Your Peer Problem

This week, at Bible Project in Portland, I hosted a small gathering of CEOs.

One told me, “When I was starting, an experienced CEO recommended finding a small group of peers to talk with, to sustain me in the role. Through the years, I’ve often thought I should get a group of peers away for important conversations. But it never happens. I don’t do it.”

This CEO is smart, self-aware, fun, and very good at what they do. In reply, another CEO present said:

“There’s just not bandwidth.” 

The exact same dynamic came up with Jody Levison-Johnson in this week’s episode of The Nonprofit CEO Podcast: "It's great to have an executive coach. But it's even more important to have a peer group who you feel safe with, who you can get vulnerable with and say, ‘I blew it. I totally blew it.’...There's something unique about being in a room with only other people who are…the top dog, because they know the feeling of pressure, of loneliness, of responsibility." 

"It's lonely. I crave connection to other CEOs."

Oof. 

Jody is not supposed to be isolated. She leads Social Current, a network of 1,800 nonprofits.  She leads a network of other CEOs. If Jody is craving peer connection, there is a system problem.

CEOs are constantly telling me this: