for Stability Amid Uncertainty
Boost Profits President Casey Brown delves into the recent tariffs and shares insights on how SMB CEOs can adjust prices to stabilize profits.
Tariffs Continue to Erode Small Business Confidence
The March WSJ/Vistage Small Business CEO Confidence Index dropped to 85.4 as concerns over tariffs and economic uncertainty continue to rattle confidence.
More Practical Steps to Take as Tariffs Are Implemented
Some tariffs are currently in place, with more expected soon. The situation is changing as U.S. policy develops and trade negotiations unfold. ITR Economics offers strategies for positioning your business in this tariff environment.
Tariff Risk Assessment Tool
Our partners at TEC Canada have developed this exercise to help you systematically assess key risks, focus on high-priority issues and make informed decisions in the wake of changing tariffs and trade policy.
TEC Canada: Tariffs and Trade Policy Resources
Gain industry-leading insights and the latest resources for Canadian SMB CEOs and leaders navigating the recent tariff and trade policy changes.
5 Priorities to Manage During a Crisis
Whether the Dow drops by 1,000 points or a work stoppage severely impacts your supply chain, it is crucial to accept the situation and take action. Vistage speaker Corrine Hancock outlines 5 key crisis management priorities that CEOs should focus on.
Daily Guide for Leaders During a Crisis
Vistage CEO Sam Reese explores 6 crisis management principles, inspired by his experiences and discussions with successful business leaders, that could help you steer your organization through tough times.
Tangling with Tariffs in 2025: CEOs Share Their Strategies
As new policies emerge, 3 Vistage CEO members share their insights on overcoming past challenges. Discover their strategies and how they built resilience in their operations.
Inside One CEO’s Impossible Mission to Stay Ahead of Tariffs
Learn how member company Tormach and its CEO, Daniel Rogge, are slicing spending and raising prices to blunt the damage of a potential trade war in this piece from The Wall Street Journal.
Have a question? Need a recommendation? Want a referral? Ask your peers in My Vistage Networks or join an existing discussion. [My Vistage password required]
Find conversations about tariffs taking place across ALL Vistage Networks.
Here are some of the most relevant conversations:
‘We’re in a New Reality’: Small-Business Owners Suffering From Tariffs Are Speaking Out [Inc.]
Tariffs will impact the economy … and so will uncertainty [Deloitte]
How Contracts Can Help Firms Navigate the Uncertainty of Global Tariffs [HBR]
Navigating Tariffs: How Businesses Can Adapt Pricing Strategies [Forbes Council]
Do Tariffs Mean Raising Prices? The Question For Small Businesses [Forbes]
Tariffs, Trade and Other Economic Trends [RSM, U.S. Chamber of Commerce]
Tariffs on Imports Rocking Small Businesses as They Scramble to Adapt [U.S. Chamber of Commerce]
U.S. Chamber Urges Swift End to Tariffs Set to Go into Effect [U.S. Chamber of Commerce]
Tariff Mania but No US Recession [ITR Economics]
Ahead of the Curve – How to Position Yourself in a Tariff Environment [LinkedIn Pulse]
Navigating Economic Uncertainty with Artificial Intelligence [MSRcosmos]
The CEO Pulse Resource Centers
Q4 2024 Vistage CEO Confidence Index
Even in the best of circumstances, CEO stress is high as leaders shoulder accountability for their strategy and business performance with all key stakeholders, employees and customers. Recent uncertainty has exacerbated these feelings.
According to our analysis of the May WSJ/Vistage Small Business CEO survey, 94% of leaders have felt symptoms of burnout at least once over the past year. But more telling is that nearly one-third (32%) of small business leaders feel exhausted or burned out on a regular basis; 25% report they feel these symptoms frequently, and 7% reported that they feel burnout daily.
