It’s no longer lonely at the top with peer mentor group
Managing the growth of an Oklahoma City-based company that had rapidly grown to 65 employees was so challenging to Tom Pace that he decided to quit the business.
“I was ready to walk away,” said Tom Pace, founder and CEO of PaceButler Corp., which buys and recycles used cellphones throughout the United States and sells them worldwide. “I was totally frustrated with the business.”
Before Pace could take such drastic action, a group of fellow CEOs in his Vistage peer advisory board stepped in to alter his course.
“The group threw an emergency meeting for me,” Pace said. “They came to the office and they listened to me, and after they listened to me, they shared with me. They listened to me rant and rave for about 30 minutes, and then they gave me honest feedback with their own experiences.”
Pace’s story is just one example of the support that Vistage’s peer-to-peer mentoring, feedback and accountability brings to the CEOs who invest one full day per month and a monthly two-hour coaching session.
Rod Whitson, chairman of the Oklahoma City Vistage group to which Pace belongs, said peers holding peers accountable is a big factor in the group’s success.
“They get very direct feedback and very direct input,” Whitson said. “The accountability around it is invaluable. No one holds CEOs accountable.”
Whitson is a former CEO in the financial services industry and a longtime affiliate of Vistage. He introduced
Vistage to Oklahoma City in 1995 and was the organization’s vice president of marketing from 1997-2000. He says Vistage is one of the original peer-to-peer CEO organizations, starting in 1957 and now claiming 22,000 members worldwide in 17 countries.
Today, Whitson’s Oklahoma City Vistage group claims 13 members who commit to a full-day meeting once a month. That is followed up with a one-on-one meeting between Whitson and each CEO.
George Glover, a longtime executive in the steel and natural resources industries, chairs a second Oklahoma City-based Vistage group of 11 members.
“Vistage brings value to its members through the perspectives and experiences each CEO brings to the meetings,” Glover said. “Anytime we process an issue or opportunity, it’s not just a learning opportunity or moment for the CEO who brings the issue to the table, but it’s a learning moment for them all.”
Each monthly meeting features a morning session with a speaker on a topic selected by member, followed by an afternoon peer-to-peer board session.
“Everything is shared with the group in total confidence,” Whitson said.
At a recent monthly meeting of Whitson’s group, Vistage speaker Bob Spence brought a message he called “choosing winners,” to help CEOs hire the right people for their growing organizations.
Spence identified the coaching, “world class” speakers and accountability as the value that Vistage peer-to-peer mentoring brings members.
Practical advice
Vistage’s peer coaching provided needed advice for Tra Pippin, CEO of Hometown Home Health and Sooner Hospice, in handling a theft issue at one of his companies.
“I had never faced a theft problem,” Pippin said. “A couple of other members helped walk me through the steps necessary to address the theft. The confidentiality facet really allows us to open up to the group in a manner that can’t be duplicated in most business meetings.”
For Craig Shimasaki, the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others is a big part of the reason he belongs to the Vistage group. Shimasaki is CEO of Oklahoma City-based Moleculera Labs, a company that provides diagnostic testing for neuropsychological conditions.
“I was looking for a group of peers that had experience in building and running businesses that was more than just a one-toone, informal, as-youhave-time-to-dothat,” Shimasaki said. “I found out this is a way to help me actually do a better job of growing the business and being more successful. One of the adages in business I like to use is learn from the mistakes of others, because you never live long enough to make them all yourself.”
Added Steve Burris, broker/owner of Oklahoma City’s Kevo Properities: “I’m here because I needed support from other CEOs that faced similar challenges in trying to grow a business. When you can walk in and throw your problems and challenges out there and you’ve got two or three people who have already been through it and ... it just saves you so much time.” For Tom Pace, the peer group made all the difference. When in crisis, he shared, listened to the group and put their advice into practice. “They made recommendations, and the next day I implemented those recommendations,” he said. Today, Pace is still at the helm of PaceButler, which has grown to 90 employees. And he’s still learning from his Vistage peer mentoring group.