Using the Power of Introversion To Become a Strong Leader by Skyler Baker

It’s no secret that we live in a society that values extroverted qualities like social ability, assertiveness, and confidence. And there’s a common misconception that introverted individuals lack these qualities and, therefore, can’t be effective leaders.

This couldn’t be further from the truth! As an introvert, you can utilize your natural tendencies to develop strong leadership skills that help you become a powerful leader in today’s work environment. Below, Vistage shares some tips for doing just that:

Embrace your strengths

One of the keys to harnessing the power of introversion is to recognize and embrace your strengths. Introverts tend to be great listeners, analytical thinkers, and skilled observers. Leverage these strengths to become a thoughtful and reflective leader who seeks input and feedback from your team members. You’ll be a more inclusive and impactful leader while helping to foster a collaborative and respectful work environment.

Seek out a mentor or coach

There are many benefits to getting constructive feedback. Working with a mentor or coach can help you figure out your leadership style, improve your communication skills, and look at your business and your role in it in new ways. To find a great mentor, reach out to friends in leadership positions, make connections on LinkedIn, or look at Vistage for our executive coaching resources.

Manage digital documents

Keeping essential files and documents organized is crucial for effective communication in any setting, and implementing a document management system can help you stay organized and reduce your stress by keeping all your important files in one place. If you need to share files with clients or staff, PDFs are often the preferred format due to their compatibility and security. You can use an online tool that allows you to convert these types of files to PDFs by simply dragging and dropping them into the tool. For more details on how to streamline your document management, click for info.

Focus on communication

Communication is a crucial aspect of leadership. You may not be naturally skilled at small talk or speaking to large groups, but you might be surprised how good you are at one-on-one communication. Use this strength to build deeper relationships with your team members, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and create a more productive and supportive culture. When you do need to present or speak in front of a group, be sure to prepare and practice so you can feel more confident and effective.

Be a positive leader

Leading with affirmative, positive actions can be a potent strategy for introverted leaders to effectively navigate their roles. While introverted leaders may not always be the most vocal or outgoing, their strength lies in their ability to listen, observe, and reflect deeply. By focusing on affirmative actions, such as fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment, actively listening to team members' ideas, and providing constructive feedback, introverted leaders can inspire trust and collaboration within their teams.

Recognize and manage your weaknesses

While it’s important to embrace your strengths, it’s equally important to come to terms with your weaknesses. You must figure out how to balance your need for solitude with the demands of leadership. Jones Loflin suggests setting healthy boundaries and practicing self-care to prevent burnout and fatigue. Moreover, you may need to push yourself outside your comfort zone occasionally, such as by giving public speeches or attending networking events.

Build a team that complements your style

As an introverted leader, you must recognize that you may not have all the skills or qualities necessary to excel in every area. Xero points out that one effective approach is to build a team that can fill in the gaps. For instance, you might benefit from working with an extroverted team member who can help energize and motivate the team. Or, you might find someone with strong project management skills to balance your more cerebral and strategic approach.

Develop a leadership philosophy

Finally, developing a strong leadership philosophy can help you better understand your strengths and weaknesses, as well as create a vision for where you will take your team or organization. Many introverts find that a more contemplative and values-driven approach works best. Consider prioritizing ethical leadership, collaboration, and long-term thinking over more traditional measures for success (like profits or productivity).

The fact that you’re an introverted professional doesn’t mean that you’ll struggle to become a powerful and effective leader. Embracing your strengths and weaknesses, furthering your education, improving communication via lead generation, and following the other tips above will help you harvest the power of introversion to make a significant and positive impact in your organization. Effective leadership is all about understanding and utilizing your unique skills and qualities to create a vision, build a team, and accomplish goals.https://www.alansorkin.com

Want to learn 6 indicators you can use to determine if there is someone on your team who is Quiet Quitting?

By Bryan Robinson, Ph.D. Contributor

The phenomenon of "quiet quitting" has taken hold in the workplace in which employees do the bare minimum. Before the pandemic, employee engagement and well-being were escalating globally, but in 2022 it leveled off, according Gallup. The phenomenon of “quiet quitting” among the American workforce has contributed to this problem, costing companies as much as $150 billion annually by some estimates—even more than absenteeism.

The Tell-Tale Signs Of ‘Quiet Quitting’

An employee might be a quiet quitter if he or she is chronically disengaged at work, doing the bare minimum of what is required. When employees are not functioning fully, it can become an invisible drain on a company’s engagement and productivity. “There has always been quiet quitting, according to Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer at Vistage Worldwide. He told me that it manifests itself in B and C players. “Those people that were always in meetings but never did anything,” he said. “Quiet quitting is made easier in the hybrid or remote work model as it’s easier to hide. Quiet quitters are managing only to the minimum set of performance expectations.”

Galvin listed six indicators that a quiet quitter is among your ranks.

1, Disengagement on a chronic basis.

2. Performance only to the minimum set of performance standards

3. Isolation from other members of the team

4. Withdrawal from any non-necessary conversations, activities or tasks

5. Attendance at meetings but not speaking up or taking action

6. Teammates report a sudden increase in their workload in having to pick up the slack

Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover

On the surface, the profile of all quiet quitters looks the same. But it’s important that employers exercise caution in judging the motives of quiet quitters. A deeper look unearths a variety of factors that can lead employees to check out and not measure up to their potential. A disgruntled worker, overlooked for a promotion or raise, might operate from a place of passive-aggression and deliberately withdraw and drag feet out of anger.

But sometimes an engaged worker does the bare minimum to maintain work-life balance. They do their jobs and reach their goals but don’t go above and beyond what’s expected, because they put their mental and physical health ahead of work. Gen Z’s and Millennials, for example, are engaged workers, looking for a workplace that has their best interests at heart and where they can enjoy work-life balance. Twenty-two year old Cindy told me it’s not that her generation doesn’t want to work. “We Gen Z’s don’t want work to consume our lives like it did with our parents,” she said. “My dad hated his job so much. He complained all the time about how he dreaded going into the office. And he was there practically every day, all day. After seeing how miserable he was, I don’t want that kind of life. There are too many other things to live for.”

That is the rallying cry of a new generation of workers looking for something different. “Gen Z employees are empowered,” Galvin told me. “They entered a working world where they have options, as opposed to those who graduated in 2008 and were afraid they would not find a job or get let go or fired. They want to know how their work is impacting a larger mission in a way that we really haven’t seen before. They are not willing to put up with bad behavior or give up their life outside of work. They won't go above and beyond their job responsibilities without receiving a corresponding raise, bonus or title increase.”