While every situation is unique, analysis of responses from nearly 500 small business leaders uncovered five common stressors:
Fortunately, the same tenacity that it takes to become a leader is evidenced in how CEOs of small businesses manage their stress. Top strategies CEOs use to mitigate the effects include these 5 strategies that range from structured practices to simple survival tactics:
Several leaders emphasized the value of meditation, sleep, and healthy routines. Consistent routines are key, as one respondent shared: “Breathing meditation. Good diet. Working out. Friends. Sleep. Nothing fancy, just consistent self-care.”
Bringing in help was another theme. CEOs often try to shoulder all responsibilities, and a strong leadership team helps share those responsibilities to optimize performance. “I hired a General Manager about 2 years ago, my best decision ever. I can now step back and not be the pressure valve for every issue.”
Recalibrating expectations proved important to leaders in the responses. One respondent shared that “accepting that a smaller business with a lower revenue target is OK for now. Focusing on profitability and lifestyle.”
It’s OK not to know the answers. Employees, stakeholders and family will appreciate the candor, which builds trust and respect. One leader confessed, “I’m not finding successful strategies. I’m just trying to make it through the day.” Leaders don’t always have the answers.
Exercise emerged as a popular outlet. Getting outdoors also alleviates stress. Research shows that movement and time in nature help reset the mind and body. One respondent shared simply “staying active, taking time to play hockey, walk or do Pilates,” while another recommended “working out, meditation and surfing.”
As Chairs of Vistage peer groups often say, CEOs join a group, and humans show up. CEOs and small business owners aren’t just decision-makers — they’re people grappling with the mental, physical and emotional toll of leadership. While some have found effective coping strategies, many are still searching for answers, and the data underscores the need for more open conversations around executive mental health and sustainable leadership practices.
Leadership doesn’t have to come at the expense of well-being. The path to resilience often begins with honesty, slight shifts and the courage to ask for help.
Small business confidence rises; costs, tariffs bite margins [WSJ/Vistage May 2025]
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Editor’s Note: This is part of an ongoing series examining generative AI and its continuing impact on the business world.
Recent corporate board meetings share one agenda item: survival in a stall. Fresh numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show real GDP slipping 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, the first retreat in eighteen months.
Four days after the end of the first quarter, a blanket 10% tariff took effect, and a second order layered steeper surcharges on top trading partners, instantly increasing input costs.
This 1-2 punch of shrinking output and swelling costs leaves executives hungry for a lever that widens margins without hacking payroll. Generative AI answers that need, turning cost pressure into a catalyst for rapid, targeted productivity gains.
Tariffs shifted overnight from cable news headlines to a line-item nightmare. Importers scrambled to front-load inventory before the April deadlines, boosting short-term warehouse bills while draining demand from subsequent months, a dynamic economists flag as a classic recession tell. Retailers find themselves with full stockrooms and customers rattled by negative growth headlines.
Manufacturers face a different vice: higher component costs and a consumer unable to absorb price increases. Small and midsize firms, which account for roughly 44% of U.S. GDP, lack the cash buffers of multinationals and have little bargaining power with suppliers. Debt service compounds the squeeze now that refinancing rates hover well above their pre-pandemic lows. Layoffs would sap innovation and risk brand damage, yet standing still guarantees erosion.
History teaches that downturns precede tech adoption. During the dot-com bust, companies standardized messy processes through ERP suites. After the 2008 financial crisis, cloud computing turned capital-heavy server rooms into on-demand services, giving early adopters a structural cost edge that lingered long past the recovery.
Today’s uncertainty script features generative AI adoption as the pivotal prop. Unlike previous waves that trimmed hardware or storage expense, this one compresses the cost of cognition itself. A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found that 73% of U.S. executives already use or plan to use generative AI for core functions, a nine-point jump in a single year. Deloitte reports that 74% of enterprises say their most advanced generative AI project meets or beats ROI targets, with 20% posting returns north of 30%.
