I don’t have time to join Vistage.
Vistage doesn’t take time. It nets time. Vistage members report (usually within 45 to 90 days) that they have stopped doing other people’s work, that they’re getting home earlier, and that they’re devoting more time to the important relationships in their lives.
I’m too busy in my business.
Vistage members typically report a shift from working in their business to working on their business and doing more in less time. They credit the support of a chair and peer group for making them more effective as leaders.
I need to wait until I get over this hump (or project or fiscal quarter).
There will always be more humps after the current hump. That’s why Vistage members often wish they had joined 6, 12, or 18 months sooner.
I have no cash. We’re on the verge of bankruptcy.
The group chair and peer members know how to support a member facing cash crunch decisions. Together they have the productive wherewithal to successfully manage change.
I can’t afford Vistage.
Vistage members join for the resources, speakers, peer support, and ROI. They stay because they realize they can’t afford not to invest in the personal and professional growth they’re receiving.
I can’t trust others with my secrets.
Every Vistage member will tell you: “I have learned fundamental lessons from each person in my group.”Some members arrive ready to learn, others arrive reluctant. And they all learn that none of them is the smartest person at the table on every issue.
I can’t possibly learn from other people.
Vistage members learn to trust by being trustworthy and by understanding that confidentiality is the key ingredient of true sharing. As professional peers, they also learn what stories are theirs to tell and what stories are not theirs to tell.
I already have an executive coach.
Executive coaching can be excellent, but Vistage does more. Each member’s one-to-one session with the Vistage Chair is put to the test of the entire group where peers hold one another accountable. The combination of coaching and peer support maximizes the leadership skills and growth of each member.
I already have a peer group.
Is it a social event calling itself a ‘peer group’? Or is it a disciplined group led by a trained chairperson with professional experience? Vistage chairs receive hundreds of hours of training each year to ensure that group meetings are highly focused and productive—so members become better leaders when they get back to the office.
I already have an advisory board.
The truth is that advice from trusted advisors, spouses, significant others, and friends almost always has an agenda attached: their love and affection for you, their desire to impress, their axe to grind. Vistage operates differently. By design, members have no agenda. They simply offer their best thinking to the group. Their only goal is to help each other become more effective leaders of more profitable companies.
Vistage is a pyramid scheme.
No, it’s not. Vistage has no multi-levels of upstream and downstream marketing, and chairs are compensated as 1099 subcontractors for the work they do with the member groups they chair.