Considering YPO or Vistage?
My friends know I consider myself very fortunate to have been part of YPO and Vistage over the last 15 years. They know that because YPO and Vistage are where I met many of my friends. And those friends I didn’t meet in YPO or Vistage, hear me talk about it… a lot.
This is my perspective on the organizations:
Pros
It’s lonely at the top. Many high performing executives do not have someone to talk to about business or life. And even if you’re fortunate enough to have great personal and professional partners, we can all stand to learn more from others. And the folks in these groups are smart.
The bonds you form are real. You share the most intimate details of your life and that brings you really close.
Vistage has a professional facilitator and YPO doesn’t. I think facilitating is hard. I loved having a pro in the room to keep everyone–myself included–in check.
Both groups are international, but YPO has always impressed me with its truly global reach. If your business takes you overseas, I think you’ll get more from YPO.
Cons
Both groups are expensive in time and money. Monthly all-day meetings are normally the minimum. YPO can be crazy expensive if you participate in events around the world.
Speaking of being social, meeting new people gives me anxiety. I dread socializing with strangers. YPO is very social.
Fit is so important. Neither organization makes it easy to make sure you’re joining the right team. I’ve been in amazing Vistage groups with some of my now closest friends. And I’ve been in some with complete asses.
YPO is rightly known as having lots of “hitters.” Massively successful, household name type of founders and CEOs. For a working schmuck like me… that was hard. We didn’t have much in common.
Cautions
Do not join either of these groups to drum up more business. Many groups discourage members from working with one another. And even if you do get business from joining–and you probably will–I think you’ll be disappointed if your primary motivation is sales.
Director at Moody's - Insurance | Moody's mission is to provide reliable insights and standards to help people make confident decisions
5 年Larry great write up, I participated in Vistage for a while and really liked the ability to have a forum of professionals from different industries and career paths to offer up perspectives that I would not be able to find easily else where. Also as you mentioned the comradery is very real and genuine and people are genuinely interested in helping each other whether professionally or at times with personal dilemmas.