Though
it’s good to be the ultimate power, it can sometimes be devastating as well.
Who can understand this statement better than a CEO of an organization?
While reading an article on Forbes, ‘The Worst CEO Screw-ups Of 2012’, I got to know about some
CEOs who have to lose their powers and influence for inefficient performance,
continuous losses or for some decisions going wrong.
The list includes some reputed and
renowned names including Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy; Brian
Dunn, former CEO, Best Buy; Robert Diamond, CEO, Barclays; Stuart Gulliver, CEO,
HSBC among others.
Though a CEO sits at the top in an
organizational hierarchy and is the most powerful identity, he is lonely at the
same time. He has a panel of experts and board members to seek advice and
counseling but there are some situations when he would require the experience
and expertise of someone of the same stature and role.
I am talking about CEO peer groups
where CEOs can seek resolution to their problems and concerns from like-minded
people. No doubt, a CEO association or CEO group is a great place to help CEOs
deal with their woes but the purpose can be solved only if you knock at the
right door. With so many CEO associations around, it gets very difficult to
zero on the right one.
This article provides some
suggestions on how you can choose a good CEO peer group.
Attract
Varied Expertise
Look your CEO associations that
offer a wide range of skills and expertise so that you can seek advice on
different elements of business ranging from a how to build a start up to exit
planning.
Stay
Small
For a CEO group, the ideal size is
10-15 members. In a relatively larger group, it may have to wait for long to
get heard or find a resolution to your query.
Secrets
are meant to be kept
The clause of confidentiality is the
most important factor to be considered before joining a CEO peer group. At
times, you may have to disclose your secret strategies or plans to seek
suggestions or feedback from the group.
Therefore, make sure you join a
reputed CEO group that strictly follows the oath of confidentiality.
Non-competitors
should join
It is very important to ensure that your
peers in the group are from non-competitor businesses so as to avoid any
conflict of interests.
Good
Facilitators
The effectiveness of a CEO association is assessed by its facilitators. Know in advance the facilitators
in your group and what expertise they possess.
Ideally a facilitator should be
capable of making a conversation interesting, resolving conflicts, responding
to queries and building a healthy atmosphere.
The Brain Trust is an Executive Peer
Group constituted of up to 16 non-competing business owners/CEOs and top
executives.
Brain Trust CEO Conferences benefit you
through the combined experience of other business leaders from non-competitive
domains and the expert facilitators.