Why digital transformation is a matter of survival by Marc Emmer

February 2, 2022

As new competitive realities emerged during the pandemic, many companies embraced digital transformation. Most adopted tools such as Teams, digital payments and marketing automation to improve productivity.

However, digital transformation can’t be viewed in an incremental, linear fashion. Siebel founder Thomas Siebel refers to digital transformation — the confluence of cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and the internet of things (IoT) — as a “mass extinction event.”

Entire industries and businesses will either adopt these technologies, or be eliminated.

By reaching critical mass, the interconnectivity of billions of devices will drive the value created through big data and advanced analytics.

The bridge we must cross is from levering technology to improve service or reduce cost, to utilizing digital transformation to redefine our core product in a way that creates new demand and drives enterprise value.

Consider the case of an orange farmer. His core product has been found in nature for thousands of years and is a commodity.

What if the seeds he uses to grow oranges could be selected for ultimate flavor and yield by AI, planted and picked by autonomous vehicles, harvested at the ideal time based on moisture, heat, sunlight detected by IoT sensors, and sold at the highest market price based on advanced analytics?

While the product may be ostensibly the same, the grower would be far more competitive and profitable, and would deliver a superior product using tools that are already commercially available today.

We must leverage these tools now, or face the consequences. Here are 4 ways digital transformation is taking form:

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1. Cloud computing is a shared pool of configurable hardware.i

In recent years, cloud solutions have become more “virtualized,” enabling greater hardware efficiency.

As a result, leading providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) have been successful in compartmentalizing their solutions in the form of hybrid clouds (a combination of on-premise infrastructure and public cloud), which offer greater security, agility and speed.

Cloud computing costs have dropped over 60% in the last two years. While cloud computing is the host of digital transformation, our understanding of it is only scratching the surface.

Metcalfe’s Law dictates that the power of any network is the square of the devices sitting upon it. That is, as IoT devices and networks are combined with other networks, they become infinitely more powerful.

For example, the integration of CRM and ERP systems make each of them much more valuable.

When Facebook started at Harvard, its value was contained, but when it spread to other schools (network effects), its power was unleashed.

2. Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines.ii

Artificial intelligence (AI) will either amplify America’s standing as an economic superpower, or it will allow China to propel ahead of us.

As pseudo-government controlled companies operate there, Chinese companies could gain a foothold on AI technologies. Siebel points to the following commercial use cases of AI:

Financial services: Fraud detection, credit analysis and scoring, loan application review and processing

Healthcare and medicine: Medical image diagnosis, automated drug discovery, disease prediction, genome-specific medical protocols, preventative medicine

Manufacturing: 3D customization, inventory optimization, predictive maintenance, quality assurance

Oil and gas: Predictive oilfield and well production, well production optimization

Public safety: Threat detection

Military: Predictive maintenance to improve readiness and streamline operations, logistics optimization, inventory optimization and recruiting. AI has proven remarkably useful in improving predictive maintenance for the U.S. Air Force and improving aircraft readiness.

Chart Artificial intelligence projected revenue

Source: Tractica Research

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence. Machines learn from examples and experience, which are different from hard-coded rules typically found in AI. Machine learning will predict future results instead of just reporting them.

3. Big data is comprised of complexly structured and unstructured data sets that are rapidly generated and transmitted from a wide variety of sources.iii

Big data represents the intersection of volume, velocity and variety from both internal and external (extraprise) data sources.

For example, our firm did strategy work with a Vistage member who loaded Walmart scan data and Best Buy movement information into their Microsoft Power BI data visualization solution, which augmented their internal data.

Their system provided real-time analytics that allow them to predict future events and manage their supply chain with greater precision.

This technology is neither expensive nor hard to implement. In our consulting practice, we see a sea change underway, where members are not satisfied with the reporting of static data, they want to convert that data into actionable insights.

4. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the sensoring of the entire value chain though remote access.iv

IoT is being framed by the entry of high-volume, low-cost chips. By 2030, it is estimated there will be a staggering 75 billion IoT devices deployed worldwide.

Chart Growth of IoT Devices

Source: MDPI

IoT will provide the greatest value to industries with high asset costs. 50% of IoT investment is projected to be made in manufacturing, transportation/logistics, and utilities.

Deep learning will provide richer analysis than previously possible. 5G cellular networking will enable a new generation of IoT devices such as smart grids, smart cities and autonomous vehicles.

The combination of these solutions will make us safer, increase accuracy, and save on labor costs and administration.

Where do you start?

Providers should map their entire value chain and look for opportunities to deploy digital transformation strategies. Below are examples of value chain elements that could be deployed for a manufacturing business:

Suppliers: Inventory optimization, supply network optimization

Manufacturing: Predictive maintenance, quality assurance, 3D manufacturing, safety

Customer: Customer service (chatbots), customer insights and analytics, warranty optimization

Distributor: Inventory management, price optimization, quote optimization

Logistics: Demand planning and forecasting

As noted, our observation is that private companies are acting more like observers of change. Clearly, larger public companies are better equipped to invest in expensive technologies such as AI.

Yet, there are many emerging providers offering software-as-a-service, platforms as a service, infrastructure as a service and artificial intelligence as a service. Renting software also eliminates the need for costly cap-ex investment.

As digital transformation technologies become more accessible to private companies, it is incumbent upon us to be prepared to take advantage of them.

References

i Digital Transformation by Thomas Siebel

ii TechTarget

iii What is Big Data? How Does it Work? [Built In]

iv Digital Transformation by Thomas Siebel

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What Are OKRs and How Your Team Should Adopt Them

In order to realize your vision, you first have to set and track the right goals.

It's easy to set goals, and hard to achieve them.  And, few people do. Why is that? Most people miss the transitional steps of setting quarterly, monthly and daily tasks that need to be accomplished to hit that goal.  If you can maintain the focus and discipline described in the following article, you can make achieving those goals a reality. 

Thomas Edison once said, "vision without execution is hallucination," yet connecting a company's vision into an executable plan remains one of the biggest challenges for any growing startup. In the 70s, Andy Grove, Intel's CEO, wanted to tackle this disconnect. He built a framework to answer two very important questions: Where do I want to go? How will I know when I'm there? This was the genesis of OKRs, which stands for Objectives and Key Results. The intention is to build a better way for teams to connect their objectives to their vision and to constantly monitor their progress. 

