Creating a Culture of Trust and Growth: Lessons from Leading Peer Groups with Jorge Titinger

Welcome everyone to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. This is the podcast for you if you are wanting to create or already running peer groups. It's what we call PACs, Peer Advisory Councils. They might be known as mastermind groups, CEO peer groups, all the same. But this is the podcast if you want to run better PACs, that you want to be better at being a moderator, you want to up your game, learn advanced techniques, hear from myself as well as guests what works, new concepts, trends, techniques. Also learn content, things you can take back to your meetings, different ways to do different things to solve problems that we all have when we're running groups. It will increase your retention, reduce your attrition, get you more members, make you more money, this is the podcast for you. I'm Tina Corner Stolz, the host. I've been doing this since 2005. I built a territory of 10+ groups, sold for a multiple, started Ellis Council, Leader Exchange Council, in 2012. We are a licensing model. We are the leading educator in the peer advisory council space. We have the podcast. I have a licensing program with certification. I've written 2 books. So today, when you hear this episode, each and every week, it's a new podcast where we dive deep into a topic for 15, 20 minutes. One week it's me doing a deep dive on all the experience and insights from not only today with our entire licensed partner community or the past, what I've learned along the way. But we also have guests that are out there doing groups today that share their insights and new concepts. So let's get started with today's episode.

So welcome everyone to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. I'm your host, Tina Corner Stolz, and I have a guest today and I'm excited to have Jorge Teninger as our guest. And Jorge is also a licensed partner of Elixir Council. But I'm very excited because we really haven't spent any time on this kind of a topic over all the episodes that we have out there. Because what you're going to do today is you're going to learn, like, first of all, why should you get into doing this? What makes someone successful in running groups? And a little bit about kind of, you know, based on what Jorge is going to share with his experience, you're going to have some takeaways about things to consider as you think about either jumping into this space or expanding, like if you're doing maybe a group and you want to do more, etc. So definitely some of the insights about what works, what doesn't work as far as doing this. So welcome, Jorge, to the show.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Of course. And will you share with the audience, first of all, where are you and type of groups that you do? And you have a phenomenal background in regards to really being credible about talking about this topic and a little bit about your experience in the peer group space and share that with the audience. And then we'll get started.

Sure. So again, thanks for having me, Tina. I— my name is Jorge Chidinger. I moved from Silicon Valley to Nashville, I think exactly 5 years ago. You know, I lived in Silicon Valley from the time that I went to college through 2019 and had a career in tech. And I was a CEO 3 times for about 15 years in, you know, in publicly traded tech companies. And I will add the whole time that I was a CEO, I belonged to one of these mastermind CEO groups. It wasn't LX Council. I don't think LX Council was formed yet. You know, I'm revealing my age, but, you know, I found it to be incredibly helpful for me as a CEO, both from the aspect of learning from my, my peers and as a, you know, one of the, one of the few structures that could provide things like solving for the loneliness at the top, for being able to really bring issues that one was dealing with without having to be concerned about anybody having an agenda for that. So in 2016, at the end of 2016, the company that I was running was acquired and then I started running the group that I was in. So I had both experience as a group member and then as a group you know, leader, if you will. And I did that for 4 years, including a year when I was in Nashville during the pandemic. We were doing this remotely. So then when everybody started to go back to in-person meetings, I decided that I didn't want to go fly back to California every month to have a meeting. So that's when I met you, Tina, around that time, the end of 2019. Early 2020, and I decided to organize a group here in Nashville. So that's my background. I today serve on a number of publicly traded boards and as well as private boards and nonprofit boards. So I like to say that I'm, you know, significantly failing in my retirement. Yeah, having a lot of fun. And actually, one of the things that provides, for me at least, the most satisfaction is running my LX Council group.

Mm-hmm. Well, good segue as to why. So, you know, when you actually came into leading a group, as you mentioned, what prompted you to say yes to that?

