The Intersection of Mindfulness & Peer Advantage

Yesterday, I embarked on a four mile hike in Crested Butte, CO (one of my favorite spots on the planet) to enjoy the fall aspens and a magnificent panorama that lacked any of the traffic or the stop lights of southern California. To paint a more complete picture, I spent part of my hike listening to Earth, Wind & Fire’s greatest hits through my ear buds. I haven’t listened to that “album” in years, and I can’t for the life of me tell you why I selected it, but I felt transported.

It reminded me of how, as a kid, when I listened to music, I was always fascinated by the harmonies and instruments playing in the background – it’s what, for me at least, gives music its richness. I thought about why I always loved bands like Earth, Wind & Fire, Miami Sound Machine, and Chicago (yes, I’m dating myself). The words can be poetic and the melodies are catchy, but the arrangements are pure genius.

I enjoyed my time alone yesterday. Nothing else in the world mattered. I was living in the moment, enjoying sights and sounds that rendered anything else completely irrelevant. It was my personal brand of mindfulness. As I sit here now, I’m contemplating what I’ll call the intersection of mindfulness and peer advantage. If I am more mindful, will I experience peer advantage more fully for myself and create more value for others? Based on a piece I read recently by Dr. Melanie Greenberg in Psychology Today, I would have to say, “Yes, of course!” Her article speaks to nine essential qualities for mindfulness including being fully present, openness to experience, non-judgment, and connection, to name a few. Turns out that her nine qualities align perfectly with the five factors required for experiencing peer advantage for yourself and others.

Next month, I will participate in a mindfulness workshop delivered by Amy Sandler. (I’m really looking forward to it.) My guess is that Amy will reinforce the idea that being more mindful as an individual will only make me a stronger peer – that being truly mindful and being connected more deeply with others gives life its richness, too. Can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Fashioning A New Approach

Using our new P–E–E–R method for telling peer advantage stories, read Xavi Gutierrez’s* story and consider submitting one of your own using this simple outline. To review the guidelines for submitting stories, click here!

*The member’s name and other details in this story have been changed to protect member confidentiality.

Preface

Xavi Gutierrez is the Founder and CEO of a tech startup which provides customized ecommerce solutions for fashion stores. His company was doing pretty well in the Spanish market, and after securing an additional round of funding to expand his business, Xavi set his sights on finding a partner in the UK and eventually expanding globally.

Expectation

After Xavi received the funds to go global, with a specific focus on Europe during this first growth stage, Xavi tried without success to identify and hire a partner in the UK. Given the international diversity of the peers (namely from the UK market) of the online mastermind groups available at CEO World, he decided to become a member and join a group with the hope that the members might provide him with the support he needed to achieve his goals.

Experience

Xavi shared his challenge with the group during his very first meeting, focusing largely on how frustrated he was at his lack of success. After only 20 minutes of conversation, it became evident that Xavi’s pitch was missing the mark for a UK audience. It was also clear that the value being offered wasn’t appealing enough for someone to risk investing in this partnership. After a few rounds of clarifying questions, the group members learned enough to suggest additional resources Xavi should explore before moving forward, along with some ideas that Xavi could use to make his pitch and his offer more attractive to a potential partner. This would involved Xavi securing a few UK clients himself first.

Not only did Xavi make a commitment to the group that he would rethink his approach, but also several group members volunteered to work with Xavi outside the construct of the meeting – which they did. Xavi’s peers also saw to it that he remained committed to the goal, as opposed to focusing on obstacles or making excuses.

Results

After 12 weeks (three, two-hour mastermind sessions later), Xavi hired his first UK client. Twenty-six weeks later (6 sessions later), Xavi’s team hired 10 UK clients, and soon after, Xavi convinced a local partner to sell his services in the UK market. Xavi’s initial goal was achieved. During the following year, Xavi would use this approach to break into 5 new European markets. As Xavi sets his sights on entering the United States and Asia, he plans to do so with the help of his peers as part of a new mastermind group, with peers who are experiencing the same “business stage” issues and who understand the American and Asia markets.

A New CEO World For Entrepreneurs

Imagine being the founder of what you believe will be the next great company. You’re in the embryonic stages of forming your organization. You know you’re headed down a long and lonely road, and a potentially rewarding one, assuming you don’t screw it up! Now consider what it would be like to be approached by a major player who leads peer advisory groups for CEOs and business leaders in your area.