At the time that Grove was implementing OKRs at Intel, the soon to be famous venture capitalist John Doerr, was on Intel's sales team and got a first-hand lesson from Grove. Doerr greatly admired Grove and called him, "one of the greatest managers of his, or any other, era." In the 80s Doerr joined Kleiner Perkins and began investing in high fidelity startups. He brought along a slide deck from his time at Intel that taught the OKR system to encourage founders to properly set and track goals. Doerr believed the secret to success was setting the right goals that aligned with a lofty vision. In 1999 he bought OKRs to two of its most famous adopters, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page, the co-founders of Google. Because of Doerr, Google began using OKRs, a practice that continues through the present day.

What are OKRs?

Simply put, the "O" stands for Objectives which are what you and your team want to accomplish. The "KR" stands for Key Results that describe how you will measure your success in accomplishing these goals. 

This statement is reformatted into a basic structure:

1. Objectives: These objectives are bold and aspirational. Each set of OKRs should only have 3-5 objectives. 

2. Key result: Each objective should have three to five measurable results. These results should be aggressive and aspirational. It's not the sum total of tasks, it is a translation of what needs to be done for the company if it is going to get where it needs to be a viable and self-sustaining enterprise. 

Setting the right goals

One of the most contrarian components of the OKR framework is the notion of ambitious key results. Companies often adopt the idea of OKRs than quickly regress to establishing key results that align closer to forecasts, (although Doerr does mention it is fine to utilize sales quotas). In Doerr's book, 'Measure What Matters', he made a point of clarifying that it is fine not to always hit every goal. The best OKRs stretch your capabilities without snapping your team. It is because the goals are aspirational, that they are decoupled from compensation and promotion decisions. This promotes the risk-taking needed to achieve your vision. 

Another problem I often see with establishing OKRs, is that companies neglect to establish the framework at the team and individual level. This is one of the most powerful components in my opinion. Each individual's quarterly objectives and key results directly correlate to their team and the company's goals. This helps build transparency so every team player understands how their efforts impact the company's growth.

How to track OKRs?

With the recent growth of companies adopting OKRs to track their goals, new tools have emerged to help keep your team organized. The reality is you can start with something as simple as Google Sheets or Docs, but as you progress there are a lot of benefits to leveraging tools built to help you track progress. Some people management platforms like Lattice now offer OKR tracking, yet recently I have become the most impressed with some of the new players that were conceived to solve this specific problem.

One of the fastest-growing entrants is Ally.io which is a new SaaS platform that was built to solve this very problem of goal setting and tracking within growing companies. I also really appreciate how Ally.io integrates with HRIS (Human Resources Information Systems), and more importantly with tools that my team uses every day like, Slack, Hubspot or Asana to keep your team constantly on track in a lightweight manner.

Properly setting goals that are tied to your company's vision is necessary for success, yet the real key is having the ability to track and monitor progress. Visibility into departments' trends can enable you to steer clear of disasters, and better prepared as a team to reach your vision. 

Anne Gherini is a monthly contributor to Inc. Magazine. She is the Vice President of marketing at Affinity.

GOOGLE Defines Great Managers

It's not every day you learn of a really smart company setting out to prove that managers don't matter. But that's exactly what Google did with Project Oxygen.

The hypothesis was that the quality of a manager doesn't matter and that managers are at best a necessary evil, and at worst a useless layer of bureaucracy. The early work of Project Oxygen, in 2002, included a radical experiment -- a move to a flat organization without any managers.

The experiment was a disaster, lasting only a few months as the search giant found employees were left without direction and guidance on their most basic questions and needs.

Never daunted, Google pivoted to extensively study the opposite question -- what are the common behaviors of their very best managers? It came up with a list of eight attributes, verified quantitatively and qualitatively in multiple ways. It then rolled out those findings in 2010 to its organization to ingest and use.

The results were remarkable.

Laszlo Bock (at the time Google's VP of people operations) told The New York Times, "We had a statistically significant improvement in manager quality for 75 percent of our worst-performing managers." Since then, further analysis has added two more attributes to the list.

So what follows are the 10 characteristics Google believes make for the best managers (and that it expects from managers), blended with my perspective on each trait.

1. Be a good coach.

You either care about your employees or you don't. There's no gray zone. If you care, then you'll invest time and energy to help your employees become better versions of themselves. That's the first 50 percent of being a good coach.

The other half is knowing you're a facilitator, not a fixer. Ask good questions, don't just give the answers. Expand your coachees' point of view versus giving it to them. Sure, I'm oversimplifying. But not much.

2. Empower teams and don't micromanage.

Absolutely no one likes to be micromanaged. Research from empowerment expert Gretchen Spreitzer (University of Michigan) shows that empowered employees have higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which reduces turnover and increases performance and motivation. Also, supervisors who empower are seen as more influential and inspiring by their subordinates.

Everyone wins when you learn to let go.

3. Create an inclusive team environment, showing concern for success and well-being.

Individual fulfillment is often a joint effort. People derive tremendous joy from being part of a winning team. The best managers facilitate esprit de corps and interdependence.

And employees respond to managers who are concerned about winning, and winning well (in a way that supports their well-being).

4. Be productive and results oriented.

Take productivity of your employees seriously and give them the tools to be productive, keeping the number of processes to a minimum.  

5. Be a good communicator -- listen and share information.

The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place. It often doesn't happen because of a lack of effort from both the transmitting and the receiving parties. Invest in communication, and care enough to listen.

Former CEO of Procter & Gamble A.G. Lafley once told me his job was 90 percent communication--communicating the next point especially.

6. Have a clear vision/strategy for the team.

With no North Star, employees sail into the rocks. Enroll employees in building that vision/strategy, don't just foist it on them. The former nets commitment, the latter compliance. And be prepared to communicate it more often than you ever thought you could.

7. Support career development and discuss performance.

The best managers care about their people's careers and development as much as they care about their own. People crave feedback. And you owe it to them. 

People don't work to achieve a 20 percent return on assets or any other numerical goal. They work to bring meaning into their lives, and meaning comes from personal growth and development.

8. Have the expertise to advise the team.

Google wants its managers to have key technical skills (like coding, etc.) so they can share the "been there, done that" experience. So be there and do that to build up your core expertise, whatever that might be. Stay current on industry trends and read everything you can.  

9. Collaborate.

In a global and remote business world, collaboration skills are essential. Collaboration happens when each team member feels accountability and interdependence with teammates. Nothing is more destructive for a team than a leader who is unwilling to collaborate. It creates a "it's up to only us" vibe that kills culture, productivity, and results.

