Executive clubs help develop foundations of business

Executive clubs help develop foundations of business

Breakfast clubs in the metropolitan area are designed to bring business professionals together in order to examine how individuals and companies alike can thrive in today’s business environment.

“Our mission statement is to provide leadership in the business world in regards to moral and ethical areas of business by providing a forum for our associates that we work with every day,” said Doug Altenberger, president of the Northwest Executive Club of Chicago (NWECC), which holds quarterly meetings in Hoffman Estates.

Club membership is typically made up of executive level individuals from a diverse range of professions who meet at regular intervals to listen to and discuss the pertinent issues of the metropolitan business community.

The format for most clubs involves a keynote speaker or a panel discussion revolving around a certain business topic. For the Executives Breakfast Club (EBC), which meets eight times a year at the Hyatt Lodge in Oak Brook, topics for the upcoming 2008-09 season will revolve around a series of business ethics issues.

In lieu of an individual speaker, the EBC has begun using group panel discussions that include experts from the community with helpful perspectives on the topic.

“Each month we’re looking to bring in an academic and a noted person in that particular professional area and have them delve into the topic of ethics and see what their thoughts are on the issue,” said Nicole Plenge, ex-officio of the EBC.

The panel arrangement, incorporated in the 2007-2008 season, was done in an effort to mix up the traditional single-speaker format. The sessions will be moderated by noted author, scholar and NPR radio host Al Gini.

“We’re trying to get away from the canned speeches,” Plenge said. “We want to give the members something that gets them out of bed in the morning.”

A typical agenda for an executive meeting includes a preliminary breakfast or lunch where members of the club are able to network with other business professionals.

“We have a coffee meet-and-greet period before each meeting where members and guests get a chance to mingle with each other and make a networking connection,” said Robb Knuepfer, president of the EBC.

Yet, Altenberger warns against making networking the focus of any club.

“I think what happens when you get in a networking group, eventually that dies out a little bit because when people see that they can’t get what they want from a materialistic point of view they move on or quit coming to the meetings,” he said.

This is why the NWECC prohibits members from soliciting each other for business.

Recent speakers for NWECC sessions have included Robert R. Thomas, chief justice of the Illinois Supreme court; Francis Cardinal George, archbishop of Chicago; John McDonough, president of the Chicago Blackhawks; and former Bears head coach Mike Ditka.

Presenters typically speak to the group about best practices and the need to fight through adversity.

“It’s good to hear that people struggle but through those struggles still have success,” said Altenberger.

The EBC and NWECC attempt to provide its members with practical business lessons or ideas that they can take away from the meetings.

“Usually the take-away is something that can help them both spiritually and personally in the business world,” Altenberger said.

The EBC publishes lessons learned from each meeting on its Web site as a referral source.

Membership in an executive club is not exclusive, but there are certain criteria that all applicants must meet.

“We’ve tried to assemble a team of business leaders from the leading businesses in the western suburban corporate corridor,” Knuepfer said of the EBC.

NWECC applicants must be nominated by a current member before being considered for membership.

“We want business professionals who are basically managing a team or a group of people,” said Altenberger. “We’re concerned with (whether) they are in a leadership role and working with people, top-down, to try and help their company be more successful.”

All NWECC meetings are closed-door affairs, with no members of the media permitted inside, allowing members and presenters alike the ability to speak freely on the subject at hand.

Sponsorship opportunities are another way businesses can benefit through a partnership with the EBC.

“A lot of companies become a corporate sponsor and they get a table for the season and they bring customers or clients or other members of their business team as guests,” Knuepfer said.

At the finish of the 2008-2009 season, the EBC will present its first annual Pollard Award for innovation in business ethics. The award—named for C. William Pollard, former chairman of ServiceMaster and a past governing board member of the EBC—will be presented to a U.S. company that significantly and positively impacts material practices in business ethics, as voted by EBC members.

“We’ll have a selection committee go through a process of nominees and select an individual that best reflects innovations in business ethics in our community,” Knuepfer said.

Jeremy Stoltz, Staff Writer

Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 (Archive on Wednesday, August 13, 2008)
Posted by jstoltz Contributed by jstoltz

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