Well, you know, I, I had a ton of help, right, in my career as I was, you know, growing through different areas of business, different positions, you know, different sized companies. You know, the companies that I run were all, you know, reasonably sized, right? Billion-plus type companies in revenues and multi-billion valuations. And it was very clear to me that I didn't do it on my own. Right. And I found that I actually believe it's a responsibility of those who've had the good fortune and put in the work to be successful to give back. In my case, when I was, like I said, a member of peer-to-peer groups, I know I got a ton of value. And when I started running the groups, I saw that the members were getting a ton of value in addition to me as, as the moderator. You know, you never stop learning, right? I'm an eternal beginner, I call myself. So for me, it was, you know, I was new to the community in Nashville. To some extent, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise because I was able to meet a ton of people since nobody was going to work. When they didn't really shut down Nashville completely. So there was a lot of stuff going on, obviously, with all kinds of health protocols. But I got to know a lot of people fairly quickly. And I, you know, there's other groups here, but I saw the need for another group and one where I, you know, where I could bring my background, my expertise to bear. And Nashville is a city that's growing tremendously. It has been growing for a number of years now. So, you know, I thought it would be another great way for me to get engaged with the community, for me to bring value and for people to start connecting with each other and create what is truly significant as a source of power for anybody, which is networks of networks, right? And amongst the members. So that was my motivation. And it was, you know, I did frankly, a lot of research as to, you know, should I do it on my own? Should I do it through other organizations that are organized? And I chose Alex Council because I thought the structure and the way that you had set it up was the most advantageous, both for the moderators as well as the members.

So, well, thank you. Thank you. And because of that tremendous experience of not only being a member for years, different roles that you've had as a CEO, and then running groups, and then running groups, different organization, and then here you are today, right, groups. What, what have you found is essential to being successful doing this? And because you've sat on both sides of the table, and then you also sit on another kind of tri— late, I'm going to say kind of a stool, tri— what's that? Tri-legged? Three-legged stool? There we go. Where you're actually on a public formal board and different role, different responsibilities, et cetera, obviously. So here at this level, to share with the audience that of anyone who's thinking about doing this or they're already doing it, they want to be better, right? Or maybe they're struggling. Right.

What do you think are some of the key characteristics of a successful moderator?

That's a great question. And, you know, I'm not only for the groups, but also in the work that I did when I was an operating executive and that I do as a, as a board member. And I'm, you know, I'm an advisor to, you know, do a little bit of angel investment to the companies that I invest in is that the importance of culture, right? And you will create a culture for your group. Culture starts at the top and so you will create one. And it's so important to have a culture that, that is appropriate for a group like this, right? So one of the things that makes a huge amount of difference is if you can create an environment of trust where the participants can be be truly candid and vulnerable and really bring difficult topics to the conversation. Because, you know, if you don't have that environment, you will be talking about fairly trivial things in the group meetings. Right. And so then that doesn't necessarily produce value for anybody. So for me, it was, you know, it's, it's a great way for me to, again, contribute and participate. But not everybody has had the experience of having been a CEO 3 times. Right. And so don't look at that as a, as a gate that you need to pass. To the extent that you can, you know, facilitate and be a moderator in a conversation and in a group, you can run CEO groups because the benefit really comes from the members and you just need to make sure you extract from them their insights and their knowledge and, you know, and their expertise. So You know, there's— get really, really good at asking questions. I think that would be something that I would recommend to everybody. Yes. Great point. Yeah. And the— you know, it's a great business, right? If you think about it, especially the one the way you set it up where, you know, to some extent we have the freedom to price as we, as we wish. It obviously needs to, needs to fit the market that you're in. You know, when I run groups in California, the pricing is slightly different from Nashville. Maybe not slightly, somewhat different from Nashville.

Yes.

But, you know, if you're motivated by your own improvement and seeing others do better, this is a terrific path. And if I'm running one group partly because I'm on 4 boards that are public and don't have a lot of time. But even then, I'm considering running a second group because word of mouth gets out there. And if people are really enjoying it, they will talk about it and they will want to bring their friends into an environment like that. Friends, colleagues, right? Then unnecessarily just friends. But, you know, if you do from, from a business perspective, you know, some of the fixed costs stay the same whether you're running one or several groups. So then it's all about, you know, variable costs. And you can, you can do really, really well if that becomes your primary source of income, if you run multiple groups.

So, so true.

You know, it's satisfying, it's fulfilling, it's fun work, and you add a lot of value to the community. Right. And it has a huge multiplying effect because my guess is what the folks in my group are learning and the way they're improving, they're not just keeping that to themselves. They're probably passing that on to at least some of their own network and certainly the people who work for them. And so you start creating goodness all around.

Well, I know you have some tremendous stories about the impact the group has had on some of your members, which goes hand in hand with what you're saying is the reward, how rewarding it is to do this. And in some ways you kind of think, wow, and I get paid to do this because it can be very financially rewarding, but it's more than that.

Right.

Yeah.

And one of the other questions that I have for you is then what, what should someone consider? Like, why not do this? So this isn't good for someone who— what XYZs?