10. Be a strong decision maker.

The alternative is indecision, which paralyzes an organization, creates doubt, uncertainty, lack of focus, and even resentment. Strong decisions come from a strong sen

Competing for talent in 2019? Ask yourself these 6 questions

February 19, 2019 by Kathleen Quinn Votaw 0 comments 501 viewson Featured, Talent Management

Now that there are more job openings than people to fill them, 2019 is the time to get really serious about being the best company you can possibly be. This year we see the rise of the individual, where top talent takes over the catbird seat — able to pick where they want to work rather than wait for you to pick them. This leaves you no choice: You have to put significant resources into winning great people in order to grow.

The first step is understanding the major trends affecting recruitment and retention this year and resolving to make the changes you need to become a first-pick company. We’re pleased to share some of the latest research with highlights from our 2019 Hiring Guide, the focus of this on-demand Vistage webinar.  (Request the full guide) We see six key areas of focus: strategic HR, culture and brand, engagement, technology, recruiting imperatives and social enterprise. It’s helpful to evaluate where you are in each area. Doing a gap analysis will deepen your insight.

1. Make HR a strategic priority.

   HR has taken a back seat far too long. Every company should have a talented CHRO on its leadership team to ensure a competitive edge in winning and retaining the best people. If you don’t already have a CHRO, it will be critical that you find one in 2019 or elevate the right person into this strategic leadership role. Having the right people on board is the cornerstone for successful sales and marketing, operations, financial management, and customer service. Do you have a trusted CHRO on your team who competently and strategically handles the people side in a way that supports growth and profitability?

2. Enhance experience through culture and brand.

   You are in the people business. Increasingly, companies need to be aware of how people experience them, whether customer, candidate, or employee. Your purpose, values, culture and brand are all intertwined and should be thoughtfully and strategically aligned and managed. More specifically, design your culture to reflect your values and purpose. Don’t leave it to evolve in ways that do not serve you well. Employee expectations are continually changing, unlike in the past, and a single individual with an unhappy experience can have an immediate impact on your reputation through social media. Do you have processes in place to meet new workplace expectations and manage your employment brand?

3. Earn a great ROI on engagement.

   Although engagement levels have continued to rise over the past few years, Gallup finds that 53 percent of workers are still not engaged and willing to change jobs at any time. This costs you in terms of both lower productivity from un-engaged employees, and the hiring and training to replace them. Two new ways to engage will become more common in 2019: (1) re-recruitment, where you apply external recruiting strategies to current employees; and (2) stay interviews, short conversations between managers and employees that build trust and understanding of what’s working and what’s not. What can you do to go beyond surveys and exit interviews to measure engagement before employees decide to leave?

4. Invest in new era technologies.

   Middle market companies will no longer play catch-up to large corporations in terms of technology solutions for recruiting and retention. There are many innovative systems that bring new efficiencies and cost savings to companies of every size. A few of them trending in 2019 are: the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, virtual reality, and natural language processing (NLP). How are you using these kinds of new technologies to inform your hiring decisions?

5. Adopt the new recruiting paradigm.

   The talent scarcity is putting more pressure on HR to become smarter, faster, and more strategic—reaching a tipping point in recruiting imperatives this year. The new paradigm involves treating candidates like customers and using technology to get insight into the things that don’t fit neatly on a resume. Recruiters will be expected to become adept marketers and reach beyond and outside of traditional practices to meet diverse candidates where they are. They’ll prioritize the candidate experience at every step, from reaching out to hiring. What creative ideas are you incorporating to attract diverse candidates and individualize their experience in your recruiting process?

6. Become a more responsible corporate citizen.

   “Social enterprise,” prioritizing social goals alongside financial returns, is a major trend that no company can ignore. Organizations are assessed not only by the quality of their products or services and financial performance, they’re also judged on their reputations, relationships, and engagement in their communities. This is becoming more important as younger generations, who value purpose, enter the workforce. Have you awakened to this new reality, and in what tangible ways are you engaging as a corporate citizen?

It has never been harder to find and keep the right people. Companies that understand what people want, what the competition is doing, and what’s trending can address their challenges and resolve their issues to become the top choice of the top talent in the year ahead. We are now living the future of work — step in.

Beef up your cybersecurity with this 5-point checklist

Cyberthreats are a clear and present danger for every business. As sudden as a heart attack, a cyberattack can compromise your computers or highjack your wire transfers — leading to rapid loss of cash, data, records, leadership credibility, employees and customer trust.

Cyberthreats are a clear and present danger for every business. As sudden as a heart attack, a cyberattack can compromise your computers or highjack your wire transfers — leading to rapid loss of cash, data, records, leadership credibility, employees and customer trust.

Small and midsize companies are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Hackers consider them soft targets because they tend to hold valuable data but lack sufficient security measures to thwart a cyberattack. In fact, a recent study conducted by my company Vistage revealed that nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of CEOs do not currently have an active cybersecurity strategy in place. More than one-quarter (27 percent) have no plan at all.

If your company is one of those, take measures to beef up your cybersecurity right now. I interviewed three cybersecurity experts on how to get started; this checklist can help you get started.

1. Assess your cybersecurity.

To gauge the strength of your cybersecurity, use a reputable tool — such as the Cybersecurity Framework offered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology — to perform an assessment. As part of this process, gather your senior leadership team, investors and board of directors to perform an informal audit. Review, value and prioritize your assets and decide what cybersecurity measures you want to manage internally versus outsource.

2. Bring awareness to employees.

Train employees to abide by basic security principles. This includes enforcing the use of strong passwords, maintaining appropriate internet use and handling customer information and data with care. It’s a good idea invest in a stock test package or use phishing simulations to teach people how to spot common signs of an attack.

3. Implement robust policies, processes and procedures.

At the very least, have an acceptable use policy. Limit employee access to sensitive data and information, tailoring access according to each person’s role and responsibilities. Put someone in charge of checking firewall logs, antivirus logs and anti-malware logs on a routine basis. Create simulations for cybersecurity attacks and figure out your game plan, including who you’d call in an emergency.

4. Make smart technology choices.

Don’t rely solely on antivirus software to keep you safe; most companies require something more robust. Consider you truly need from the full range of security options, including antivirus software, endpoint security systems, firewalls, data back-up solutions, encryption software, two-step authentication and password-security systems.

Get application controls so that your company’s computers only run a preapproved set of business-essential programs. Finally, uninstall the free, lite and trial versions of programs on your company’s computers, which can serve as toeholds for hackers.

