CEOs don’t just sail — they chart the course

What happens at a Vistage meeting? The thinking your business can’t afford to skip.

If you’re a CEO, you’ve probably said it: “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧__𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

I get it. You’re buried under the daily demands of running your business. But here’s the truth: as captain of your ship, your real job isn’t answering more emails or grinding through one more operations review. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 — spotting threats before they hit, defining where you’re sailing, and deciding what winning actually looks like.

As our January speaker Bob Berk reminded us: “𝘈 𝘊𝘌𝘖’𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺.” That’s the point of a Vistage meeting. It’s not another meeting on your calendar. It’s the one day a month you step off the deck, climb to the crow’s nest, and look beyond the next wave.

Why Beliefs Matter More Than Busywork

Our July speaker, Don Schmincke , founder of Saga Leadership and author of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, made this painfully clear: “𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺.” Think about that. You can be the most efficient operator in your industry — flawless execution, tight processes, even a strong balance sheet — and still lose, because you were playing on the wrong battlefield.

That’s why Don pushes leaders to ask three hard questions:

• 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻?

• 𝗪𝗵𝗼’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?

• 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲?

Those aren’t questions your CFO or COO can answer for you. They’re the big picture questions that only you, the CEO, can wrestle with. And they don’t get answered in the middle of an overflowing inbox.

Sitting down with a leader like Don (or Bob) is a joy. Don shared his extensive anthropological and historical research looking at different cultures and tribes to distill the essential aspects that cause leaders (and organizations) to be successful. Sharing the “Leader’s Code," Don presented a tour de force “Strategic Success System” which challenged our thinking around strategy, leadership, inspiration, focus, culture, organization and execution. Way deeper thinking than wading through your inbox.

Taking one small fragment: The chain of action that is essential to achieving results. In order to get the 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 we desire, we need to alter our 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀 and to do that we need to alter our 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳𝘀.

Don cautions us to stop focusing on tools (tactics) and implement a strategic system before an operating system. In other words, really think through the big picture issues: Charting your destination and preparing for the hazards along the way before you get there. Work on true strategy, not tactics.

Examples of Belief Shifts That Changed Everything

Examples of companies that had a different belief system and achieved spectacularly are many. Here are three that stand out:

Look at Southwest Airlines. At first glance, they were just another scrappy upstart in an industry dominated by giants. They could have tried to mimic United or American — hubs, amenities, efficiency. They would have been crushed. Instead, they asked different questions. They decided their battlefield wasn’t other airlines at all, but bus routes. Their competition was Greyhound. Winning meant making air travel as affordable and reliable as a bus ride. That single shift in belief rewrote their playbook — and the entire airline industry.

Or Apple. The PC industry was obsessed with processing speed and technical specs. Everyone assumed customers cared about features. Apple reframed the belief: people didn’t want faster machines, they wanted a better experience. By focusing on design and usability, they turned computers from utilitarian tools into cultural icons. They weren’t just selling hardware — they were selling identity, simplicity, and delight

And Airbnb. Hotels believed they owned the game with brand loyalty, prime locations, and points programs. Then Airbnb shifted the battlefield. Winning wasn’t about another branded tower on a busy street — it was about belonging anywhere, about feeling like a local. That belief system opened a market no hotel chain could touch.

Seeing things differently and getting different results. Each one of these companies had the forethought to get the big idea right first. Execution comes last and carried out by the "crew." Once they had the 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳𝘀, they were able to align their 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀 to achieve the results we all know about.

The Work We Do

At Vistage, that’s exactly what we spend our time on. We step out of the day‑to‑day to:

• Surface the beliefs that are running our businesses.

• Challenge them before the market does.

• Define the battlefield we’re really on.

• Decide what winning truly looks like.

• And hold each other accountable to adapt, take action, and grow.

𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧__𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. It’s the one place where CEOs can stop sailing blindly, climb above the fray, and chart the course their crew is counting on. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 — 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.