Vistage has continued to be a positive part of my life. Not ideal during COVID with remote meetings, etc., but still a solid positive for me. Happy to give you some of my thoughts.

My top added value is accountability. That comes from fellow members, as well as my chair. When I process an issue and we all chew it up and come up with some potential next steps, I am asked about it at the next meeting and some sort of action is expected/required. Without a Vistage group, it would be likely for me to kick the issue down the path and address it months later (if ever).

My second top added value is my chair’s emphasis on future planning (whether looking month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter or looking at those huge goals 3, 5 and 10 years out). I always had a tendency to keep my head down to tackle each day’s “emergencies” and not take the time to zoom out and lay out my goals/plans, etc.

The most significant issue I processed was the decision to hire a staff lawyer. In a sense, it was the hiring of my “replacement.” I had been stumbling/delaying over that decision for months (maybe years). After processing the issue (over a couple Vistage meetings), I finally made that hire 2 years ago and it has likely been the single most important driver of my company’s growth trajectory and completely changed my role in the company (from task-man to vision-man).