5. Call on experts.

Even if you have IT resources, you should meet with a cybersecurity expert on a biannual basis, much like you would a financial planner. If you don’t have an IT resource, consider using a fractional model (i.e., contract or third-party service provider) to engage IT experts when you need them. Finally, conduct an external review of IT to ensure that your company’s data and network is secure and current.

This blog was originally posted on Inc.com. Read the original post here.

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Talent, Training & Technology Are the Leading Difference Makers for Growth

Talent, training and technology are the leading difference-makers for customer growth.

Decisions related to business growth

Growing your customer base: it’s the central goal of most businesses. What do high-growth small and midsize businesses do differently when it comes to engaging customers? Vistage Research sought to answer that question in a study of 1,352 Vistage SMB CEOs. The results illustrate and analyze the decisions that high-growth SMB leaders have made about strategies, initiatives and investments within marketing, sales and service. While there are many variables, our analysis focused on a combination of factors stemming from a CEO’s decisions around strategies and investments for customer growth.

Download the e-Book “Customer growth: Decisions for the SMB CEO” for a detailed look at the key strategic decisions faced by high-performance SMB CEOs for customer growth. Find out where high-growth companies invest in order to accomplish their customer growth plans, and explore the top 5 winning initiatives for marketing, sales and customer service

Rev Up Your Growth Engine

To quote a sage of our time, Charles M Schulz, creator of Peanuts and Charlie Brown, “Life is like a 10-speed bicycle; most of us have gears we never use.”

So, what are these gears that stimulate your business growth?

While working with a number of clients as their interim marketing head, you start to see patterns of how high growth companies behave versus those who are suffering from no or slow growth. Those companies that are growing tend to keep a sharp eye on their competition and their marketplace. Maybe it is the sheer competitive spirit that drives the CEO and leadership team to be curious about their competitors constantly. This curiosity of external factors can help us understand the first gear in the growth engine, Insight.

We have all heard the adage, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” This applies well in the case of the Insight Gear or Gear 1. You need to not only understand what your competitors are doing but also understand what perceptions prevail from the marketplace regarding your company. In fact, to paraphrase Art Saxby and Pete Hayes in their book, The Growth Gears, “the opinions of your customers and your marketplace are far more important than your own.”

Once these high-growth companies have tapped external understanding with the Insight gear, what’s next? All of that knowledge would go to waste if it were not leveraged in the refining of their Strategy. Thus, to address Gear 2, let’s talk strategy for a moment. How do you articulate your growth plans? Do you want to focus on expanding geographically or by industry segments? Or would it be a better approach to expand the offerings to your existing customer base? Formulating this plan of how you are going to grow is based on the market insights gathered from Gear 1.

Fast forward, you really want to grow your business. You have done your homework in the Insights arena. You have formulated a strategic plan based on those insights. Next, it’s time to execute! The third gear is referred to as Execution. Some of us might refer to this as tactics. A perfect quote to articulate the importance of both strategy and execution follows:

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory; tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” —Sun Tsu, Ancient Chinese Military strategist

This is the time to roll up your sleeves and execute on a plan that is derived from your insights and strategy. What I remind clients of during engagements is that making growth happen is not a one-and-done process. We will execute tactics, measure and then adjust accordingly.

Next? The fourth gear — you guessed it…Sales! Insight, Strategy, and Execution gears are all turning to create this high-functioning growth engine that fuels your Sales. Sales can now happen with a well informed strategy and refined execution based on measurement and adjustment. Voilà!

Watch the video https://youtu.be/EH7456TPQlU

Innovative ideas for hiring & keeping great people

• The labor market is hot, and talent shortages can restrict your growth.

The latest hiring statistics are pretty alarming. Despite overall economic growth in the United States being softer this year than expected, unemployment is at 5% and 3 in 4 employed workers are either actively seeking or are open to new job opportunities. This “churn” in the labor market is a great indicator of sustained economic recovery and overall individual/consumer confidence, however it’s not a great indicator for employers!

As a business leader, you must focus on both recruiting the most talented people for your open positions and on retaining the top players who are already on your team. If you don’t, you won’t be poised for the more aggressive economic growth that’s anticipated in the coming years.

Focus on two concepts for better results

If you continue with the status quo and don’t innovate your talent strategy—likely treating your people as an afterthought and taking a tactical approach—you’ll struggle to get ahead.

First, ask these questions, to assess your needs and remove the talent discussion from the back burner:

• How many people will we need over the next few years, and in what positions?

• What specific qualities are we looking for in those people, and how will we know when we find them?

• Does our organizational structure support our talent strategies and, if not, what should it look like?

• How effectively does our current candidate and leadership pipeline ensure we find and develop key talent?

• Who has ultimate executive responsibility for our overall talent strategy? What internal/external resources do they need?

Why Should A CEO Care About Corporate Culture? Because Employees Care About it

Employees want much more than a job. They want to be part of something rewarding, engaging and purposeful. They want to contribute to a company in a meaningful way. As a result, culture has shifted from a “nice to have” to a “must have” for today’s successful companies.

This leaves CEOs with two jobs to do: First, build a strong corporate culture. Second, leverage a strong corporate culture. For guidance on that first step, check out this blog post and watch the embedded webinar. This post explores step two: Leveraging culture to differentiate your company, engage employees, and attract and retain a talented workforce.

Promoting your culture

If your culture makes your company unique, make sure to tell others about it. There are several ways you can promote your culture, including:

• Ensure that your employee value proposition and messaging reflect your culture

• Create content for your company’s intranet, website and blog that highlights your culture

• Spotlight top performers within your culture on social media

• Develop an employee-referral program to find others that fit your culture

• Extend your culture into your job descriptions and the candidate experience

• Seek awards and other third-party endorsements based on your culture

Reaping the rewards

Promoting a strong corporate culture can lead to many positive outcomes for your organization. Here are a few:

• Attract more qualified candidates that fit your culture

• Engage with passive candidates

• Compete on dimensions beyond compensation

• Improve offer acceptance rates

• Increase retention and reduce turnover

• Enhance employee engagement

• Increase employee referrals

• Receive recognition as an “employer of choice”

• Create a competitive edge

• Improve your bottom line

The Journey of a Chief Decison Maker

It was a tumultuous time in the business, when I took my first CEO position. The dot-com bubble had just burst, impacting our bottom line. I needed to hire a new division head, and received the same referral by several sources. They were selling this candidate hard. He had the big-name credentials and knew our business; everybody loved this person.