Nearly 40% of small businesses deploy AI tools, up from 23% a year earlier, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expects the share to climb past 51% by December. Federal Reserve researchers track worker-level usage doubling in just twelve months, topping 40% in programming and management roles. These numbers show a technology wave already past the pilot phase and heading straight for operating budgets.
Procurement teams feed last year’s contracts into fine-tuned language models that flag tariff-sensitive clauses and surface alternative suppliers before the next purchase order prints. One mid-market electronics assembler shaved 3% off average component costs, recouping nearly a third of the new duty burden in a single negotiation cycle.
Finance bots draft variance analyses, reconcile thousands of invoices and alert controllers to anomalies days before books close, curbing cash bleed at the moment liquidity matters most. Marketing departments deploy text-to-image tools to build campaign assets overnight, shrinking time-to-launch and freeing creative staff for high-impact concept work. Product designers pair generative visual models with CAD, transforming fuzzy sketches into manufacturable blueprints in hours.
The affordability equation tilts decisively in favor of action. Open-source model weights, hourly GPU rentals and pay-as-you-go APIs let teams pilot on a corporate card, scale only when ROI proves out, and shut down experiments that miss the mark with minimal sunk cost.
Governance has already caught up: Role-based access controls and prompt security layers mitigate data leaks and bias risk, while federated learning options satisfy privacy audits. Deloitte’s survey ranks cybersecurity and compliance among the highest-ROI domains for generative AI, evidence that responsible deployment is a feature, not a future. Crucially, every efficiency gain harvested by AI flows straight to net income, offsetting tariff drag dollar for dollar and sidestepping the morale hit that follows blunt workforce cuts.
Timing seals the argument. Competitive gaps harden in recessions because cautious rivals delay. Companies that migrated early to the cloud after 2008 still enjoy structural cost advantages; firms that dismissed e-commerce at the turn of the century spent a decade chasing Amazon’s head start.
Generative AI adoption stands at the same inflection point. Leaders who invest now emerge with refined data pipelines, practiced governance protocols, and a workforce already fluent in human-machine collaboration. Those who wait will reenter the growth phase only to find that AI-augmented competitors dictate new service benchmarks, siphon talent and set price floors they cannot match.
Economic clouds dominate this year’s skyline, and tariffs add thunder. Yet downturns have always marked the moment when bold leaders translate adversity into advantage.
Generative AI adoption supplies the precise toolkit for that transformation, converting raw uncertainty into rapid, durable efficiency gains. Companies that seize it now will stabilize margins, capture dislocated market share, and shape the competitive landscape that follows the storm. Those companies that hesitate will discover the real risk of 2025 lies not in the recession but in missing the chance to reinvent while their peers race ahead.
The information and opinions presented are the author’s own and not those of Vistage Worldwide, Inc.
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When it comes to the ongoing war for talent, executives who understand the importance of talent management vs talent development will be better positioned to succeed and grow.
Every organization is searching for talented employees, but they’re increasingly difficult to find. Organizations have been competing heavily for talent, with the Society for Human Resource Management reporting in early 2025 that there’s less than one unemployed person for every job opening.
“All indications are it’s not going to get any better,” says Eileen Stephens, a Vistage speaker and executive advisor at Culture Index in Charlotte, North Carolina. “To beat the competition, we have to be different than the competition.”
Many organizations are working to improve their interactions with talent to be different. A 2025 Mercer report on global talent trends reports that improving people’s managerial skills is the No. 1 priority for organizations worldwide, held by 66%.
Organizations also want to enhance the employee experience to attract top talent (58%), design talent processes around skills (53%), and improve workforce planning to better buy, build or borrow talent strategies (48%).
Essentially, organizations see the talent shortage and their shortfalls in finding talent and are hungry to improve. First, defining talent management and development is essential to ensure both are done well.
Talent management can be defined as the overarching process of attracting, developing and retaining employees. When an organization focuses on talent management, it works to meet its immediate need for talent and manage that talent.
