The CEO Syndicate
A private peer advisory group for CEOs who want to lead with clarity, make better decisions, and stay ahead in business.
No business leader should ever walk alone
When you’re the CEO or business owner, some decisions stay with you long after the working day ends. Whether you’re weighing up an acquisition or wondering if it’s time to step back from day-to-day operations, it helps to have people you trust enough to ask, “What am I missing?”
The CEO Syndicate brings together 12 to 16 CEOs and business owners from non-competing businesses. You meet in person each month with an experienced Chair who draws on the perspectives around the table. In confidence, you can talk through a decision while you’re still weighing it up, hear from someone who’s faced a similar choice and offer the same support in return.
Over time, those relationships change the conversation. The people at the table come to know your business, what matters to you and when to challenge your thinking. You can make the call with a clearer head, knowing who to ring when the next question comes.
Who do you turn to when everyone turns to you?
As a CEO or business owner, you can spend your whole day in conversation and still carry the hardest decision home. Your team needs direction. You may still be working out what you think, and some concerns are difficult to share with the people they affect.
It helps to have other CEOs you trust enough to say, “I’m not sure what to do here.” One might recognise the pressure you’re under. Another might ask a question that helps you see the decision differently. Sometimes, saying it out loud gives you the clarity you’ve been looking for.
That’s why The CEO Syndicate brings CEOs together. Over time, the people around the table get to know you, understand what matters to you and remember to ask, “How did that conversation go?"
What you gain from a trusted circle of CEOs
- People who know you well enough to challenge you. Meet regularly with the same CEOs and founders and you build the trust to ask, “What am I missing?” You can count on the people around the table to give you a candid answer and tell you what shaped their view.
- Greater clarity on the decisions that matter. Bring a decision you’re weighing up, whether that’s entering a new market or promoting someone into a critical role. Hear from peers who’ve made similar calls, including what they wish they’d known, and leave clearer about your next step.
- The freedom to speak openly. Some conversations are difficult to have with your board or your team. In a confidential group of peers from non-competing businesses, you can voice a doubt, test an unfinished idea or talk through a mistake without fear of judgement.
- Fresh thinking you can put to work. Expert guest speakers bring perspectives from beyond your industry. Your Chair helps you and your peers explore what those ideas mean for the businesses you lead and how you might apply them.
How The CEO Syndicate works
1. Start with a conversation
Speak with one of our Membership Directors about your business, the decisions you’re facing and what you’d like from a CEO peer group. Together, you’ll explore whether The CEO Syndicate is right for you.
2. Join your syndicate
We match you with a Chair and a group of 12–16 CEOs and/or founders who lead non-competing businesses. We consider your region and the complexity of your business so you can learn from peers who understand your challenges and contribute your own experience.
3. Meet monthly and learn from your peers
Each month, you’ll meet in person for a session facilitated by your Syndicate Chair. Bring a decision you’re weighing up, hear how other leaders have approached it and draw on insights from expert speakers. Between meetings, you can put those ideas into practice and come back to people who know you and your business.
What changes when you have people you can turn to?
- You have people you can be honest with. When something is weighing on you, you can talk it through with other CEOs who understand the responsibility you carry.
- You make decisions with greater confidence. A peer who’s faced a similar choice can share what they learned. Someone who sees it differently can ask the question that helps you make up your mind.
- You get room to think. When everything feels urgent, stepping away with people who know your business helps you see what needs your attention and what can wait.
- You make time to lead. Hearing how another CEO handed a day-to-day responsibility back to their team can help you do the same, freeing you to focus on where the business goes next.
I always look forward to our Syndicate meetings and come away from them invigorated. Attending the meetings with a small list of discussion points provides an opportunity to obtain different perspectives from an otherwise unavailable CEO talent pool.
It is good to hear from people from other industries. I have been in the same industry for so long, that it is beneficial to see how other CEOs deal with issues, concerns, and share milestones. This is already benefiting the business and has expanded my role.
Being around a table with people like me but also different from my industry. There was a lot of diversity at the table which I enjoyed. I came from a strong government background most of my career in particular the education sector and I hadn’t spent a lot of time outside of that. I found that very enriching.
When you are at the top of your organisation, the people you can talk to that understand what are you are going through, are limited. The CEO Institute provides me with other leaders who I can talk to, share problems with and getting another perspective on how they would deal with it. I see The CEO Institute as an advisory board - it stops you from being fixated and one dimensional
The diversity of thinking, real-world experience, and sheer calibre of the people around the table - it's unlike anything else. It’s a privilege to learn in this environment.
The Syndicate is a place of trust and respect. It’s the only place I can openly test ideas, solve real problems, and come away with practical solutions.
Having access to a discreet, experienced network across industries has been invaluable to my leadership and my business.