Yeah. So, you know, to protect the innocent, I won't mention any names, but, you know, there's a lot of folks I think that are either in the coaching business or consulting business or whatnot that may see this as a source of that kind of business. And, you know, it may happen, but that cannot be the main motivation for somebody to start running a group or multiple groups. It really needs to be for the benefit of the members of the group. If that results in, you know, adjacent opportunities for other things, then great. But, you know, there's better ways to just drum up business if you want to be a coach or a consultant than running a group. Group, because then it's about you and not them. And it really ought to be about them. I am a big proponent of what is typically known as servant leadership. And, you know, this is one way to do it in a way that is— I call it selfish altruism, right? You're doing good. And at the same time, you're like you said, you're getting paid for that. You know, it reminds me of when I was much, much, much younger and I played soccer professionally. I got paid to kick a little ball around, right? What great is that? It's not quite the same in the exercise level, but from satisfaction level, it's pretty similar.

So absolutely right, because the members will be able to tell if your interests are not aligned, right, with them for a good member experience. And I want to go back before we have to wrap up. I want to go back to something that you stated that if I were listening, I'd be like, can you go back and ask about this, which is culture. And you talked about one of the— one of the other keys to success in considering to do this and doing it is that you're actually building a culture, a group culture. Can you expand on that and maybe a couple of things, tips that could be helpful to the listeners about how do you develop culture versus just, you can't, you know, it's going to, if you don't do it, it does exist, right?

So to be in control of developing the type of culture.

So you, I know, identified vulnerability and trust and all that is important for culture, but what are some that you did and can you expand on that?

Yes. So the, you know, culture is such a complex word, right? And for a lot of people is all touchy-feely, you know, and, but the reality is it really shapes the way we look at the world. Right. And, you know, the best way that I can define culture is, you know, where what you say you do, what others observe that you do, and what you actually do. Where that all intersects, that's your culture, right? It could be explicit, it could be implicit, and whatnot. But in the end, it really is manifested by the behaviors that show up in your organization, in this case, your group. And that is what, you know, that's what shapes the culture. So for me, it started with curating the group, right? Like, who is going to be a member? And what I was really looking for was people who want to grow their businesses and understand that to grow their businesses, they need to grow themselves, right? The second thing was people who were open to not knowing everything. You know, I turned down many people who I had talked to about joining the group because, because they were already CEOs, they thought they had the answers to absolutely everything. And, you know, if that's the attitude, they're not going to be great group members. Right. So look for somebody who is both willing to share and to receive advice, who doesn't always think they need to be correct. Right. And then you need to put in place rituals that preserve the culture. And, you know, some of them are just part of being an ex-council, like the whole— my transition process. Right. And, you know, things like we are going to respect people's time. So we start and end on time. We try to really manage to an agenda. You know, people are expected to come prepared to the meeting, right? So all of those things we do measure and we measure some very explicitly, others less explicitly. But, you know, it's really around modeling the behaviors that you want to have because guess what? Everybody's going to look at you if you're leading the group. You know, are you on time?

Yes.

You interrupt people. Are you open to new ideas or not, etc., etc., etc.? So for me, it was really, you know, if you were to describe the group that you want to have, right? And I'm sure everybody will say, I want people who are very open, I want people who, you know, share, etc., etc. But then how do— what behaviors show up, right? So if you have members who talk all the time, then guess what? They're not going to listen. So if you tolerate that, then you're going to have a group say anything. They're not going to share. So you need to correct for those things. And, you know, you'll get better. You know, I've been doing this as a group participant. I did it for 15 years as a, you know, a moderator in a group, you know, probably 5 prior to LX Council and 4, I think, with LX Council, 3 to 4. So 9 years. And I'm Sure, I'm a better moderator than I was when I first started. So resist the urge to give them the answer. You know, your role is really to extract the questions from the rest of the group, but do model the behavior of openness and sharing and celebrating. We had— Tina, you mentioned we've had some incredible successes in the group. And the entire group is so psyched for the other people's success. You know, in industry you're used to potentially seeing exactly the opposite, right? Somebody's really successful, everybody else is jealous, right? We don't get that in the—

No, it's genuine.

Yeah, it's absolutely genuine.

Yeah.

I love how you said the word ritual. And that absolutely develops culture because those rituals with everyone. So that's super spot on and a very concise way for I think everybody to think about running groups today, what rituals do you have? And that's what's going to bond and bind everybody to each other and develop the kind of culture that you have. So great points. So as we wrap up, we always end with like words of wisdom. So for our audience today, Jorge, and it doesn't matter what, what words of wisdom would you impart upon our listeners today that they could take away and think about, use, avoid a misstep, any of that?

