Excerpt from “THE POWER OF PEERS: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth, & Success” by Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary (Bibliomotion, Inc., March 2016).
Article Author:
Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary
Many CEOs report feeling “lonely at the top.” Not only do they need to make tough decisions about their organizations day in and day out, but often they do so in a vacuum—without input, or even much pushback, from others.
In “THE POWER OF PEERS: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth, & Success (Bibliomotion, Inc., March 2016), authors Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary introduce a concept called “peer advantage” that transcends peer influence. By harnessing the power of peers, CEOs and senior leaders of small to midsize organizations come together to gain fresh perspectives, solve problems, focus on opportunities and possibilities, and make decisions that accelerate the growth of their businesses.
On his own experience as CEO of Vistage International, Shapiro writes: “The problem was that everyone advising me had a connection to or would be impacted in some way by decisions I made based on their input. All of the advice and counsel I was getting, while well intentioned, was largely subjective.”
“THE POWER OF PEERS” features stories of business leaders from a range of industries to explain how peer advisory groups can be beneficial to CEOs who suffer from a “lonely at the top” mentality. The authors illustrate this through the five essential factors for peer advantage:
Select the Right Peers: Nicole Mouskondis is co-CEO of Nicholas and Company, a $600 million food service distributor. Working with peer advisory groups gave her the courage to hire senior-level executives from outside the food service industry. As a result, the company has benefited in terms of profitability, efficiency, and labor-engineered standards.
Create a Safe Environment: Greg Fricks developed a plan to buy out his father at their family-owned, high-performance concrete flooring business. But his father wasn’t ready to step down. In a peer advisory group, Greg found a safe environment to be vulnerable and free from judgment. He received the support he needed to confront his father, take over the family business, and triple their profits.
Utilize a Smart Guide: When Chris Noonan first started leading peer advisory groups, he began feeling a sense of monotony in the meetings. He started raising topical issues to spark different types of conversations. He once asked members questions about love and leadership, resulting in extraordinary conversations about family and the leaders they admired.
Foster Valuable Interaction: According to former Blue Angels pilot John Foley, one of the biggest mistakes leaders make is not debriefing after meetings. Debriefing, he explains, prevents people from making the same mistakes over and over again. Peer advisory groups use a similar practice called “case clinics” to help CEOs work through problems with their group and recap with “clarifying questions” in real time.
Be Accountable: Walter and Debbie Jones started an architecture firm when they were first married. Today, they have a $30 million company and have raised a family. All the while, Walter participated in a peer advisory group, which held him accountable to unmet financial obligations; the group raised the issue at every meeting for over a year until he completed the task.
“Peer advantage is not an individual activity, it’s a group endeavor. It’s what’s possible when you bring great people together who want to chase perfection in the pursuit of excellence.”
—Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary, “THE POWER OF PEERS”
Excerpt from “THE POWER OF PEERS: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth, & Success” by Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary (Bibliomotion, Inc., March 2016). For more information, visit https://www.amazon.com/Power-Peers-Company-Leadership-Success/dp/1629561207
Leon Shapiro served from 2013 to 2016 as the CEO of Vistage Worldwide, a peer advisory membership organization for CEOs, business owners, and their key executives. He is a member of the Vistage Board of Directors and also a director at The Advisory Board Company. Between 2007 and 2011, Shapiro served as senior vice president, Strategy and Operations, at Warner Music Group. From 2005 to 2006, he served as group president of The NPD Group, Inc., a global provider of consumer and retail information, where he led all of their entertainment and technology related businesses. From 1989 to 2004, Shapiro served as president, Gartner Executive Programs for Gartner, Inc., a provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
Leo Bottary is vice president, Peer Advantage for Vistage Worldwide, where he directs a thought leadership initiative on the power of peer influence for business leaders. Bottary also serves as an adjunct professor for Seton Hall University’s Master of Arts in Strategic Communication & Leadership program (MASCL), where he leads online learning teams. Prior to joining Vistage in 2010, Bottary enjoyed a 25-year career counseling leaders in strategic communication. During that time, he served as a senior vice president (Corporate Practice) and director of Client Service for the U.S. at Hill & Knowlton. He also founded a public relations agency, which he sold in 2000. Bottary earned a BA from Jacksonville University, an MA in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, and is expected to receive his EdD from Northeastern University with a concentration in Organizational Leadership in 2016. His dissertation focuses on the power of peer influence for CEOs.