There’s a growing complexity of how businesses operate, what with the major technological disruptions at work. And executives who are serious about their businesses need to look beyond their own organisations and experiences for new ways to work smart, stay current, and improve.
This is why more and more executives believe in the power of CEO peer networks. Venues for growth and development, CEO organisations provide leaders with lessons and best practices for their own businesses to keep abreast of change.
In today’s episode of Leadership through Disruption, Stephanie Christopher (CEO, The Executive Connection), as interviewed by Ashton Bishop (CEO, Step Change), talks about how CEOs can get the most out of their CEO networks and shares her personal experience with her own peer network.
In this interview, Stephanie shared that you can most benefit from your CEO peer network when you:
- Actively engage. Don’t hesitate to impart your reflections on your victories and failures. Share your hard-won experiences with your group — it’s these experiences that give profound value to leaders of substance.
- Challenge yourself. Be brave enough to unpack your toughest challenges, whether it’s personal or business, to the meetings.
- Challenge each other. As a member of your peer group, you’re accountable to your group. So remind each other that you’re all playing a bigger game, challenge each other to do better, push each other by asking the tough questions.
- Listen. The peer network is not the place to be defensive. Leave your ego in the parking lot, and as you get attend the meetings, actively listen to your peers’ and your mentors’ point of view.
- Ask questions. Great leaders hunger for growth. They are curious individuals who believe there’s no end to learning. So share your burning leadership questions with your fellow leaders.
If you are interested to join a peer network for CEOs and executives,
today.
Stephanie Christopher is the CEO of The Executive Connection (TEC), the world’s largest CEO organisation with over 21,000 members in 16 countries through the global Vistage network. Stephanie’s role at TEC puts her in the heart of the Australian and New Zealand business community on a daily basis, speaking to CEOs and business leaders about the challenges and opportunities that they are facing.
Ashton Bishop is Australia’s first Predatory Marketer and the CEO of Step Change — an expert in pinpointing how businesses can grow by outsmarting their competitors. His niche is in strategy, where he has spent the last 14 years working internationally on some of the world’s biggest brands. He’s a business owner and serial entrepreneur — challenging, sometimes even controversial — but always focused on what gets results.