A CEO facing a family partner's sudden demand for a payoff turned to her peer advisory group instead of deciding alone. The group's diverse perspectives helped her find a solution that saved the company and preserved the relationship. Years later, the partner rejoined the business.
What keeps the CEO up at night? So what is it that's on their mind that they are constantly thinking about, that they worry about? And that is, how do they stay relevant? How is it that their business stays relevant in the marketplace? How is it they stay relevant with the customer and the employee? And in essence, how do they stay in business? An example is a member who was in a partnership with a family member, and one day she walked in and on her desk was a Post-it note, literally, from her partner that said, "I'm out. I want payoff in a week." She panicked. She called her moderator, and the moderator said, "You know what? I bet your peer group would be here for you if we need to call a special meeting." and a special meeting was called. All of her peers came in and they talked about her situation. And she led off with saying, "I need to liquidate. I don't know how to do that. I need help. Give me insight." In the end, that was not the answer. The answer was ideas, opinions, perspectives on how she could pay off her partner and save a family relationship. And that is exactly what happened. So in the end, Years later, her family member is actually even back in the business again. So here's a situation where it was life-changing, she thought she was going to be out of business, and instead her business is thriving today with a healthy relationship again with the same partner even. And so when you have life-changing, difficult, challenging decisions like that, do you make them alone, or would you be better off getting the insight opinions and perspectives and experiences from other peers around your advisory group.