On the other hand, talent development means nurturing and developing employees’ skills for their long-term success and the organization’s growth. It can mean offering learning or training opportunities, fostering improvements to the company culture or finding a career path that helps talent feel satisfied at work.
Focusing on talent development means assisting employees to become better versions of themselves to nurture the growth of the business.
“The first thing you want to do is make sure that your supervisors and your managers know how to develop people versus just manage them,” says Dr. Bill Crawford, a psychologist, Vistage speaker, and owner of Crawford Performance Solutions in Houston. “A lot of managers get promoted to leadership positions because they’re good at managing processes, and they often try to manage people the way they manage processes. That doesn’t work — people do not like being managed. They like to be supported, acknowledged and given opportunities to grow.”
Stephens says talent development means working to develop talented employees rather than telling them what to do. Not developing top talent makes them more likely to leave, and they’re most likely to go to a direct competitor. Talent development allows organizations to create a strong culture that employees don’t want to leave.
When a company has both strong talent management and talent development, it creates a strong pipeline of talented employees inside and outside the company. The organization’s needs are being met, and so are the needs of employees, who, in turn, tell other potential employees about their experience.
Strength in both areas also helps retention. In research, Crawford has seen that people often leave companies over poor relationships with managers; focusing on talent management helps stop that problem before it starts.
Strength in management and development likely means a cultural shift that starts with the owners and executives. Often, Stephens says, this means first getting the company’s vision and values out of the top executive’s head and out to employees. She says people follow authentic leaders, but leaders’ directives must be clear.
Crawford adds that although CEOs once focused their company’s core values on the customer (more sales-based values), the best values for talent development prioritize employees. For example, values based on respect, passion and compassion will permeate the talent pool and seep into customer interactions.
“Executives, owners, and CEOs need to be aware that this is not just an HR function,” Stephens says. “Finding the right talent is a culture that starts at the top. Executives should think about questions like, ‘Who is our top talent?’, ‘How do we develop them?’ and ‘What do they want?’ If a company helps them get there, employees will become very loyal to the organization.”
From the potential employee’s point of view, the talent management process starts with recruiting, often when they are looking for a job.
This means posting a job description at most organizations, replete with multiple job tasks and little else. However, Stephens says that a description should be an internal document meant to define the role they’re hiring for, while a job advertisement should be just that: an advertisement for a job meant to entice readers.
“In an advertisement, you’re talking about how this person is wired,” Stephens says. “If you’re looking for a sales rep, you want to describe that person. Something like: ‘Our ideal sales representative is somebody who hates to lose, enjoys a lot of freedom, and wants to be paid for their results.’ These words attract the type of person you are looking for.”
Writing a job ad in this way will draw the eyes of job seekers and attract passive talent. People will read the ad, think of a friend or relative, and say, “This sounds a lot like you,” Stephens says.
A job ad of this kind earns a candidate’s attention, which is essential when ads typically only get a short glance. Ads like this also find talent for who they are rather than what skill set they have. Stephens says employees can build skills over time, but traits come from their personality.
Interviews are also an essential part of talent management. For organizations that want to attract A-players, Stephens suggests having the interview be an equal exchange, not meant to win them over or watch them win the organization over, but a fair meeting between two equal sides.
For companies that have worked hard on culture, Crawford says that interviews can be an opportunity to show off the company and see if the recruit is a good fit within the culture. He says organizations should consider interviewing for specific criteria, laying out the company’s core values.
“You set out an expectation that this isn’t just about punching a clock and getting results; it’s about how you engage people,” Crawford says. “One of the criteria for the job might be working with people in a way where they love working with you.”
Once hired, organizations must also give frequent feedback to employees. Both Crawford and Stephens say that an annual or biannual review isn’t enough — it must be more often, as issues can arise as months pass. Managers want to catch the problems before they fester. Stephens says that each role should have a quantifiable definition of success, as every employee seeks to know that they’re doing a good job objectively.
