About this podcast
I’m Erik Wolf and my experience in business peer groups has changed my professional trajectory and my life, especially my membership in Vistage, one of the world’s largest CEO advisory groups. I’m an entrepreneur, a business owner, and a Vistage speaker on the power of marketing. This podcast is dedicated to the people who make those experiences possible, the peer group chairs. Every episode, I interview a Vistage chair who has dedicated their time to helping entrepreneurs like me succeed.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 102 episodes
- Mike Thorne - Episode 102 · 24 min · Episode 102For years, Mike Thorne led by the numbers. It took a career setback for him to learn that people matter just as much as profit. Today, the Portland, Maine area Vistage Chair…
- Anton Brummer - Episode 101 · 30 min · Episode 101Most business owners got where they are by being the hero of their own business. Seattle, WA Vistage Chair Anton Brummer says the harder step is learning to let go of that role…
- Rex Wiederspahn - Episode 100 · 28 min · Episode 100For the 100th episode of the Chairwaves podcast, I finally got my own Vistage Chair on the other side of the mic. Denver area Chair Rex Wiederspahn has been guiding me for eight…
- Becky Powell-Schwartz - Episode 99 · 25 min · Episode 99Becky Powell-Schwartz, a Vistage Chair in the Dallas area, uses a simple filter for new members. She has to like them, there has to be mutual respect, and they have to want to…
- Jed Daly - Episode 98 · 23 min · Episode 98Lunch between meetings and drinks afterward are part of what bonds a peer group. So what happens when the whole group meets on Zoom? For Los Angeles, CA Vistage Chair Jed Daly…
- Cathy Fitzhenry - Episode 97 · 22 min · Episode 97Starting a Vistage group is hard enough, but try doing it in a city where you don't know a single person. That was the challenge facing Cathy “Fitz” Fitzhenry, now a Vistage…
- Steve Lanza - Episode 96 · 27 min · Episode 96What do crossing the border to Tijuana and a semiconductor company in Edinburgh have in common? For Silicon Valley area Vistage Chair Steve Lanza, both were formative stops on a…
- A.J. Mirabedini - Episode 95 · 28 min · Episode 95A.J. Mirabedini has been a CEO eleven times. After a long career building companies as well as turning them around for others, he unexpectedly found his way into leading Vistage…
- Charlotte Wagner - Episode 94 · 25 min · Episode 94Charlotte Wagner spent 30 years in the corporate world as an engineer and a leader before she ever thought about leading a Vistage group. She's now a year in as a Vistage Chair…
- Stephanie Geisler - Episode 93 · 27 minStephanie Geisler didn't know what Vistage was until weeks before starting Chair Academy. No prior peer group experience, no long research phase, just a moment of clarity she…
- Jason Harbinson - Episode 92 · 29 min · Episode 92AI and automation may be reshaping office jobs, but Sacramento, CA Vistage Chair Jason Harbinson believes demand is swinging back toward the skilled trades. As AI changes the…
- Mary Edwards - Episode 91 · 28 min · Episode 91Ask Mary Edwards how she rose from an entry-level job in health insurance to executive leadership roles at some of the biggest names in consulting, and she'll point to one thing…
- Adam Harris - Episode 90 · 30 min · Episode 90Adam Harris spent eight years as the youngest Vistage Chair in the world, taking on the role at just 31 after his time as a CEO had ended. He built his group in the UK, then made…
- Shannon Lee - Episode 89 · 27 min · Episode 89Most people spend their careers trying to avoid hearing no's. Columbus, Ohio Vistage Chair Shannon Lee actually went looking for them. When building her first group became the…
- Melissa Edison Barnes - Episode 88 · 26 min · Episode 88Leadership books have a funny way of circling back to the same uncomfortable truth: you can't lead other leaders until you've done the hard work of leading yourself. This is…
- Craig James - Episode 87 · 27 min · Episode 87Sometimes the biggest challenge for a CEO isn’t knowing what to do. It’s actually doing it. In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Craig James, a Vistage Chair from Westwood…
- Louis-Samuel Jacques - Episode 86 · 30 min · Episode 86There’s something rare about a leader who still takes the time to send handwritten birthday cards. Quebec City TEC Chair Louis-Samuel Jacques has spent the last eight years…
- Allan Fried - Episode 85 · 27 min · Episode 85Great coaching isn’t always about direction. Sometimes it’s about attention. That idea comes through clearly in the latest episode of Chairwaves featuring New York City Vistage…
- Ken Mandelbaum - Episode 84 · 29 min · Episode 84What kind of space do you create when you walk into a room? When Erik asked Ken Mandelbaum what he’s learned in 13 years as a Vistage Chair, Ken’s answer had little to do with…
- Mikki Williams - Episode 83 · 31 min · Episode 83Most people think they need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Mikki Williams took the opposite approach—and it worked for decades. This Chairwaves podcast episode features…