At first you might conclude, “Excellent, this is exactly what I need!” You salivate at the prospect of meeting with your peers on a regular basis in a forum where you can talk about your toughest challenges and greatest opportunities. You’ve read just enough to know how well these groups tend to help people become better leaders and grow their companies. But then you find out how much it costs and how much time it will consume. (Turns out this is the stage where both cash and time can be really tight). What’s more, because of your unpredictable travel schedule, you know before you start that your participation at locally-based monthly meetings may be unreliable at best. It’s a situation that could be bad for you and unfair to the group. Oh boy. Now what?

Turns out Miguel Dias has something to show you. Recently, CEO World launched its new website. Miguel’s peer advantage solution not only tackles the issues of time, money and participation, it offers you access to other CEOs around the world who will give you an all new perspective to help you think and act more globally.

CEO World assembles and professionally facilitates mastermind groups specifically for entrepreneurs and leaders of early stage companies. The groups are comprised of 6-8 people just like you (and yet not exactly like you at all) who meet online once a month for two jam-packed hours, including 30-minutes with a guest CEO who has been where you want to go. You not only get the kind of help you need, but it’s offered at a fraction of the cost, in two-hour sessions (versus a half-day or full-day), and can be accessed from wherever you may be traveling (assuming you have a decent internet connection).

So does CEO World deliver something that Vistage, EO, Renaissance, TAB, or YPO doesn’t? The answer is, yes and no. CEO World is a different model, delivered on a different platform, and designed to meet the needs and requirements of an entirely different demographic. CEO World opens up the world of peer advantage to those who otherwise might find it difficult, if not impossible, to access and makes it work for them. That’s CEO World’s killer app! Over time, the market will decide for itself whether this is a gateway drug for traditional, in-person groups or a stand-alone alternative that meets their specific needs on an ongoing basis. My guess is that leaders will be attracted to both options in greater numbers.

That said, CEO World is not a competitor to the big guys, so much as a companion. If they all play their cards right, you’ll see what 1 + 1 = 3 really looks like! If your organization leads CEO mastermind or peer advisory groups and you’re delivering true peer advantage to your members, tell me about it. I’m more than happy to spread the word about what you’re doing. Why not create a new world for everyone!

If You Want to Go Fast, Go Together!

Last week, my friend Phil and I drove to Petco Park for the third game of the three game series between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres. We live in San Diego, but we both grew up in the Boston area. If you know anything about Red Sox fans, you know we are always Sox fans, no matter where we live, and as you might have guessed, we attended all three games. In case you had any doubts, Red Sox Nation is real.

But I digress… so as we were driving to the game from Del Mar to downtown, traffic was at a standstill and showing no signs of loosening up. With two of us in the car, however, this afforded us the opportunity to drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane. We could simply get out of the lanes where everyone was driving alone and bypass all the traffic. Which we did.

HOV lanes have been around in the US since the 70’s. Since I’m always on the lookout for peer advantage metaphors, it occurred to me that the African proverb that appears at the open of The Power of Peers: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” had to have been written prior to 1969 because we were going much faster together than any of the drivers going it alone.

As we sailed by hundreds of cars, we estimated that we saved at least 40 minutes getting to the game. For us, it was the difference between making it on time and showing up in the third inning. Turns out that together, you can go far and fast. Think about that the next time you hesitate to collaborate with someone for fear it will slow you down. It’s more likely that you’ll discover a new road – the one less traveled.

*Image from washingtontimes.com

Why NPS & Our Peers Matter More Than Ever

A company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) may matter more today than when it first came on the scene in 2003 – not the score so much as the behavior it inspires. Here’s why:

The 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer revealed that “respondents are increasingly reliant on a ‘person like yourself’, who, along with a regular employee, are significantly more trusted than a CEO or government official. On social networking and content-sharing sites, respondents are far more trusting of family and friends (78 percent) than a CEO (49 percent).”

Richard Edelman said, “We must get beyond ‘The Grand Illusion’ that the mass will continue to follow the elites. This ‘Illusion’ was predicated on the belief that the informed publics have access to superior information, their interests are interconnected and that becoming ‘an elite’ was open to all who work hard. But the democratization of information, high-profile revelations of greed and misbehavior, coupled with rising income inequality, have squashed those beliefs. The trust of the mass population can no longer be taken for granted.”

As trust in institutions erodes – when 92% of people trust their peers over branded content (The Shelf) – then people will continue to turn to their peers in increasingly high numbers. This is where a company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) enters the picture.