Managers must consider how to give feedback to employees to guide their development. “Constructive criticism” is an oxymoron, Crawford says, as criticism tends to be destructive for all but the most confident people. Instead, Crawford suggests using constructive feedback.
To give constructive feedback, Crawford suggests first accessing an image of the person receiving feedback at their best. Managers should find out what’s important to the employee, striving to see the situation from their point of view before digging into problem-solving. Talking through the problem before searching for a solution can help managers slow down and get both parties on the same side.
“Executives are problem solvers and generally don’t have a lot of time; they often go to problem-solving too soon,” Crawford says. “If you go to problem-solving before someone has shifted from the problem brain to the solution brain, they’re not going to hear your solution, even if it’s a great solution.”
Stephens suggests laying out career tracks for employees to follow to ensure talent engagement. These tracks don’t have to lead toward management, she says, as some people want to chase a skill set rather than money or management. Career tracks can help an organization determine who within its ranks intends to be its future managers versus who wants to refine an unmatched technical skill set.
“Sometimes, people don’t know what they’re capable of,” Stephens says. “Sometimes, you have a diamond in the rough that’s simply sitting in the wrong seat. When you put them in the right seat, they become the rock star.”
One of the most important things an organization can do to develop its talent is to allow them to explore their capabilities. This might mean training, coaching, mentoring, a clear career path, or simply allowing them to explore new areas of interest within the company.
Stephens serves as a consultant for Culture Index, which helps measure traits in people and provides insight into what they’re driving toward. Some people may be more driven toward working on the big picture, others quality work and others want to work on relationships. Often, people work in roles that don’t align with their drive.
“Whatever they’re driven towards, when you’re playing to that, they’re much happier,” Stephens says. “They become your top performers.”
While working with a client, Stephens saw in her psychometric research that one employee was mentally checking out of their role, likely looking for employment elsewhere. However, she and the organization noticed that this was a talented employee. They spoke with the employees, worked with them, and got them on a different path. Within 3 years, that employee went from being a purchasing agent to president of the company.
“We tend to see people as, ‘That’s what that person does, that’s who they are,’” Stephens says. “But what they do and who they are is not always the same thing.”
Crawford says continued education and personal growth are often hard to do solely within the company, which is why he loves the idea of Vistage’s Emerging Leader and Advancing Leader programs and the Key Executive Program. Crawford often speaks with these groups, where he finds appreciative, engaged employees who enjoy the training. But he says they also clearly enjoy that their company thinks highly enough of them to invest in them.
“Most business leaders don’t have time or the expertise for mentorship and coaching,” Crawford says. “Having a program through Vistage that exposes them to programs on emotional intelligence, communication, and personal accountability and communication over a two-year program is vital.”
Crawford says any training, mentorship or coaching option allows employees to work toward self-improvement. It also helps employees feel acknowledged, appreciated and valued. By developing employees, companies create a more skilled pool of talent within their ranks, which supports the company’s mission and vision while improving its culture.
When an organization has well-maintained talent management and talent development, Crawford says that companies become places where employees look forward to coming to work. Employees who feel valued stay longer, produce better results and help the company’s revenue grow.
Many talent management and development improvements will get baked into the organization, but both Crawford and Stephens say that it’s essential to keep checking in.
“Make sure that the people you want to attract and keep are feeling what you want them to feel,” Crawford says. “Often, they are the best source for how this works. That’s why staying connected with them and getting their feedback regularly is a really good idea.”
Stephens says this must go beyond direct line managers and to the top of the company. Executives should meet with employees at a couple of levels to hear about what they want, what desires they have at work, and what it’s like to work at the company.
“Executives always have to be intent on asking the right questions,” Stephens says. “If you see a department with a lot of turnover, ask, ‘Why is that?’ Keep figuring out what’s going on, not just what you think. And always remember the goals of the culture.”
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