“People focus on making good first impressions. Leaders focus on making lasting impressions.”

As leaders, we influence and we are influenced. We understand the value of both. How we are influenced is critical in our development. We are lifelong learners. The source of our growth determines the velocity and the capacity of our growth. We must refuse limited horizons and veered-off courses.

Three years ago, I recognized a need in my life as a CIO. I was working in isolation, and I was lacking a healthy community of peer advisory. I didn’t want just any insight, I wanted trusted insight. I didn’t want potential value, I wanted proven value.

I tried a number of opportunities. I found some value in each, but also great deficit:

• I attended networking events. I was mining for just the right connection. I was trying to know and be known. But for the most part, they were hit and miss and surface. I will still attend events, but I keep their limited value in perspective.
• I attended peer groups sponsored by vendors. Vendor sponsored events rarely met my needs. I needed to be in a place where my real-time issues were being addressed, and where the time I was investing was beneficial to the stakeholders I serve. Anyone who organizes vendor-sponsored events serves the sponsor first, not the member or the stakeholders behind them.
• I attended fee-based groups. I like fee-based groups, but in this particular group there was never enough time devoted to building relationships or solving problems beyond a cursory and quick round of advice. My stakeholders were shorted.
• I attended seminars and conferences, but the emphasis was on information rather than application and formation of a customized solution to my needs.

So I started CIO Mastermind.

Three years later, we are growing and still enjoy 100% retention. We are a fee-based peer advisory group that functions as a learning community.

• We are an advocate for C-Level technology leaders.
• Our members are extremely competent and relationally humble.
• We only deal with issues members bring to the table that they need help on at that time. We spend an hour on each issue diving in and drawing out the best way forward. The members and stakeholders receive the consultative value of years of experience and expertise from the other members.
• We are professionally facilitated. We enjoy each other, but we maximize our time.
• We offer executive coaching in-between monthly sessions at the discretion of the member. The coaching is inclusive in the fee.
• We are vendor-free! Our members or the companies they represent pay a fee for their seat because they are certain that we put their interests first. A 100% retention has proved it right.
• We are diverse in the industries represented.
• We are a qualified group. No one gets in just because they can pay for it. Every member has been on a qualification call with our facilitator to ensure the group will be of value to the candidate, and that the candidate will bring value and good chemistry to the group.
• Our group sizes are limited to maximize contribution and input in any given meeting.

For me, CIO Mastermind is a dream that has become a reality, a need that has been met beyond expectations.

I have watched some things happen I didn’t expect:

Members caring for each other when a personal crisis has arisen.

Members contacting each other outside of the group for professional support.

Members finding themselves in transition being advocated for in their interview processes.

Members re-arranging schedules so that they don’t miss a meeting because of the value they have experienced.

I first started CIO Mastermind as an in-person group for Denver leaders. With the shift to virtual, we have been able to open the opportunity to anyone. Yes, I would like you to consider the value it might hold for you.

Back to the title. In my previous attempts at finding positive influence, I didn’t know how to maximize input, I just amassed input. What a waste.

In a structured group, I and others have found that we can bring an issue to the table, and come out of that meeting with immediate, effective plans of action.

Your CEO and CFO want to see you develop (hopefully). But they also need to see results, and sooner than later. Networking, vendor events and conferences don’t cut it.

Find a peer advisory group in which members are eager to learn and to contribute, and you will find a gold mine you can draw from when needed most and needed immediately.

How are you allowing for lasting influence in your life? How are you striving to make a lasting impression for your team and peers?