The Power of Peers

Lonely at the Top

Many CEOs struggle with isolation. They have few people they can turn to for help or counsel. Nearly two-thirds of CEOs don’t receive leadership advice from outside their organizations. While CEOs might take continuing education courses, attend conferences or hire coaches to overcome isolation, the best solution is starting or finding a CEO peer advisory group.

Why Peer Influence Matters

CEO Paul Caskey needed help from his peers. In 1983, a year after graduating with a degree in chemical engineering, he joined CCP Inc., a company that made hair bleaching powders for the cosmetics industry. When Caskey started, CCP employed 10 people and had $640,000 in sales, but it wasn’t making a profit. He became general manager and built CCP to $4 million in sales within a few years. The company promoted him to CEO. During one August meeting with his CEO peer advisory group, he explained a dilemma unique to his company: Because moisture in the air reacts violently with hair bleaching powders, he had to shut down production over the summer, a 25% facility reduction. A fellow CEO asked, “Why is that acceptable? Isn’t there anything else you could be doing...