In addition to improving results, I was eager to create alignment and instill team spirit, so I short-circuited my vetting process. I’d started with a number of candidates, but I only interviewed this one. Everybody was excited about this hire.

However, within a week, I realized I’d made a mistake. My hire had 100% popular support, but was also 100% wrong. He turned out to be toxic to our firm and could have ruined the company.

This experience taught me a big lesson: the importance of developing and staying true to a decision-making process. A survey by “McKinsey Quarterly” found that 60 percent of executives make bad decisions as frequently as good ones. That stat shows that there’s room for improvement. I would argue that if you want to be a high-performing CEO, you must develop a core competency in decision-making. I believe that all CEOs need to experience this shift, recognizing that how they arrive at a decision is just as important as what decision they make.

The four drivers in evolving decision-making as a discipline

Today, as an experienced CEO, I approach decisions differently. I treat decision-making as a discipline and consciously apply a structured framework when making choices. My experience has revealed four drivers that influence the evolution of the chief decision-maker: purpose, mindset, rigor, and time and space. The new CEO and seasoned CEO tend to respond differently to these drivers. It took many years to develop and refine my approach, but it allows me to make better decisions, faster.

Ground yourself in purpose

If you’re a new CEO, you may have developed a form of tunnel vision, focusing on only your department’s goals instead of the big picture. When you step into the CEO role, you have to think about what benefits the company as a whole. That’s one of the big distinctions that comes with moving up into the CEO role. The complexity makes decision-making more challenging, regardless of company size.

It’s also difficult to make decisions if you’re unclear what your company stands for. Having that filter is vital for me. When I’m evaluating a decision, I always ask myself: Does this decision align with my company’s mission, vision and purpose? Will it benefit the organization as a whole? Does it accurately reflect our values and beliefs? If I can answer “yes” to these questions, I know I’m on the right track.

Shift your mindset

A less-experienced CEO might hold a limiting belief that there’s only one right answer to any given situation. Experience tends to show that good choices come from thoughtful processes, and that there’s more than one right answer. It’s liberating to realize there are many options, and the best one is the one in which you’ve invested the time, energy and commitment.

Putting ego aside is also important. Over time I’ve developed the awareness to check my ego and make decisions based on their impact on my company. A company-first mentality provides the clarity and honesty to approach problem-solving effectively.

If I need to pivot or change a decision, I no longer worry how this will make me look, as I’m doing what’s best for the company — not for me. That’s operating with integrity, and decisions that you make with integrity are the ones you can sleep with.

Apply rigor

You know you’re off-track when every decision feels like starting over. When you treat decision-making as a discipline and apply rigor, you won’t feel like you’re starting from scratch each time. Rigor has allowed me to make decisions faster and with more accuracy.

Part of the rigor is seeking input from others — especially those who think differently from you — while understanding how to filter and synthesize the insights you receive.

Your tendency may be to talk to as many people as possible about the situation and then make a decision based on what the majority says. My disastrous hire reveals a potential pitfall in relying on majority opinion. In my approach now, I listen to other people’s opinions but process them differently than I did as a young CEO. I treat them as inputs instead of instruction and make sure that every decision I make is uniquely mine.

I also ensure that I have enough context to make an informed decision. You have to understand at least some of the details; otherwise, you run the risk of relying too much on assumptions. Applying rigor to outside input makes the decision-making process easier because it gives me clarity and direction.

Allow for time and space

A high-pressure work environment, coupled with the scarcity of time, can cause a new CEO to make decisions in a hasty or haphazard way. As a newcomer to the C-Suite, I didn’t allow myself the time and space to tune out the noise and fully process a decision.

I have since learned to slow down and designate time to process decisions without interruption. I treat decision-making as a marathon instead of a sprint. I set aside a chunk of time every day to engage in quiet reflection and work through decisions. Don’t be afraid to tell people, “This decision is going to take some time.”

Developing your decision-making process

When I’m making a decision, I apply a process that’s based on three core principles:

• I pay attention to my instincts, listening to my gut without over-indexing.

• I exercise judgment in my choices, drawing on data and experiences to reach conclusions.

• The perspectives of my peers, mentors and employees inform—but do not dictate—my decisions.

This is not a sequential process but rather a fluid one, where the three principles work in tandem with each other. I know I’ve reached a good decision when it passes the “MVP test”: It aligns with the mission, vision and purpose of my company.

Let me share an anecdote that stands in contrast to the first story. Years ago, after talking through some business challenges with my CEO peers, I started to think about whether it made sense to create a CFO position. I talked to colleagues about my dilemma, thought about the financial implications of the hire, and listened to my gut when reviewing my options. I stuck to my vetting process. Ultimately, I decided to make the hire. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my career. The CFO who I chose was worth his weight in gold. He made changes to the company that increased its value exponentially.

Just like every other CEO, I’m a work in progress. I still make mistakes but fewer than I used to because I invest time and energy in my decision-making process.

The process outlined here works for me, but is by no means the only way to make a good decision. Take my drivers as inputs to developing your own. Decision-making is a process that’s unique to the individual, so it’s important to develop a model that feels authentic to you. After all, it’s not the model that matters most. What counts is that you rigorously apply a conscious process that leads to better decisions — and better results for your firm.

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About the author: Sam Reese

Sam Reese is CEO of Vistage Worldwide. Prior to his tenure with Vistage, Reese served as CEO and board member for the Miller Heiman business consulting organization. He has held senior positions at Corporate Express, Kinko’s Inc. and British Telecom. Reese holds a business administration degree from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado and has completed various executive programs at Stanford University and Northwestern University. He has been a Vistage member for more than 10 years.

How to Find Meaning in a Job That Isn’t Your “True Calling”

• Emily Esfahani Smith

• Executive Summary

Most people don’t see their profession as a “calling.” But they can still find meaning in their work by focusing on how it helps others. One strategy is to connect with end users or beneficiaries. Another is to focus on your organization’s broad mission — whether it’s serving cheap, delicious food or putting a man on the moon. A third is to think about how your job helps you provide for those you love or fund activities you find more meaningful.

Why do so few people find fulfillment in their work?

A few years ago I posed this question to Amy Wrzesniewski, a Yale School of Management professor who studies these issues, and she offered an explanation that made a lot of sense. Students, she told me, “think their calling is under a rock, and if they turn over enough rocks, they will find it.”

