As the leader of your company,
when do find time to find time to work ON it?
My current or former members offer their testimonials about their Vistage experience.
These members found FOCUS:
Paul Noonan, President, IDMI
If you’re too busy for Vistage, this is clear evidence that you are not focused and a prime candidate for Vistage. The group will help you pay attention to what is most important.
Vince Nardy, CEO, Hunter Defense Technologies
If you are viewing Vistage as just another task on top of an already backbreaking load, then do not join. However, if you are willing to use Vistage to explore a different set of choices about how you use your time, then you can have a productive conversation about membership.
If you think you will join Vistage later when things ‘settle down’, then I have bad news. You will never have more than the 24 hours in the day and your issues will only become more burdensome. Any time that becomes available is never reserved for Vistage but is immediately consumed by some other more urgent, but not necessarily more important, need.
These members are BETTER LEADERS:
Mark Gardner, CEO, Avatar
I’ve personally benefited from my Vistage membership for more than three years. Simply put, my membership in Vistage has not only kept me in business through a tough economy, but we have actually grown and become more profitable. I am a far better executive today than I as for the previous 20 years.
Like me, your greatest concern is, or should be, the full day commitment each month away from the office. Before joining, I couldn’t imagine how I would make up the time. I can honestly say, that it has turned out to be the best day of the month. I come back to Avatar filled with ideas, but more importantly enthusiasm, a sense of purpose and clear goals. It seems counter-intuitive, but being away for a day each month actually makes me personally more productive. One last, but very important point…where else can you share candid conversation with 17 other executives who are all in similar situations with you! Before Vistage I had to rely upon my employees, a few friends (who didn’t really understand my situation) and my spouse. Other members were also able to converse with their boards, but in each case, such conversations are far less productive than what we experience together.
Lee Watson, Former President and Director, Bescast
Through the members’ support and some pretty intense one-to-one mentoring sessions (and perhaps a little work of my own,) I was able to map out and execute a plan to achieve profit. Once the plan was complete, Vistage kept me on task, because I had to report status every month. Without this accountability I was likely to get mired down in daily firefighting and lose sight of the end objective.
The Vistage process has not only helped me grow, but I truly believe that it is responsible, in large part, for the success that Bescast has enjoyed over the last several years.
These members experienced BETTER RESULTS:
Bob Vitale, CEO, Midwest Industrial
I have learned that the best, highest quality steel is only possible by exposure to the hottest fires. Later, you will celebrate those terribly painful fires that burned all the impurities from the raw material. The Vistage meetings with my peers is God’s gift of “fires”.
Hussien Y. Shousher, President, GEM Inc.
Vistage is like a monthly dose of insight that supports my efforts to run my business better. Four of my associates participate in Vistage groups, and the leadership techniques we learn guide us as we frame and solve issues. My group is a safe haven to discuss anything, from business opportunities to communicating effectively with people. Thanks to a Vistage speaker, we’re recasting our customer focus. You can see why I drive two hours each way to attend Vistage meetings in the Canton/Akron area. It’s well worth my time.
Mark Reichard, CEO, Maroon, Inc.
For me, the #1 thing about being a Vistage member is that you learn how to run a business, plain and simple. I take the approach that I’m the dumbest guy in the room, so I’m like a sponge, learning everything that I can. It’s better than a university, because these are real-life lessons.
If you could see the performance of my business—where I was in 2002, and where I am today—you’d see why I stick with this approach. I get more than my money’s worth out of Vistage.
Brad Roller, Vistage Chair and Former CEO, Swiger Coil
In the Summer of 2007 I realized my dream of selling my business. The help of my Vistage group members, speakers and my fabulous Chair, Cheryl McMillan, were critical not only in making the sale happen, but in helping me grow the business to a point where it was worth selling.
Over my 15 years as a member, I learned so much and received so much great advice. I became much more focused on the important things in my business and my life, started to regularly set goals, built a much stronger organization and started tracking important metrics. In the process, I became a better listener, and a much more astute business person.
I was also able to witness dramatic positive changes in my fellow members’ lives and assist in their business decisions. I watched them overcome obstacles and saw their businesses blossom. My Vistage experience was extremely rewarding, and one where I always learned while being able to help my fellow members.
The Vistage model is very powerful when done correctly. Cheryl was my Chair for four of my fifteen years as a member. She is continuously learning new techniques and approaches to helping her members become the best they want to be. She is a truly extraordinary Chair and is rated among the top 20 Chairs worldwide on a regular basis for good reason.
Bob Fritz, Former President and CEO, Avtron Aerospace, Inc. and E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Winner in 2010
My Vistage membership has coincided with a period of growth for our company. From 2004 through the end of 2008 our sales doubled and our bottom line tripled. Further, since selling our company at the end of 2007, the estimated value of my equity and my managers’ equity has tripled. At a rough guess, I would give Vistage about 1/3 of the credit for all this.
Here are the most valuable aspects of Vistage to me:
1. It gently forces a more disciplined approach to solving problems. This was missing when I was the majority owner and accountable to no one else.
2. It’s the only way I found to get useful feedback from people in my situation. None of my friends knew anything about running a business!
3. Through my group, their associates, and the Vistage network I could quickly access people who know how to solve problems I faced for the first time. These ranged from environmental pitfalls when buying a new plant to the entire process of how to sell a company.
4. By participating in solving the problems of other CEOs, I was able to reflect better on things I was doing here, improve our own situation, and avoid pitfalls.
5. I learned that CEOs can succeed without working all the time. I actually take vacations now! Also I delegate more and understand the true role of a CEO.
During my membership my group has had two Chairs (facilitators). Both were excellent and worked very hard, acting as a sounding board in one-to-one meetings. They made sure I got whatever resources I needed. The secret of Vistage is to prepare for each meeting. That way you will get out of it more than you put into it.
Chuck Gehrisch, CEO, Roll-Kraft
I would like to send a note to Vistage to thank them for helping me the last 12 years with my business and my personal life.
If it was not for Vistage I know that my company would not be where it is today. I was 36 years old when I joined Vistage and knew that if I did not get guidance I could make some serious mistakes. Not that a mistake is all that bad, I am referring to the ones that could be avoided with consultative discussions, just like a board of directors or advisors.
I would encourage anyone that either owns a business or is running a business to join Vistage, not just for “your” education but the accountability you put on yourself and the experiences you share with your peers. As business leaders, we enjoy telling others what we have learned, helping others succeed, and do not like to be held accountable. As a person who has run a business for the last 17 years, I can tell you we need to be held accountable.
