People
Issue No. 7 - October/November 2002
15 Heads are Better Than One
Arguably the most important role in any company, many CEOs are finding it difficult to address their own needs for professional and personal development. Increasing demand for this type of resource for CEOs has seen rapid growth of an organisation called The Executive Connection (TEC).
TEC is an international peer group networking organisation for CEOs, offering executives at the CEO/MD level a professional development program addressing the pressures that are unique to their type of business and to their role as leaders.
TEC has been operating in Australia since 1986 and currently has more than 650 CEO members. Membership is by invitation only for the CEOs of companies whose annual turnover exceeds $3.5 million. TEC members participate in monthly, confidential group meetings with 12-15 fellow CEO members, all from non-competing businesses.
Dr Adrian Geering, Regional Chair for TEC in South Australia, says it is a forum for active businesses that want to grow, not for sick businesses seeking help.
He says TEC impacts executives in five areas – decision-making, personal and professional growth, accountability for follow-through and focus on strategic issues, overcoming isolation and networking. The group also acts as a representative cross-section of the business community, allowing members a resource to keep abreast of the latest business trends, technology innovation and management practice.
Groups of 13 to 15 CEO’s from non-competing companies meet for a full day each month. In the morning, each group works with a Resource Speaker, either from overseas or Australia, on a topic of immediate relevance to members. In the afternoon, in an Executive Session, four or five members raise issue about the running of their business and the other members contribute their ideas and share their experiences about that issue.
Special activities during the TEC year are designed to build on this process. Each member underta...