Here’s a quick refresher on NPS: It is the brainchild of Bain & Company partner Fred Reichheld. Reichheld created NPS as an answer to conventional, often lengthy customer satisfaction surveys that were largely ineffective. A company’s NPS is determined by obtaining the answer to what’s now regarded as The Ultimate Question:

On a zero to ten scale, how likely is it that you would recommend us (or this product/service/brand) to a friend or colleague?

Respondents are placed in one of three categories: promoters, passives, or detractors. Customers identified as promoters, who answer the question with a nine or ten, are far more likely than passives or detractors to be ambassadors (or even evangelists) for a product or service.

Today, because people trust their peers far more than institutions, seeing NPS only as another customer satisfaction metric would be missing the boat – the same one we’re all in, by the way. Companies that understand how to use it, see the score as a verb rather than a noun. Doing so serves to encourage reinforcing behaviors and a culture that inspires and creates even more promoters. The more friends and family members who graduate from passives to promoters, the more likely sales of that company’s product or service go up. Pretty simple really. It’s how (and why) the power of peers matters now more than ever.

Peer Advantage & The Opposite Strategy

Remember the Seinfeld episode when George Costanza employed his “opposite strategy?” Meaning, if he did the opposite of what he thought he should do, life would work out better. Earlier this week, I talked about the four ways we engage our peers. We typically connect, network, optimize, and accelerate – in pretty much that order. CEOs, however, should adopt Costanza’s “opposite strategy.”

While most business leaders, generally speaking, connect more than they network. They also tend to network more than they optimize and optimize more than they accelerate. (And for most, they don’t accelerate at all). CEOs, whose time is extremely valuable, should take a page from George and invest their peer engagement activities in the opposite order. CEOs should accelerate first, then optimize, network, and connect.

Why? Because CEOs should invest their time, where they get the most value. It’s essential that they get out of their company and industry silos to engage in rich conversations with a diverse group of fellow CEOs who truly empathize with the magnitude of their responsibility. Ask any high-performing CEO in a group. Your peers will broaden and deepen your knowledge and help you lead your organization more effectively.

Next, optimize. Take what you learn from your CEO group— your ideas and your understanding about how high-performing groups collaborate—and show your people how to lead groups that optimize inside your organization. Networking involves purposeful interaction with select individuals who can help you and your organization grow. What you gain from accelerating and optimizing will help you be an even more purposeful and more successful networker. Finally, stay connected. Connecting will help extend your reach and provide you with an additional knowledge channel for both intentional and collateral learning.

If it’s good enough for George Costanza… I’m just sayin’!

*Image from screenrant.com

The 4 Ways We Engage Our Peers

In The Power of Peers: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth & Success, we stated that business leaders tend to engage their peers in four major ways. They connect, network, optimize, and accelerate. To connect is to literally make connections. This involves meeting new people (online or in-person), extending our reach, and even seeking advice from “peers” with whom we share a common interest. For example, if you want to read a book, you might check with others who’ve already read it to see what they think. You may not know any of them individually, but you’ll consider the prevailing sentiment of the group as a powerful data point. So much so that, according to The Shelf, 92% of consumers trust this source of info over branded content!

When we network, it’s typically more selective and purposeful. It’s when we reach out to specific individuals who can either help us get a job, find a business partner, secure financing for our next venture, etc. – or who knows someone who can! There’s no quid pro quo necessarily, but there is certainly an expectation of reciprocity in the event that the person who is helping you today needs your assistance in the future.

Great teams optimize. It’s about people working together, chasing perfection in the pursuit of excellence, to achieve a common goal – usually during a more concentrated period of time – a basketball season, perhaps (pick your favorite sport). Individuals may be asked to sacrifice their personal goals to achieve an overall team objective. You’ll forgo being the leading scorer and help make everyone around you better, thus increasing the team’s chances for success.

Finally, there’s accelerate. This is what top CEOs and business owners do when they step outside their company and industry sector to grow as leaders, think strategically about their business, and focus on its long-term future. By working with their peers, they participate in an exercise of “empathetic accountability.” CEOs work with peers who understand what’s like to make decisions that impact an entire organization and industry – people who know exactly what it’s like to sit in the CEO’s chair.

We engage our peers just this way and pretty much in exactly this order. None of us does it alone. That said, most leaders never experience what it means to accelerate and experience peer advantage. They engage in the first three only. In my next post, I’ll talk about why ALL CEOs should accelerate and why THEIR peer engagement puzzle comes together a bit differently.

