Having been a TEC chair for over 10 years and a member since 2000, I am a passionate believer in the value of face to face discussions with a peer group. Challenge, Vulnerability, Courage, Caring, Growth, Trust. How can you ever show that via Videoconference?
Well now we have to.. I am proud to be part of an organisation that is over 60 years old that has managed to pivot in just three weeks.
From being unquestioned as the leading CEO peer group in the world, full of groups of 12- 16 meeting monthly face to face, to being the ultimate support group for CEOs reinventing their businesses within weeks. And that includes our own. And it was by reminding ourselves of the value we bring in unquestionably the biggest business leadership challenge of the last century.
On March 12th I ran one of my usual TEC meetings on the Sunshine Coast. we all travelled to the venue, some spending over 2 hours getting to the venue and the speaker flew in from Melbourne the night before. That day Donald Trump announced a ban on transatlantic travel and the world changed.
On March 19th, my next meeting, our speaker was present having flown from Melbourne the night before but several joined the meeting by Zoom and others… well they were in crisis management and we were seated 1.5m apart.
On March 26th, having planned a great road trip to the Gold Coast to see our host, one of the worlds leading luxury motor boat manufacturers, we held a totally virtual meeting. 16 members, one chair.
To say it was seamless is not true, but updates were given, buddy groups discussed issues, the host shared his challenges (luxury boat building - just think of some of those challenges!)
and we felt it:
Challenge. Vulnerability. Courage. Caring, Growth and Trust
All in separate locations. Physical Distancing yes, Social Distancing absolutely not.
