Vistage is a peer group for Chief Executives and Managing Directors. A dozen+ of them, non-competing, in the same room once a month.
Nobody there works for you. Nobody is selling to you. Nobody has bias. Which makes it the only place most leaders relieve themselves from isolation and get a genuinely honest answer.
I chair a group covering Merseyside, Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales.
Vistage has been running peer groups since 1957. More than 47,000 members across 40 countries, over 55 Chairs in the UK, and around a dozen Chaired groups in the North West of England alone.
That density matters more than it sounds. It means when your problem needs expertise I haven’t got, I know who has. And it means I’m not working alone either, which is exactly the argument I’d make to you about your own job. Everyone climbs further together.
The results hold up too. A Dun & Bradstreet analysis of Vistage member companies found they grew 2.2 times faster than comparable non-Vistage businesses. In times of hardship, like in 2008 and again in 2020, members grew revenue by 5.8% while non-members went backwards by 9.3%. A delta of over 15%!
I initially joined Vistage as a member, and it changed my life as much as it changed my business.
I was good at being an MD and CEO, but something wasn’t fulfilling me, and I hadn’t told anyone. That Vistage room generated the safety and trust where it was the first place I’d ever felt able to say it out loud.
What came out of the conversation that followed changed how I understood myself, and I wouldn’t have got there on my own.
Vistage also helped me work out what I’m actually for, my purpose, my spark! Which turns out to be helping other people get further than they would alone.
Chairing isn’t a business decision for me. It’s the thing I’d have wanted someone to do for me fifteen years ago.
There are a number of peer groups out there, Vistage has been around for almost 70 years, here’s what sets us apart.
Most peer groups give you a half day.
By the time everyone has arrived and settled, you’ve got a couple of hours of real thinking. If there is a speaker on the day, its even less and problems don’t get the time they need.
Working through a serious issue properly takes time. Someone has to describe it honestly, the room has to get past the version they’ve told themselves, and then eleven+ people who have been there take it apart. That doesn’t happen in a rushed few minutes.
Vistage days are full days for a reason. It allows sufficient time and questions for speakers and it allows problems to be properly understood and discussed.
I ran complex businesses in multiple countries until earlier this year.
Apprentice to CEO, across automotive, FMCG, Packaging and Precision Engineering. So when you describe a problem, I’m not remembering it from a decade ago, I’ve just lived it.
I’m also accountable for how this goes. Vistage assessed me before they gave me a group, and they keep assessing me.
Members rate every meeting. If the room isn’t getting value, that shows up quickly and it’s on me to fix it.
Being answerable to someone is a good discipline, and I’d rather be held to it than not
Independent peer groups tend to die with their founder. This one doesn’t.
With +55 groups nationally and a dozen of those in the North West, if I stand down, your group continues with a Chair trained the same way.
Vistage has been doing this since 1957 and has spent nearly seventy years refining how a room like this actually works.
The membership is screened too. You’re not sitting with whoever turned up.
Everyone in that room has been through the same conversation you’re about to have, and has something to bring.
Those peer members will quickly become the board you trust and maybe, even become friends.
Not everyone should join. The group only works if everyone in it is the right sort of person, so part of my job is selecting the right leaders. Better we both work that out early.
This works well if you:
This probably isn’t for you if you:
A conversation first. An hour, usually. You tell me what’s going on in the business and what you’re carrying on your own. I’ll tell you honestly whether I think the group is right for you. Sometimes it isn’t, and I’d rather say so than begin building something that doesn’t fit.
A deeper 1:1. If our initial chat hasn’t been in person, it’s important we meet face to face for a couple of hours to fully understand each other, explore issues and opportunities, confirm alignment and value for both sides.
Then we both decide. You decide whether you want the room. I decide whether you’re right for it, and whether the group is right for you. It has to be both.
Then it starts properly. A full day together every month, plus time with me one to one in between. Members typically stay for years and decades, not months, because the value compounds. The first few meetings are about the room getting to know your business well enough to be genuinely useful and we begin building something special.
For leaders carrying real responsibility
1:1 or small-group coaching for MDs, CEOs, founders, and senior leaders.
A confidential sounding board focused on building self awareness, clarity, value’s & beliefs, decision-making, resilience, accountability and sustainable performance.
(Not motivational fluff).
Formats:
Executive coaching
Leadership mentoring
Peer or leadership team facilitation
1:1 or small group
Improving performance by strengthening systems
Hands-on support to assess & improve operational performance in complex environments. Grounded in World Class Manufacturing, Lean, TPM, and practical change management. With a strong focus on people, not just process.
Focus areas:
WCM / Lean / TPM deployment
Performance improvement & waste reduction
Change Management
Clear thinking, delivered simply
Engaging talks, facilitated sessions, and practical tuition on leadership, performance, wellbeing, and sustainable success.
Grounded in real experience, not theory.
Formats:
Conference & event speaking
Leadership programmes & capability development
Tuition on leadership, wellbeing, and performance
Workshops, toolbox talks, deep dives and shop floor sessions
If you’re unsure, stuck, or just want to sense-check your thinking, reach out. Sometimes a single conversation is enough to bring clarity and direction.