Resilience in Action: Lessons from the Summer 2026 Issue of Vistage Perspectives

The 2026 issue of Vistage Perspectives centers on one defining leadership capability for our time: resilience.

Leaders today must contend with uncertainty, rapid change, and moments when the path forward feels unclear. For many, that means navigating those challenges alone. At Vistage, it means leaning into peers, Chairs, and trusted frameworks to regain clarity and confidence.

Across industries, markets and personal journeys, the leaders featured in this issue demonstrate that resilience is more than the ability to endure — it’s learning, adapting, and moving forward with intention when circumstances change. Whether navigating business disruption, embracing emerging technologies, developing future leaders or redefining purpose, each story offers practical insights into how leaders grow stronger through challenge.

In this issue, you’ll meet CEOs and business owners who transformed setbacks into opportunities and explore new research on AI adoption. You’ll learn how one company built an advantage through Vistage Leadership Development Programs and hear candid reflections from entrepreneurs navigating life after selling their businesses.

Together, these stories reveal a common truth: resilience is built through perspective, strengthened by community and sustained through purposeful action.

Resilience: The Edge in Business and Leadership

Suzanne Zupec (second from right) with her family

Few leadership journeys unfold exactly as planned. In this collection of member stories, Dan Rootenberg, Suzanne Zupec and Brandon LaVielle share how they navigated personal and professional adversity while continuing to grow their organizations. From overcoming career disappointments and industry disruptions to working through profound personal loss, each leader discovered that resilience is less about toughness and more about perspective, discipline, and the willingness to seek support.

Their stories illustrate the power of community and the role trusted peers can play in helping leaders find clarity when challenges arise.

The Human in the Machine

As AI adoption accelerates, leaders face a critical question: Should innovation be driven from the top down or emerge from the bottom up? This research-focused feature explores the advantages and risks of both approaches, examining how organizations can foster experimentation while maintaining strategic alignment.

Exploring the case studies of Vistage members Kathryn Courtney and Arrie Oliver, you’ll discover the importance of trust, confidence, and cultural integrity in successful AI implementation, offering a practical framework for leaders seeking to balance technological advancement with human judgment.

One Team, One Vision

For Joe Dougherty and the leadership team at LPX Group, leadership development is more than an HR initiative; it is a strategic growth engine. This story examines how sustained investment in developing leaders has strengthened organizational alignment, improved retention, and supported long-term scalability.

By creating a culture where leadership skills are intentionally cultivated at every level, the company demonstrates how developing your people can become a durable competitive advantage in an increasingly complex business environment.

Life After the Sale

Selling a business is often viewed as the finish line, but for many entrepreneurs it marks the beginning of a new chapter. In this feature, current and former Vistage members reflect on the opportunities, challenges and personal transitions that follow an exit. Their experiences reveal that while financial success may provide freedom, finding renewed purpose requires intentionality.

From philanthropy and mentoring to launching new ventures, these leaders share what they’ve learned about building a meaningful life beyond ownership.

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