Surveys confirm that meaning is the top thing Millennials say they want from a job. And yet her research shows that less than 50% of people see their work as a calling. So many of her students are left feeling anxious and frustrated and completely unsatisfied by the good jobs and careers they do secure.

What they — and many of us, I think — fail to realize is that work can be meaningful even if you don’t think of it as a calling. The four most common occupations in America are retail salesperson, cashier, food preparer/server, and office clerk — jobs that aren’t typically associated with “meaning.” But all have something in common with those that are, such as clergy, teachers, and doctors: They exist to help others. And as Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, has shown, people who see their work as a form of giving consistently rank their jobs as more meaningful.

That means you can find meaning in nearly any role in nearly any organization. After all, most companies create products or services to fill a need in the world, and all employees contribute in their own ways. The key is to become more conscious about the service you’re providing — as a whole and personally.

How? One way is to connect with the end user or beneficiary. In one study, Grant and his colleagues found that fundraisers in a university call center who’d been introduced to a student whose education was being paid for by the money raised spent 142% more time on the phone with potential donors and raised 171% more cash than peers who hadn’t met those scholarship recipients. Whether your customers are external or internal, an increased focus on them, and how you help them live their lives or do their jobs, can help you find more meaning in yours.

Another strategy is to constantly remind yourself of your organization’s overarching goal. There’s a great story about a janitor that John F. Kennedy ran into at NASA in 1962. When the president asked him what he was doing, the man said, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” Life Is Good is an apparel company best known for colorful T-shirts with stick-figure designs, but its mission is to spread optimism and hope throughout the world, and that’s something that even warehouse employees understand. If you work for an accounting firm, you’re helping people or companies with the unpleasant task of doing their taxes. If you’re a fast-food cook, you’re providing a family with a cheap and delicious meal. Each of these jobs serves a purpose in the world.

Even if you can’t get excited about your company’s mission or customers, you can still adopt a service mindset by thinking about how your work helps those you love. Consider a study of women working in a coupon processing factory in Mexico. Researchers led by Jochen Menges, a professor at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, found that those who described the work as dull were generally less productive than those who said it was rewarding. But the effects went away for those in the former group who saw the work (however tedious) as a way to support their families. With that attitude, they were just as productive and energized as the coupon processors who didn’t mind the task. Many people understand the purpose of their jobs in a similar manner. The work they do helps them pay their mortgage, go on vacation — or even support a hobby that gives meaning to their lives, like volunteer tutoring, gardening, or woodworking.

Not everyone finds their one true calling. But that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to work meaningless jobs. If we reframe our tasks as opportunities to help others, any occupation can feel more significant

Emplyees Who Stay in Companies Longer Than Two Years Get Paid 50% Less

• Staying employed at the same company for over two years on average is going to make you earn less over your lifetime by about 50% or more.

• as an individual, you’re a CEO of one, and you have a duty to maximize your profits.

The worst kept secret is that employees are making less on average every year. There are millions of reasons for this, but we’re going to focus on one that we can control. Staying employed at the same company for over two years on average is going to make you earn less over your lifetime by about 50% or more.

Keep in mind that 50% is a conservative number at the lowest end of the spectrum. This is assuming that your career is only going to last 10 years. The longer you work, the greater the difference will become over your lifetime.

Arguments for Changing Jobs

The average raise an employee can expect in 2014 is 3%. Even the most underperforming employee can expect a 1.3% raise. The best performers can hope for a 4.5% raise. But, the inflation rate is currently 2.1% calculated based on the Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that your raise is actually less than 1%. This is probably sobering enough to make you reach for a drink.

In 2014, the average employee is going to earn less than a 1% raise and there is very little that we can do to change management’s decision. But, we can decide whether we want to stay at a company that is going to give us a raise for less than 1%. The average raise an employee receives for leaving is between a 10% to 20% increase in salary. Obviously, there are extreme cases where people receive upwards of 50%, but this depends on each person’s individual circumstances and industries.

Assumes your career will last 10 years. An avg 3% raise and a conservative 10% raise per transition.

Why are people who jump ship rewarded, when loyal employees are punished for their dedication? The answer is simple. Recessions allow businesses to freeze their payroll and decrease salaries of the newly hired based on “market trends.” These reactions to the recession are understandable, but the problem is that these reactions were meant to be “temporary.” Instead they have become the “norm” in the marketplace. More importantly, we have all become used to hearing about “3% raises” and we’ve accepted it as the new “norm."

John Hollon, former editor of Workforce.com, remembers when “5% was considered an average annual pay increase.” The amount of fear the media created surrounding the recession and its length has given companies the perfect excuse to shrink payroll and lower employee salary expectations in the long-run.

The world is desperate for skilled labor and companies around the globe are starving for talent. Companies can tout technology replacing labor, but it is only exacerbating the global shortage of human capital and skilled workers. This means that we as employees are positioned better than ever to leverage our abilities for increased pay.

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Bethany Devine, a Senior Hiring Manager in Silicon Valley, CA CA -1.12% who has worked with Intuit INTU -0.63% and other Fortune 500 companies explains, “I would often see resumes that only had a few years at each company. I found that the people who had switched companies usually commanded a higher salary. The problem with staying at a company forever is you start with a base salary and usually annual raises are based on a percentage of your current salary. There is often a limit to how high your manager can bump you up since it's based on a percentage of your current salary. However, if you move to another company, you start fresh and can usually command a higher base salary to hire you. Companies competing for talent are often not afraid to pay more when hiring if it means they can hire the best talent. Same thing applies for titles. Some companies have a limit to how many promotions they allow each year. Once you are entrenched in a company, it may become more difficult to be promoted as you may be waiting in line behind others who should have been promoted a year ago but were not due to the limit. However, if you apply to another company, your skills may match the higher title, and that company will hire you with the new title. I have seen many coworkers who were waiting on a certain title and finally received it the day they left and were hired at a new company.”

Even more importantly, when I asked Devine her thoughts on employees who had remained in the same company for periods long past the two year mark, she explained that she did feel that some were “underpaid” or had the potential to earn more.

Jessica Derkis started her career earning $8 per hour ($16,640 annual salary) as the YMCA’s marketing manager. Over 10 years, she’s changed employers five times to ultimately earn $72,000 per year at her most recent marketing position. This is approximately a 330% increase over a 10 year career. Derkis’ most recent transition resulted in a 50% increase to her salary. Derkis’ is a great example of how “owning your career” can make a huge difference in your income and career path.

