Last updated: September 25, 2023
This is my Vistage review. I attended two different half-day workshops and advisory sessions as part of the Vistage CEO mastermind group in NYC in 2018.
I take a lot of notes so I’m sorry this post is so long. I hope my honest Vistage review and documentation of the experience might be helpful for others.
About Vistage
Vistage was founded in 1957. It is a for-profit CEO peer group meant for strategic thinking, mentoring, networking, and personal development.
Vistage slogan: “Discover what’s possible when CEOs put their minds together.”
Their brochure says:
Vistage brings together successful executives from a broad array of non-competing industries into exclusive, confidential peer advisory groups. Guided by your Chair – an experienced leader with a passion for mentoring CEOs – monthly meetings with your Vistage group are an opportunity to solve your most pressing business issues with colleagues who speak your language. Business leaders who understand the challenges you face and can help you strategize, innovate and move your business forward.
Customers pay several thousand dollars as an annual fee to join. There are monthly meetings with featured speakers and roundtable discussions (also called CEO masterminds). These meetings usually last one full day.
Questions I have:
- Do you have to be a CEO?
- Are C-level executives allowed?
- How about Vice Presidents?
As CEO and Founder of my company, I only want to be in a strategy session with others who are at the Founder- or CEO-level.
How I Learned About Vistage
Vistage often invites CEOs and Founders via outbound sales messages on platforms like LinkedIn.
That’s how I found out about them. Someone messaged me on LinkedIn two years ago. It was a cold contact.
I stayed on his email list, he often invited me to Vistage events, and eventually I made it to this half-day workshop.
The person who reached out to me had the title of Vistage Chair, which I assumed (incorrectly) meant a leadership role within the organization. I learned that there are many “Chair” titles within each Vistage metropolitan area. For example, New York City has 36 Chairpersons to support 813 Vistage members.
Confidentiality
The group had several rules for attending, one of which was a request for confidentiality. For that reason, I will change some of the names or not give specific identifying information.
Vistage Review: New York City
The event was held at 8:30 in the morning in the basement floor of the large chain restaurant called Heartland Brewery on the ground floor of the Empire State Building.
I arrived at 8:40am. Many people were already there and mingling.
Note to self: Arrive early next time! I always wish I arrived earlier to these things.
Vistage Meeting Agenda
The workshop was broken down as follows:
- 8:30 am Registration and breakfast and coffee
- 9:00 am Introduction and overview
- 9:15 am Speaker from Vistage
- 9:45 am Roundtable discussion
- 10:30 am Featured Keynote Speaker: Hunter Lott
- 11:40 am Wrap up and conclusion
Icebreaker and Introductions
We went around the room and all briefly introduced ourselves by saying:
- Our name,
- Our business, and
- What is the biggest challenge that we are facing right now
Sample attendee businesses:
- Moving company
- HR
- Podiatrist
- Data security
- Healthcare
- Digital marketing
- Attorney
- Camera re-seller
- Private equity
- Real estate developer
- IT services
- How to train new staff
- Political uncertainty
- Hiring
- More hiring
- Scaling the business to meet demand
Random Notes
CEOs are in the business of making decisions.
Vistage member companies grow at 7.1% versus a nationwide average of 2.1%.
Member Story One: Andrew, Lawyer, Partner at xxx xxx
- His firm was on the verge of collapse
- He was thrust into the role of managing partner – and 2 years later, the firm was again a success
- Used Visage as a very helpful resource
Roundtable Discussion
This was the best part of the day. We split into breakout groups and wrote down 3 challenges on copy paper, then turned in those sheets. The Vistage Chairs picked one person in our group to highlight and troubleshoot their issue.
Discussion Topic: CEO Dilemma
The CEO of a small team of less than 10 people recently hired a new customer service representative. This is his third time trying to hire for the role. Worried the new person is already a bad fit.
Should he fire her, or try to coach her to success?
Vistage Review: CEO Mastermind Format
Vistage uses a specific method for their CEO masterminds, which they call their “Issue processing flowchart.”
- State issue
- Ask questions
- Give solutions
This large image was on display to coach us through the process:
Nick’s Observation: The ability to give advice feels great. I feel bad for the guy, but feel good about myself and my business in comparison. In talking with him afterwards, he was fine and happy with all the feedback (which overwhelmingly was to fire the employee).
We all went around, did this activity, and gave feedback to the selected CEO. It was a very good activity. Many people recommended that he read the book “Who” by Geoffrey Smart which is my absolute favorite book on hiring.
Vistage Member Story
Member Story #2: Mark, CEO of xxx Group International
- “Vistage provided me with a safety net”
- CEO’s are lonely, hard to find people who understand us
- “When you’re in Vistage, you’re surrounded by others like you”
- You no longer feel alone
Nick’s Observation: The sample clients of Vistage that are presenting all seem coached and way too polished. The Chairpersons also lack a bit of grit and weather that I would expect from individuals giving advice to other CEOs.
Main Speaker: Hunter Lott
Speaker topic: Hire the Best, Fire the Rest and Stay out of Court!
My Notes from Hunter Lott’s Vistage presentation here
Activity
Hunter asked “Who is hiring now?” We raised our hands.
- What for? (job title)
- Who is your best person in this role now?
- Why is he your best?
- What characteristics does he have?
- What do customers say about him?
- Now, how many of these things are in the job description?
Hunter is a great presenter, and I’ve written an entire post about things he does well as a keynote speaker here. His workshop and presentation was only 45 minutes long but we all got an extended handout from his work. I enjoyed hearing him speak and seeing his presentation style.
Conclusion
The meeting ended and we were free to network with other CEOs. I met some really sharp people who attended!
I like the idea of being in the room and discussing things with a CEO peer group.
Currently I am a member of Strategic Coach (see my Strategic Coach review). It is a similar CEO coaching service based in Toronto and Chicago. The idea of Vistage appeals to me in order to network more locally with other CEOs in New York City and Manhattan.
I hope that my Vistage review is helpful to anyone considering joining their forum. For the right person, it can be really great.
More Information
- Vistage New York
- Vistage Home Page
- Hunter Lott spoke about “Hire the Best, Fire the Rest, and Stay out of Court”
- Read about my experiences in The Strategic Coach, an exclusive coaching program for CEOs with $1m+ of annual income
- Strategic Coach Workshop Review
Comments
- Sujay Kapadia: Thanks for this post Nick. I am currently evalutating the service, have met with a chair, and trying to decide whether to join. What did you end up doing?