Carol Tometsko's Greatest Discovery

Using our new P–E–E–R method for telling peer advantage stories, read Carol Tometsko’s story and consider sharing yours using the same outline and maximum of 500 words. This story is fewer than 400 words! To review the guidelines for submitting stories, click here!

Preface

Carol Tometsko is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Litron Laboratories, which she co-founded in 1976 with her late husband Dr. Andrew M. Tometsko. Starting this company was her husband’s dream. Fast forward eighteen years, and their company, Litron Laboratories, was still in business, largely because they were extremely successful in obtaining government grants. Then, in 1994 when Carol was at the airport, she received a call that Andrew had passed away. She went back to the lab to find two employees who were as grief stricken as she was, and it was in that moment that she decided to continue to run the business. At this point in her life, Carol was still wearing a scientist’s hat and was not necessarily a business person, and while she considered hiring outside leadership to take the helm, she did not.

Expectation

In 1997, Tom Merkel, a personal friend of Carol’s, suggested she join a Vistage CEO peer advisory group. In 1995, Litron began developing and selling genetic toxicology kits, but Carol understood that she couldn’t build a company based on that approach alone. Carol said, “We had to get involved in new areas, in exploring new genetic toxicology areas. That’s where we were sort of stumped.” She was looking for a group of CEOs she could talk to about her business.

Experience

Little did she know the impact the group would have on what would become the re-imagining of her company. Carol said that it was her group members who taught her the word “collaboration.” Up until that time, her world pitted scientist against scientist in a race for who would arrive at the answer first, so she found the idea expressed by her fellow CEOs of collaborating with other scientists somewhat frightening (because of her prior university experience) but an intriguing idea for scaling the business. It took CEOs outside of her industry sector to help her see this.

Results

Under Carol’s leadership, Litron has transformed from an organization once dependent on government grants into an international technology company, which as of 2015, provided support to laboratories in 37 countries. Carol did so by stepping outside her company (and the world of science) to make one of her greatest discoveries – the value of peer advantage. Carol is still a member of her group today.

Tell Us Your Peer Advantage Story

Tell us how peer advantage worked for you by submitting your story to leobottary.com, using the P–E–E–R method. Give us the background we need in the Preface. Tell us about your Expectations, either when you joined your group or when you brought an issue or new opportunity to your group and then share your actual Experience. (For example, you may have planned to ask your peers for their thoughts on your choosing between solution A & B, only to discover you had more options than you realized). Then reveal the Results – it’s that simple.

Feel free to identify your group as a (for example) CEO World Mastermind Group, Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Forum, Renaissance Executive Forum, The Alternative Board (TAB), Tiger 21, True North Group, Vistage Group, Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) Forum, etc. As a member, sharing your story for this site means you’re granting me permission to post and promote it publicly. If you lead a group and wish to submit a member story, I will assume you’ve received the member’s permission or that you’ve used pseudonyms to ensure confidentiality. Either way, please indicate that with your submission or it will not be eligible for posting.

I’ll be adding stories myself as well, so if you’re a group leader or group member, tell us how you experienced peer advantage by completing the form below or by emailing your story to me directly at leo@leobottary.com. Stories should be 500 words max! (The story below contains fewer than 400 words).

Here’s a sample story for your review.

Now It’s Your Turn!

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Peer Advantage – An Obvious Choice

Will peer advantage gain traction? Can it be as common to the business lexicon someday as Emotional Intelligence is today? The short answer is “yes.” Why? Because CEOs need peer advantage every bit as much as the cavemen needed the wheel. In a recent conversation with Miguel Dias, Founder and CEO of CEO World, he reminded me of the cartoon of the cavemen ignoring their peer’s offer to make their lives easier. While this cartoon is a “slightly altered” version of the original, it illustrates an important point.

It’s what every CEO peer advisory group leader must feel like when he or she reaches out to a CEO with a solution to a problem that too many CEOs don’t realize they have. And if most CEOs took just a minute from being “too busy,” they could be reminded that who you surround yourself with matters and, because it matters, CEOs and business leaders can help each other in ways they just won’t find anywhere else. In this fast-changing, complex world of ours, none of us should try to go it alone.

In the book, The Power of Peers: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth & Success, Vistage Chair Bob Dabic said that participating openly in a peer advisory group involves fighting off a caveman mentality and its 10,000 years of human conditioning. Today, too few people avail themselves of the myriad benefits of enlisting the support of their peers. Fortunately, the wheel became an everyday part of our lives. Sooner rather than later, so will peer advantage.