Continuing the LinkedIn and CEO theme throughout this week:
We have already established that a CEO need not be lonely at the top.
But what if the CEO wants to confer with another CEO?
Where should he/she look to find others who can give the benefit of their experience?
LinkedIn groups.
A simple search for all LinkedIn groups with the word CEO in its title or description found 2875 English-speaking LinkedIn groups catering to people like you.
Now, who has time to peruse that many groups? No one.
Not all will work for you. But some will.
As you examine some LinkedIn groups on your own, you probably want to stick to closed groups, i.e., those managed by the group founders and open to those who meet the group’s membership criteria (like CEOs in technology). This keeps CEO-wannabes out of the membership and preserves the potential value of the conversation.
When you examine a group, look at the membership and see who you are already connected to, whom you can ask their opinion about the value of the group. You can ask by phone, email, LinkedIn message, or just sleuth and look at your connections’ profiles on LinkedIn to see what groups they belong to.
To vet a group based on the demographics of the group:
- Click a group’s name, then
- Click the gear icon for the Information and Settings near the top right, then
- Click Group Statistics to see more information about the group and its members.
These steps may help you decide.
Bottom line: LinkedIn has made it easy to join the nearly 2.2 million groups; the hard part is deciding which group(s) to join.
Groups afford you the ability to find other CEOs in a virtual club who share the same challenges and concerns as you. I hope they become your best colleagues.
