Years ago, as part of an HR Master’s program, I participated in my first group process experience: a three-day offsite with program peers, highlighted by an unstructured learning journey that shed light on personal biases, conflict, the need for active listening, and understanding group dynamics. As the "organized" and “controlling” type, the experience was both highly uncomfortable but also positive and formative.
One of my peers in the program (someone who I did not know prior to the session) looked across the circle of students and stated early on that she clearly did not like me. Her opinion was based on certain expressed observations and non-verbal gestures. While I was somewhat taken aback by the commentary, at the break I went ahead and approached her and asked why she felt the way she did. As we talked, it was clear to me that we came from different backgrounds and different life experiences; and with it, very different perspectives on the way one shows up in a group setting. As a peer coaching moment, that impromptu sidebar conversation still sticks with me to this day. It generated another level of self-awareness in me, beyond what I thought I already possessed.
In some ways, that singular experience fueled my interest in group and team facilitation which led me to take part in, and champion, many subsequent C-level executive and team development initiatives and interventions, both as a senior HR executive, and currently as an executive and team coach.
Last year marked the start of a new group process journey in my work with middle market growth equity firm, Edison Partners, called CEOQuarterly. The first of its kind for the firm, CEOQuarterly aims at bringing together small cohorts of portfolio company CEOs on a quarterly basis. A curated community where founders and placed CEOs can engage in a trusted and confidential space for shared learning and connection, during each quarterly session participants focus on critical skills that help one to be more situationally effective; share stories and experiences across a wide range of strategic or operational topic areas; hear from experts (some who sat in their very seat); and offer peer coaching and reframed problem-solving.
Over time, all participants grow by leveraging the trusted relationships formed during the experience. As process designer and facilitator — along with Casey Myers, the head of Edison’s value creation arm, Edison Edge — it has proven to be a personally meaningful experience, as measured by how everyone emerges changed for the better, despite tight schedules or ever-present pressures to perform.
The CEOQuarterlys represent the diverse range of Edison Partners’ portfolio company CEOs: from fintech to cybersecurity to state/municipal emergency services to electronics manufacturing services… just to name a few. All but one are first-time CEOs who naturally bring a healthy dose of skepticism to the experience, with a natural expectation to secure a high-value return on their time.
Like many peer coaching experiences, such as in-company-designed C-level leadership events, bringing together interested parties for shared learning and community building can turn magical well beyond the content. During the CEOQuarterly, highly successful and often guarded leaders become quite transparent and vulnerable, which grows over time, both within and outside the process.
In parallel to CEOQuarterly, I help lead the investment firm’s CEO Summit, held in different locations every year. This year, using a similar “small groups learn better” approach, we put three dozen CEOs and board members through a change and transition simulation experience. In groups of five to six, we focused on highly intentional leadership, including the importance of building change agility and resilience, while learning how to gain buy-in and navigate resistance through major organizational change events, like M&A or digital transformation.
In the spirit of shared learning, here are three critical takeaways should you consider a similar process of small group executive-level interventions like CEOQuarterly:
The journey of a growth-stage CEO can be a lonely and isolated one, under pressure to grow and meet investor and board expectations, even with resources provided by PE sponsors. Making the journey a collaborative and shared experience and building a true “circle of trust” among peers can be a game-changer, and can illustrate and uphold the value that a small, powerful, and trusted peer community can deliver.