When you are invited to become a member of Excell, you join a specific, unique group of eight to twelve business leaders. All are CEOs, owners, presidents, or general managers of non-competing firms of similar size or stage of business growth. Bringing to the table a wide range of education and experience, they have in common an understanding of what it’s like to be “lonely at the top.”
They are committed to personal and business growth and to helping each other. Meeting regularly with the same group, members really get to know each other’s businesses and develop strong trust relationships. They sometimes do business with each other, but always position each other for success in business.
For part of their regular retreat day, members hear a resource presentation. Local and regional experts speak on subjects of immediate interest to the members --real-time issues they must deal with today. Presentations help members build their skill base and keep up with the fast pace of change by covering new business developments, strategies, and solutions. The speakers also form a strong base of resources readily available to the members. Recent presentation topics have included:
- Imaging: Toward Paperless Workflow
- Transformational Leadership
- Business in the World of 2015
- Key Employee Retention
- E-commerce and Search Engine Marketing
- Lean Manufacturing
- Niche Marketing
- Succession Planning
For the balance of their meeting, members focus on each other. In rotation, one member presents a business and strategic plan – and gets honest, unbiased feedback. Members improve or validate their plans before implementation, learn from others’ plans and are prompted to develop or improve their own. They are encouraged to set goals and report regularly to the group for support in their accomplishment. Then members lay on the table, and brainstorm, their most pressing business problems and opportunities. Always they find that others have “been there” and can contribute resources and solutions. As one member says: “When issues are brought to Excell, I’m often amazed that the group’s collective answer is better than mine individually.”
Consultations: Members also meet one-to-one every month with their professional Group Leader, who helps them identify issues and apply ideas from the group and presentations. The Leader to Leader™ process is incredibly effective at identifying obstacles to growth and improvement and working to remove them.
For some examples of issues and results, see our Success Stories.
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