So You know, this definitely applies to, to groups, to running groups, to being in a group. But it probably applies more, you know, to anything in the world. And, you know, I try to impart this to my kids as they were growing up is, is, you know, there's an enormous amount of value in being curious, right? So always be open to learning. You know, we've probably all heard, you know, you have one mouth and two ears, right? So you ought to be doing twice as much listening as you're talking. So, you know, it's an incredible way to be curious when you're running one of these groups, right? You'll have 10 to 12, maybe more people from different industries in different stages of growth and maturity. With different hobbies and, you know, etc. And all of that can start to become part of your world as you get into running this. So to me, I'm always looking for what makes me curious. And, you know, being in a group, running a group is one of those things that actually, you know, fulfills that aspect of my life in a great, great way. So Be curious and take risks.

And you have to be curious if you're going to be successful running groups for a long time. Otherwise, if you don't continuously innovate, right, or continue improvement or be ahead of your members, then they will be ahead of you and that will become an issue.

Yeah, for sure.

They will get stale. Yes, they will get stale. Absolutely. Well, our audience a lot of times would love to reach out to our guests. So if someone wants to connect with you, what's the best way for them to do that?

Probably the easiest way is through LinkedIn. So Jorge Zittinger, I don't think there's more than one. So if you find that, it'll be me.

Or we'll put that in our show notes, by the way, for all of you out there. You can easily go there and then find Jorge's LinkedIn easy.

Or, you know, I have a phenomenal executive assistant. Her name is Lorena, and you can reach out to her at Lorena@TittingerConsulting.com.

Excellent. And that's L-O-R-E-N-A.

L-O-R-E-N-A. Yes.

Excellent.

Well, Jorge, thank you so much for being a guest. And as always, you always have great knowledge. The key takeaways from today of just some of the things of what to consider characteristics to have in running a group, keeping it, building culture, rituals were all really great points for everyone to consider as you walk away today. So thanks again to everyone for listening to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. And until next week, now you can go make it happen.

Hello, listeners. And this is a quick promo because we have our national conference, Live Exchange 2024, coming up in October in St. Petersburg, Florida. One day you can attend for a mere $500 and interact with your peers, others that are running groups, network with them, find out best practices, all those challenges that you're having, get insights that can help you personally. In addition to hearing a phenomenal list of speakers, I will open up that day with some insights in regards to moderating, and it will turn it over to Vern Harnish, who, if you do not know him, you know, he's the one who founded Entrepreneur Organization. He understands peer groups extremely well, and he runs Scaling Up. You will take away phenomenal information that will help you run your groups, not only to scale your own practice but to help your business owners in those groups with the content Vern is going to share. You will also hear on two other subjects, one about the importance of preparing your members for exiting the business, whatever that transition may be, and how do you do that. You will also hear about making change. How do you manage change? How do you facilitate change, which is required in today's environment? Again, content you're going to be able to take back to your groups and use yourself. And last, we're going to end it with Horse Soldier and 12 Strong. So if you don't know that story, that is the 12 soldiers that went into Afghanistan on horseback prior to us invading Afghanistan. You will hear their story about leadership and how they have transitioned that into a phenomenally successful successful bourbon brand called Horse Soldier, and you will hear how they have scaled that business, and we will end the conference with bourbon tasting. Again, a very packed day. I encourage all of you, if you are serious about your own personal development, I will see you and I will love to meet you personally October 18th in St. Petersburg, Florida. Go to our website and you can get all the details, see the details of the agenda, and register. Thank you everyone for listening to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. And to get access to today's episodes, not only the show notes, but any tools and resources, encourage you to— not only will you find them in the episode show notes, but also you can go to the website www. Lxcounsel.com. So lxcounsel.com, and you will find a plethora of articles and content and tools and resources and worksheets and things like that that can be helpful to you in creating and running successful PACs. I want to leave you with one thing that we end and teach to do in every single meeting And that is the very last thing is to ask, what is your takeaway from today's episode? I encourage you to give that thought. Take advantage of the time you just invested in listening to the episode, and what can you do to move one step closer to the vision that you have and the goals that you're trying to achieve with your groups? So again, take a step back. What's your key takeaways? What can you actually act on? Act on. And I leave this with one note, and those of you that have read my book, Your Seat at the Table, you know that I ended the book with a story about my mentor. He always, when he met people, had a pebble in his pocket that he passed to them when there was knowledge shared. And so I ask you today to think about that pebble concept and to pass what you learned today on to someone else, which could be your members or Take it internally to yourself and act on it. So now go do something with those takeaways.