The top can be a lonely place.
Many business leaders have felt the struggle that comes with being the head of a company. Expected to be role models in their environment, one of the many duties for those in the C-suite is to set a good example for their teams and, perhaps more importantly, be a beacon of hope when things get tough. Naturally, this can trigger a high level of pressure internally, and the executive may feel expected to project a “glass-is-half-full” personality at work, no matter how they may actually be feeling.
Business leadership is a great privilege and yet a great responsibility. When the business doors close, where can one go to open up and release the pressure?
Enter Vistage Worldwide Inc., a thriving international company that strives to help noncompeting organizations solve their business challenges. Spring Hill, chief operating officer for Chenal Family Therapy, said the program has been a game-changer for her.
“Me growing as a leader, being part of Vistage has substantially quickened the growth that I have had. Just being able to share and process issues either that I’m working through, things that we’re struggling with as a company, or also working with the others with their businesses and companies that they have issues that they’re working through,” she said. “Sometimes, just being reminded that it might look like a mountain, but it’s something that we can get through, has been incredibly beneficial.”
One of the most attractive features of such executive peer groups is the confidentiality. Building trust within the group is one of the key elements of Vistage, and those involved say in order to get the most out of the experience, one must first be willing to share difficult struggles.
“You truly are in a safe environment,” Hill said. “You realize the camaraderie that we have; you hear others safely sharing their information, which helps prompt you to be able to do the same.
“What’s said in the room does stay in the room.”
The Vistage peer groups meet once a month to spend a full business day together. Eight times a year, a speaker will come during the morning to share timely information, and then members are presented with a “call to action” on a business-related topic.
Executive coach Marta Loyd serves as a Vistage chair in Arkansas.
“I am a firm believer in the value of a peer group for mental health. Personally, I was a CEO for eight years with the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, and I was a Vistage member at that time,” Loyd said. “It was invaluable to me; it was my first time to be a CEO, and I had a lot of questions. Everything I did was a learning experience, and it was wonderful to be in a room with people who were from all different industries.”
As the facilitator of meetings, it is Loyd’s job to make sure everything is running smoothly and that members are getting the most out of the experience.
“They’re very honest with each other, and that’s one reason why they’re willing to share, because they know that their peers in the room are going to tell them the truth, even though sometimes it’s hard,” she said.
Vistage is just one of many peer groups available to Arkansas executives. These organizations know that everyone’s health is important. In order to ensure that the company is the best it can be, a CEO must first take their own well-being into account — in essence, become the boss of their own mental health.
“My team, my Vistage group, has helped me many times just to remember that I don’t have to do everything alone, and that work-life balance is important,” Hill added. “I can’t help others if I’m not taking care of myself.”
Possibly the biggest success story of peer groups is the unshakable bond members form with one another — becoming less like peers and more like a second family.
“They hold each other accountable for all sorts of things — exercise, healthy eating, work-life balance,” Loyd said, “they talk about challenges in raising their kids, all kinds of personal things.
“We’ve helped members through some difficult life stages — losing their parents, losing a grandbaby. … Rather than stay home and miss the meeting, three days after losing his grandbaby, the member came because he wanted to be with the group and share his heart, and he knew that they could handle it.”
This article originally appeared in the 2024 edition of Executive Mental Health, a supplement publication of Arkansas Business.
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