Peer Advisory Groups
Executive coaching alone can’t deliver what peer advisory groups provide.
Our comprehensive platform for success features core elements that work together: valuable perspectives from a trusted group of peers, professional guidance from an accomplished business leader (Chair) and deep insights from subject matter experts.
A Proven, Comprehensive Path to Success
You’ve reached a level of success where traditional business advice feels generic, and the stakes of your decisions demand more than intuition. Executive coaching alone can’t deliver the transformation that world-class leaders need.
Vistage is the authority in guided peer advisory coaching – a proven system purpose-built for deep leadership transformation. No one else offers a more comprehensive method for making better decisions, getting better outcomes and becoming a better leader.
For more than 65 years, top executives and owners of small and mid-sized businesses have relied on our unique coaching model. It’s a proven approach that helped member companies operate for 21+ years on average, while most businesses fail within 5 years.
Why Peer Advisory Groups Outperform Solo Coaching
Real-world guidance for high-stakes decisions
Whether you’re navigating your first major acquisition, preparing for succession or scaling through economic uncertainty, you need guidance from experienced leaders who’ve faced comparable challenges on their own leadership development path.
Designed for your growth stage
Vistage’s peer advisory groups are designed to support CEOs at different stages of growth – from those managing their first $5M+ company to executives leading billion-dollar enterprises – by providing a space where issues can be processed in a group setting, giving you the benefit of collective insights from your peers.
Highly selective membership at every stage
We vet members so that only those truly committed to the leadership climb and helping others succeed gain membership.
Why Peer Advisory Groups Outperform Traditional Consulting
Most business advice comes from people who’ve never carried your level of responsibility. Consultants offer theoretical frameworks. Your internal team provides operational insight but lacks strategic distance. Your Vistage peers bring something different: real-world experience making decisions that affect hundreds of employees and millions in revenue.
When you’re evaluating a $10M acquisition or considering international expansion, you need input from leaders who’ve carried the weight of decisions like these. This isn’t about generic best practices. It’s about learning from executives who’ve already solved the problems you’re facing.
1. It Starts With the Group
At the heart of the Vistage experience is the confidential peer advisory group. Once a month, you meet to work through challenges and opportunities with 12-16 high-caliber executives from non-competing organizations. Each member brings fresh perspectives, objective advice and their own experiences to help you reach higher ground.
2. A Trusted Guide Leads the Way
As a member, you have access to your own CEO Coach (Chair). Chairs guide group discussions using our proven framework for processing issues and keeping discussions focused.
3. Thought Leaders Keep You Current
During group meetings and through exclusive events and webinars, respected thought leaders share their expertise on today’s most relevant topics. From HR to AI, tariffs and talent, you’re continually kept up-to-speed on the issues that matter most.
4. Research Prompts Action
Vistage Research collaborates with the top minds in business to create salient insights for CEOs and owners of small and midsize companies. Our thoughtful reports, analyses and online events help you make better decisions that drive better outcomes.
5. A Global Network Supports
Vistage has group locations in across the United States. Our local Chairs build strong, trusted communities where leaders openly tackle challenges and grow.
6. Events Motivate, Inform and Connect
Grow your network with like-minded high achievers at local and regional events while garnering fresh insights, timely perspectives and inspiration to bring back to your business.
What Makes Peer Advisory Groups More Effective Than Other Leadership Development
Peer advisory groups address the root challenge of leadership issues: the isolation that comes with executive responsibility. As the final decision-maker, you need more than advice from internal advisors or business coaches who lack executive experience.
The compound effect of multiple perspectives
Solo coaching gives you one expert’s viewpoint. Your Vistage peer advisory group gives you 12-16 different approaches to the same challenge. These leaders can help you see patterns and possibilities that only emerge when diverse experience converges on your specific situation.
Consider the CEO facing a potential acquisition. A consultant might provide due diligence frameworks. An executive coach might help with decision-making confidence. But your peer group includes executives who’ve acquired companies, been acquired, walked away from deals and lived with the consequences of each choice. That collective wisdom changes the quality of your decision-making process.
