"It's lonely at the top. We provide you with a group of experienced, caring CEO peers who will help you to be successful. We have great tools that drive peer accountability. We help you define the right strategic goals for your company and execute against them, leading to great ROI." These are some of the key benefits of our CEO Collective program that I have spent the last 20 years talking about. And it's not a sales pitch. It's all true.

“I’m so stuck in the damn day-to-day. It’s really helpful that in this group I pull my head up and look around. I’m better for it. An outside perspective is invaluable.”

Several years ago, I engaged my brilliant friend and colleague, I Jian Lin, Founder of Brand Intent, to help with The Raffoni Group's branding. He came back with a lot that all boiled down to one piece of feedback: We were underplaying the value of the interconnected network. I was informed that we were missing the boat with respect to where our members got value.

I Jian said, "Melissa, your members don’t talk about your tools as much as they talk about the relationships they’ve made and the support and inspiration they’ve gotten from colleagues that drives them to reach higher ambitions."  

I read the document he wrote for me ten times and his proposed tagline started to really sink in…"Where CEOs realize higher ambitions and exponentially improve the quality of their professional lives."

Still, I wasn't buying into all of the value points that members were getting from the network. I was so focused on driving hard and fast business ROI for our members, I disregarded the rest. Now, as I complete my twentieth year of running CEO peer group collectives, I'm listening more than ever.

Based on what I've heard from our members, here are the top 15 reasons why our CEOs make time in their busy schedules to be a part of a CEO Collective peer group...

1. Energy: "My one-on-one session energized me."
2. Insight: "I appreciated the chance to present that case at my peer group meeting because I was heading down the wrong path. My peers set me straight with really insightful feedback. I was looking at it wrong."
3. Family: "My son got an internship at another member's company."
4. Self-Care: "I'm glad the group encouraged me to think about myself. I've made better decisions for myself, my business and my family."
5. Wisdom: “I learn from my peers when they make great decisions and mistakes too.”
6. Perspective: "I'm so stuck in the damn day-to-day. It's really helpful that in this group I pull my head up and look around. I'm better for it. An outside perspective is invaluable."
7. Validation: "I've always felt like I was the only one worried about my career, my family and money. It's good to see that I am not alone and that I'm doing the right things."
8. Help Making Tough Decisions: "I really needed to make an organizational change. I’ve been dragging my feet. The group picked up on that immediately. It was hard, but I’m glad I did it. I needed the push."
9. Peer Support: "I really appreciate one of the CEO's from the Collective getting on the phone with me to discuss my term sheet. His feedback was just in time and dead on."
10. Access to a Trusted Expert Network: "It's good to know that when I need a recruiter, an attorney, or any other professional services provider, my CEO network can quickly tell me who is good and who is not."
11. Time Savings: "When I have a quick question or an immediate need, the Collective is the first place I go. I trust the advice and it helps me to get to the root cause quicker and find help faster. It saves me time."
12. Accountability: "I need to be held accountable. If somebody doesn't keep me on the straight and narrow and help me to see the truth, I could stray."
13. Curated Networking: "I always feel guilty taking a day and half out to go to the CEO Retreat, but I learn so much from networking with all the other CEOs. It's worth the time."
14. Facilitation/Frameworks/Tools: "The one-on-ones are really beneficial in helping me to frame my thoughts. They help me to quickly get what's in my head into a framework that drives action."
15. Leadership Team Alignment/Effectiveness Tools: "I'm using the Strategic Scorecard with my leadership team and our alignment and effectiveness is better than it has ever been."

Am I bragging here? No. Just listening and repeating the facts.

When I read through this list, does it make me feel proud to be a part of something that is making this broad of an impact on the lives of CEOs? Absolutely.