A Lencioni Remix: Five Cohesive Functions of a Vistage Peer Group

“Not sales. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.”

Patrick Lencioni, pioneer of the organizational health movement, said it best in his book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” When leaders get people working in teams, it changes everything—from customer service to bottom line to employee retention and feeling fulfilled in their careers.

I consider myself a Lencioni disciple (of course I do, having a master’s degree in organizational development). I think his work is fantastic and he inspires me to think differently. I’m a huge proponent of team health and his models were instrumental to the healthcare company I built. I even hired a consultant from Lencioni’s Table Group to help turn around the culture of our organization when we got into a rough spot due to some growing pains. I became the CRO (Chief Reminding Officer) of my company, which built tremendous trust within the business and, ultimately, initiated the successful sale of my company after 15 years.

Lencioni’s influence on my career leads me to where I stand today building a transformative Vistage team of CEO peers.

Being an executive coach and CEO peer group facilitator, known as a Vistage Chair, brings together my diverse background in companies of all sizes, in various roles from marketing, operations, and customer experience to founder and CEO (and CRO). I draw upon my specialties to coach and mentor an exclusive group of high-performing leaders and business owners from non-competing industries. My personal mission is to help executives create a culture where their employees love coming to work.

When I joined a peer group years ago, I didn’t realize how badly I needed it. My membership coincided with my company’s cultural shift. Member peers generated ideas and suggestions that I may have never landed on. And perhaps the most powerful role they fulfilled was holding me up emotionally through a very difficult process and made me feel like I didn’t have to do this alone. They made me more confident, vulnerable, and authentic than I felt at the time.

Ideal CEO Peer Teams

You might be familiar with Lencioni’s five characteristics of a cohesive team (trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results). Upon further reflection, I realize how much these principles apply to my Vistage group and Vistage in general. When member peers work as a team it changes everything for them too. Here’s how:

• Trust. Trust is the guiding principle of Vistage groups all over the world. It takes a great deal of confidentiality in the room to be vulnerable, vet solutions, reveal each other’s blind spots, ask the tough questions, talk about shortcomings, or work out opportunities. The longer the group is together, the more trust it creates as connections build over time—the average Vistage membership is seven years.
• Conflict or “Carefrontation” as we call it in Vistage. Carefrontation is a confrontation that puts “care” first. Unbiased, trusted peers engage in productive conflict to disagree or challenge opinions and ideas. That means seeking to understand a fellow peer’s issue from their perspective; then having the courage to challenge it constructively with the goal of a better outcome.
• Commitment. Commitment means several things in a Vistage group. First, dedicating time to meetings. My group meets monthly to address specific issues that peers bring to the table, and I also privately coach each member. Second, members commit to decisions and plans of action. Also, peers commit to rallying around one another, making a meaningful connection, and helping each other find their way. The group holds a commitment in which “nobody goes down on our watch.”
• Accountability. Accountability unlocks the potential to be more, do more, and make more. Members hold others and themselves accountable for goals around personal leadership in lockstep with significant business results. When a member discusses something that needs action, we will ask about it at next month’s meeting, with a system in place to track it. This level of accountability is what creates progress and growth.
• Results. The Vistage experience has consistently proven it leads to results. In 2020, Vistage member companies grew their annual revenue by 4.6% on average, while nonmembers with comparable businesses saw a decrease of 4.7%, according to Dun & Bradstreet. A similar study revealed Vistage members grew their companies 2.2x faster than nonmembers with companies of comparable size over five years.

Vistage cultivates teamwork and togetherness as a catalyst for personal and professional success. When CEOs regularly get together with no agenda other than to challenge each other to grow and be more effective, it’s pure magic. There is profound power in a connection that can only come from people who relate to being in your shoes.

I’m deeply committed to diversity within my Vistage group in all respects and not just what you can see from a face. You’ll find diversity of backgrounds, education, culture, industry, and leadership style among peers with unwavering integrity. The wider experiences we draw from, the more dynamic our team and the richer the conversation around topics such as hiring and retaining talent, supply chain, and executive isolation.

Teamwork is the ultimate competitive advantage, especially when competing with yourself. To learn more about my Vistage group in the Hartford, Connecticut area, connect with me here on LinkedIn or email: [email protected]. Let’s see what we can accomplish, as a team!