CEO peer groups are very different than business coaching. See how informal CEO boards differ in this presentation.

1. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Comparison

2. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Coaching Overview
According to the International Coaching
Federation, A coach should:
• Discover, clarify, and align with what the client wants to
achieve
• Encourage client self-discovery;
• Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies; and
• Hold the client responsible and accountable.
It is not the role of the coach to provide input, only to
help the client self-discover and execute
There is an underlying premise that the client CAN
hold themselves accountable
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3. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Peer Group Overview
• Learn from a group like-minded business owners
• Learn from the successes and hard knocks of
others rather than just yourself
• Rather than a pre-set curriculum, real-world
opportunities of the members are the discussion
topics
• Group accountability vs. individual accountability
• Underlying premise is that holding yourself
accountable is difficult or impossible. Group is
relied upon for accountability.
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4. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Areas of Comparison
The Programs
Accountability
Community
Retention
Sales Models
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5. The Programs

6. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Coaching Programs
The Core: Leading of the client towards discovery of
their issues. The coach then attempts to hold the client
accountable for these action items.
• Many coaching programs also have a learning
component. The coach has a series of workbooks
for the client to complete as homework and then the
coach helps the client create a self-discovered action
list based upon these lessons.
• Most coaching engagements are expensive
because of the weekly frequency ($2000+/month).
Therefore, the length of engagement averages nine
months or so.
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7. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Coaching Programs
The Core: Group interaction. Clients have an
opportunity to bring the real-world issues to the group
for a structured, facilitated discussion based upon a
seven-part model. From these discussion, clients
commit to action steps (accountability) as well as
discover new/better options to the issue.
Our research shows that other group participants benefit
greatly from discussions because:
• They get to practice making tough decisions in an
augmented case study environment. That is, they know the
business owner and care about the outcome. However, it is
not their business so they can remain objective.
• They glean best and worst practices from “sticky” real-world
situations.
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8. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Coaching Programs
The group acts as an informal board of directors to each other.
This benefits members by:
• Creating a once a year forced strategic planning session
• Harnessing the collective wisdom of 13 other CEOs
focused on the opportunities of the presenter
• Creating a deeper understanding of each other’s business
for greater camaraderie
Peer group programs cost $295 - $695 per month
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9. CEO Peer Groups vs. Coaching
Philosophy

10. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Differences in Coaching
Philosophies
Like coaching, CEO Focus has a component called the 1-to-1
meeting.
• This meeting is similar to coaching in that the focus is on
getting client buy-in
• Different because:
• You are allowed to share your expertise and
encouraged to do so
• Length of tenure tends to be years not months
• CEO Focus facilitator becomes part of the client team
over time
• Less frequent meetings (monthly) vs. weekly for many
coaching programs. We feel that weekly feels like a
2nd job to many entrepreneurs.
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11. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Coaching Peer Group
•
Self discovery is key Any discovery is key •
Clients can hold themselves Clients typically cannot hold
accountable themselves accountable. A
group of peers does a much
better job.
Coaches should not share their
expertise, clients should self- Coaches SHOULD share their
discover. No consulting allowed. expertise, and rapport is
developed, clients want all
relevant knowledge.
Every business owner needs to
know the same core principles so Every business is different so a
we teach from the master one size fits all approach is
playbook typically rejected by clients.
Meet weekly to drive home the
message and complete the work Meet at a frequency that does
not feel like a second job to the
client. This is typically monthly.
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12. CEO Peer Groups vs. Coaching
Accountability

13. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
A Key Question?
Our experience has found that the coach can only
hold the client as accountable as the client will let him
or her.
Do you agree?
Here is the problem: Eventually you will come to a
point with the client where you feel they need to do
something and the client will revolt, reject, or stonewall
you. Now what? If you push too hard, you have a 90%
chance that the client will solve the problem by firing
you. So, are you really going to jeopardize your
income by pushing that hard?
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14. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
The solution is the group
With coaching PLUS a group, you do not need to
jeopardize your relationship with the client, the
group does the pushing.
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15. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
1+1=3
Coaching plus the group is synergistic.
A coaching program cannot hold a client accountable.
It is the rare client that can hold themselves
accountable or let you do it.
It’s a tough road to only serve this small set of clients.
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16. CEO Peer Groups vs. Coaching
Community

17. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
It’s Lonely at the Top
Small business CEOs are very isolated
• Typically little or no top management talent
• No one to discuss key issues with
• Locked in the office all day
Coaching only ½ solves this issue:
Adding a coach to the mix will help significantly with
isolation.
However:
• Coaching tends to be one more insider in the process.
It’s like 1 ½ CEOs.
• Does not truly qualify as outside input because the
traditional coaching model does not allow input or
consulting from the coach. 17

18. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
It’s Lonely at the Top
A peer group plus 1-to-1 meeting solves the issue
completely
• 13 other trusted CEOs to bounce ideas off
• High level of trust developed over time so all issues are
shared. No more secrets.
• No more Ideas created in a vacuum. An opportunity to
vet ideas with the group.
• Hearing opportunities of other group members is
energizing. This can provide some much-needed
motivation occasionally.
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19. CEO Peer Groups vs. Coaching
Retention

20. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Coaching
• Because coaching programs are so
intense, client tenure is short-term
• 6-9 month tenures equals constant
replacement of clients.
• You will be able to retain some clients on a
long-term basis, but probably not at
$2000/month
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21. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Peer Groups
• Retention tends to be years not months
• Some clients stay decades
• Because peer groups focus on the business
issues at hand, the issues are constantly
evolving.
• With a steady stream of new issues, we never
run out of work.
• With the emphasis on the group and the group
process, there is less stress on the coach to
always “be” the product. The group is the
product.
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22. CEO Peer Groups vs. Coaching
Sales Models

23. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Issue #1
Help is a 4-letter word
• No matter how you slice it, coaching = help
in the mind of the CEO.
• Big, strong CEOs do not want help
• If we went to a business owner meeting of
100 CEOs, how many of them would be
looking for a coach? Probably 0-5, right?
That is, there is not much pent-up demand for
pure coaching.
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24. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Issue # 2
Is there a negative perception of coaching
• Watch http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-
march-21-2006/trendspotting--life-coaching
• This is the public perception of coaching, so be
careful.
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25. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Issue # 3
Across the desk selling is HARD
What will be your sales model?
• Trolling networking meetings full of “salespeople
trying to sell other salespeople” tends to be
unproductive
• An appointment setting approach is like buying a
sales job. You will go plop yourself in front of a
semi-reluctant prospect (remember, not many CEOs
are actively seeking coaching) . An appointment
setting sales model is not really a sales model, it’s
just activity.
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26. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Education Based Selling Model
CEO Peer Groups use an education-based sales
model
However, it takes more than an education-based model
because:
• If your territory is not big enough, or is over-
crowded, you can never get a large enough crowd for
critical mass
• If you have a small or over-crowded territory, you will
have excessive internal competition for
sponsors/partners.
• Internet-based models like webinars do not attract a big
enough crowd yet. Expect 1-5 people on your
webinars. Market acceptance of the medium just isn't 26
there yet.

27. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Education Based Selling Model
Ideally, you should employ a multi-pronged marketing
approach similar to the CEO Focus model. A graphical
representation of this model is on the next slide. Each
of the method adds a layer of RSVPs (or bricks). The
accumulation of all the layers results in a great event.
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28. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
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29. Coaching vs. Peer Groups
Next Steps
• As part of our mutual opt-in process, we hope
this information has helped you decide what
model works best for you.
• If you would like to learn more about CEO Peer
Groups, we look forward to speaking live.
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