Almost every person leading a company would benefit if they would only join a peer advisory group.
I’ve been running CEO Peer Groups for over a Decade now. In that time I’ve heard multiple excuses why people won’t join a peer advisory group. Some of them… very few of them valid… most of them are lame.
What are some of the lamest excuses why people don’t join a peer advisory group?
- It’s Too Expensive – It’s only too expensive if you don’t take it seriously. A good peer group is an investment and not an expense and like all good investments, there is an ROI. I have customers who routinely point to things like exhilarated growth rates. One recent ThinkTank member (the peer group I run) who for years was experiencing growth at 3% or lower, attributes group participation to revenue growth of 30%. It’s only too expensive because you should either become an employee or be generating enough profit so it’s relatively inexpensive. In his second year in the group, he’s experiencing 50% corporate growth and 400% personal earnings growth. I’m obviously undercharging.
- I’m Too Busy – “I’m too busy to join a peer advisory group,” is the very reason you should join a peer advisory group. If you’re too busy you’re probably spending too much time in the business and not enough time on the business. Leaders who strategize (on the business), Plan (on the business), and then execute (in the business). If you don’t have time to be the architect of your business then the time you spend building your business is most likely wasted. The person who doesn’t have the time to build a better business will never have a better business.
- I Already Have A Management Team – Your CMO has an agenda and it may not be compatible with the agenda of your CFO or VP of Sales. The members of your executive team are playing a zero-sum game. What is good for the VP of Engineering may not be good for the VP of Customer Service. A good peer group is accretive. The only agenda in the room is that if one member adds value the value-add will be returned and the result is greater than the sum of its parts.
- I Already Have a Board of Directors – Much like #3, your board is not a safe, agendaless forum. It isn’t safe to be vulnerable and indecisive with your board. A peer advisory group is where you develop bulletproof plans to present to and maintain the confidence of your board of directors.
- I’m So Smart I Don’t Need To Join A Peer Advisory Group – No you are so dumb, there is no good peer group who would benefit from you. You’re right, you won’t benefit from a peer group.
Being a member of a good peer group is a give/get proposition. There are three types of leaders and only one of those types should join a peer advisory group. Those types:
- You Know Who Is Buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – If you know everything, you know nothing. You would neither add nor gain from a peer group.
- You Don’t Know Who Is Buried in Grant’s Tomb – If you’re not a life-long learner, if you’re not stimulated by learning… you would be wasting your time.
- You Want To Know Why Grant is Buried in New York City – If you’re curious if you are a lifelong learner… what are you waiting for? Check out a peer group.
Want to investigate what it’s like to be part of a peer advisory group? Schedule a no-obligation, complimentary, online coaching session by pressing that little red button down there. Have a coaching session and see if it makes sense to sit on a peer group session.