Why accountability from peers outperforms other models
When you commit to action in front of other CEOs, the accountability runs deeper than professional coaching relationships:
- Leaders who understand the real cost. These are executives who’ve experienced the weight of missed opportunities and operational mistakes.
- Peers who’ve been in your position. They know the difference between reasonable delays and avoidance patterns.
- Recognition of legitimate obstacles. They can tell when you’re making excuses versus facing real challenges.
- Follow-through that drives results. This peer accountability creates the kind of execution that produces measurable business outcomes.
The safety of strategic vulnerability
Most CEOs can’t discuss their biggest challenges openly. Board meetings have their politics. Internal teams need confidence from leadership. Industry peers may represent competitive threats. Your Vistage group creates a rare environment where you can explore strategic vulnerabilities without professional or competitive risk.
This safety enables the kind of honest examination that leads to breakthrough thinking. Members regularly credit their group with preventing major strategic errors or identifying opportunities they would have missed without peer input.
Proven results across economic cycles
Vistage members don’t just perform better during growth periods. They consistently outperform during economic downturns, industry disruptions and market uncertainty. For example, member companies survived the 2008 recession at rates significantly higher than national averages.
Below are Vistage member metrics that speak for themselves.
- 2020 Revenue Growth: Vistage members grew 4.6% while non-members declined 4.7%
- Business Longevity: Members stay in business 21+ years vs. 5 years for average U.S. companies
- Growth Rate: Member companies grow 2.2x faster than non-members
This resilience comes from being part of a team of strategic thinking partners who’ve navigated multiple business cycles and understand what it takes to build a lasting legacy.
When uncertainty hits, you’re not making critical decisions in isolation. You have access to leaders who’ve successfully guided companies through similar challenges and can share proven approaches to economic uncertainty.
Become a Vistage Member
With Vistage you’re joining a powerful community of high-caliber executives who challenge each other, inspire each other and share their perspectives to help each other make better decisions, become better leaders and achieve better outcomes.
Take your success to a new level. Complete the form below to find out if you qualify.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Vistage membership?
As a Vistage member, you’re part of a group of other CEOs, business owners or key executives who are committed to helping each other make better decisions, get better results and become better leaders.
How does Vistage work?
Vistage members set aside one day each month to meet with their peer advisory group and work on the big-picture vision for their business and address issues that may be holding them back. That means they make time to tackle strategic plans, as well as challenges and opportunities. During the meeting, they help each other vet ideas, troubleshoot strategies and find solutions together. Meetings are facilitated by an executive mentor (Vistage Chair) who uses a proprietary method for keeping the conversations focused and productive.
How many members does Vistage have?
Vistage has over 45,000 members in 40 different countries.
Is Vistage good for networking?
Vistage is much more than networking. It’s solving problems with a group of your peers in real-time. As a Vistage member, you also have access to Vistage Networks— a 24/7 online forum that helps you leverage the expertise of CEOs, business owners and executives around the world who share the same industry, affiliation, or area of interest. Members can connect online for feedback and critical advice, or meet in person at events featuring dynamic thought leaders.
Is Vistage worth it?
Our members think that Vistage is worth it. Vistage has helped 100,000+ CEOs and top executives around the world since 1957. Today we serve 45,000 members. Most members stay for more than five years and statistics have shown that they grow their businesses faster than non-members with comparable sized companies.
Is Vistage worth the money?
Our members say that Vistage is worth the money. The results speak for themselves. An analysis by Dun & Bradstreet shows that Vistage CEO members grew their annual revenue on average by 4.6% in 2020, while nonmembers with comparable small and midsize businesses saw revenue decrease by 4.7%.
How can I join Vistage?
Fill out an application to see if you qualify. If so, a Market Leader will be in touch to answer any questions, inform you of introductory events in your area and share exclusive content with you. You will also be matched with the right Vistage Chair (executive mentor) and peer group in your area.