Arguments Against Changing Jobs

People are worried that “changing jobs too often” will reflect negatively on employee resumes. I can definitely understand this fear because everyone is always worried about being unmarketable. I will be the first to admit that it is possible that certain employers may look at a resume with multiple transitions as a negative and may even disqualify an applicant based on that alone.

But, the important question is whether the risk outweighs the reward. Christine Mueller, President of TechniSearch Recruiters, has had clients that “will not consider anyone who has had more than three jobs in the last 10 years, no matter the reason.” Even so, Mueller still recommends that an employee makes a transition every three to four years for maximum salary gains. Thus, the question is less about whether employees should jump ship, but how long they should they wait before jumping to maximize their salaries and achieve their goals.

Brendan Burke, Director at Headwaters HW +% MB, strongly disagrees with the “up-and-out culture.” He explains that “companies turn over great employees because they’re not organizationally strong enough to support rapid development within their ranks. In many cases, that is a recipe for discontinuity in service and product offerings as well as disloyalty in the ranks. As such, we take the opposite approach. Rather than force folks out after 24 months, we try to retain our junior and mid-level staff and develop them within the ranks.”

Mr. Burke is absolutely correct. Most companies are not equipped to “rapidly” promote and reward their best employees for a variety of reasons such as office politics. Everyone that has worked in the labor pool hates office politics, but understands that it is an unavoidable evil and is more often than not a major obstacle to rewarding talent.

Finally, we’ve been talking about money a lot. Andrew Bauer, CEO of Royce Leather, explains that jumping ship can be “stressful.” Employees also need to consider their “quality of life, mental health, physical health and better moral standards.” Mr. Bauer is right. Money is important, but it must be balanced with everything else in your life. Monetary compensation is only one part of your life, and it should not dictate everything.

Jumping ship is a risk that we all need to weigh at a personal level. In my career, jumping ship is something I’ve done aggressively and frequently. I’ve never looked back and regretted my decisions because I’ve always felt that my skills deserved more. Hiring a single employee who is able to perform even 10% more efficiently is worth at least a 25% increase in salary. Companies spend a lot of money to pay recruiters, human resourcing to conduct background checks and the time of existing employees to hire and train new people. It’s always cheaper to just hire better people and pay them more.

Conclusion:

It’s a fact that employees are underpaid. Instead of focusing on things we can’t control like the economy or management decisions, focus on the things we can. Employees can control their own salaries by aggressively negotiating their opportunities and being unafraid to ask for more.

Clearly, there will always be exceptions to the rule. Not everyone may be able to make this decision immediately, but every employee should consider the option. I don’t fault employers and businesses for the market because it’s their right and duty to maximize their profits. But, as an individual, you’re a CEO of one, and you have a duty to maximize your profits.

Peer Advisory Groups: Superpowers for Leaders

The summer movie blockbuster season is here and just about everyone is talking about Wonder Woman. As a leader in your industry, you probably have your own superpowers that launched you to where you are today. Still, there are always secrets of entrepreneurial heroes that you might not yet know. How can you uncover them? Join a peer advisory group.

As part of my consulting practice, I facilitate four peer-to-peer networks. A peer advisory network can take on many forms. I have groups that meet three times a year at a conference and at their operations, and groups that meet just once a year and bi-monthly via video. Sometimes we have outside speakers and other times we focus heavily on one peer member’s individual business challenges. The structure varies, but there are a handful of common themes to ensure the success of peer groups and that are designed to support members in achieving results in business and professional development.

Five Special Powers Of Peer Groups

1. Confidentiality

Confidentiality is the first place to start when joining and maintaining a peer group relationship. A formal written policy that is signed by all members should be the minimum standard. In my groups, we go around the room and verbally acknowledge confidentiality at the start of each meeting. The reason for extreme confidentiality is simple: It’s about creating an environment where everyone knows they can share openly. For high achievers and CEOs to combat the "it's lonely at the top" and the "I have no one that can relate to me" quandaries that surround being in a leadership position, there is only one way to feel comfortable opening up -- trust.

2. Feedback

Each peer group’s interaction should include opportunities for members to share what is going on in their business and ask for advice from fellow members. We use operational overviews, but there are a variety of ways to include sharing and peer feedback. Vistage Worldwide, an international peer-to-peer network organization, includes a combination of peer group meetings and executive coaching to maximize results. In The Power of Peers, authors Leo Bottary and Leon Shapiro, both with Vistage, share that participation in peer groups helps leaders optimize their professional development time and cash investment.

3. Expertise

One unique aspect of peer advisory groups is that consultants in the room are members themselves and that is the goal. As a facilitator, sometimes it's challenging for me to avoid diving into consultant mode and advising, but the real aim as a facilitator is to get the members sharing their relevant experience and offering practical insight into what works and doesn’t. A facilitator should guide the conversation and work to encourage members to describe their practiced solutions to problems faced by others in the room.

4. Formal Structure And Facilitation

You can create your own group. If you do, I suggest you either create it and become the facilitator or become a member and find a qualified outside facilitator to run the program. You may ask why, and the reason is simple: You can’t get what you need out of a peer group membership if you are concerned with booking speakers, moderating the conversation, and planning the meal breaks. Let a pro do that and reap the rewards of peer advice and counsel.

I also advocate that there be a cost to admittance. Some groups may have an annual fee plus expenses, others just charge to book speakers. There are options, but the bottom line is that when you commit financially, you are much more likely to commit professionally and give the time and energy to the group and to yourself.

5. Accountability

Successful peer groups have mastered accountability. I’ve seen groups of executives holding each other accountable for business opportunities and financial improvements, but also for needed changes in a member’s health and fitness, and even personal relationships. Accountability also breeds commitment to attending and being present, something that is very difficult for leaders to do when they are on-site at work. Peer groups support the idea that time away to work on the business and on the owner’s professional growth pays dividends. Things back at the shop can wait.

The Power To Give And To Receive

One last thing that makes peer advisory groups work is a willingness to both give and accept valuable, honest counsel. A peer network is not an association or a club. As such, there is not a president or a leader. Maintaining a sense that everyone there is on the same plane is essential, so if you find yourself in a group where it's clear you are the senior member or the standout expert, you need to find a new group where you’ll be challenged. If you’re not, you’re mentoring others and not gaining for your business, too. A balance of both is ideal.

Peer groups are a way to both give and receive so you’ll be doing good in the world when you join one.

Even if you don’t have a set of lightning-rod-emitting gold wristbands, you can still tap into the power of a peer-to-peer network to elevate your game

Peer advisory groups work because of a willingness to both give and accept valuable, honest counsel.