Phone a Friend

One of the "lifelines" on the popular show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is the ability to phone a friend when you are stuck and need help with an answer.

Last week, I had the privilege of spending time with a group of broadcasters in Wichita, Kansas, who were participating in our Leadership MasterClass. It's always inspiring to see a group of people who largely didn't know each other at the beginning of the week become collaborating partners by the end of the session.

In leadership and management, it's lonely at the top. Having a peer group to tap into or a friend to phone when you're faced with an obstacle can be the difference between solving a problem or not. Whether you are a leader, manager or you're just struggling in your role, research from the organization, Join the Collective, suggests there are three main benefits to phoning a friend:

Diverse Perspectives

Peer groups bring together individuals from varied backgrounds, industries and experiences, which helps leaders identify blind spots, avoid tunnel vision and broaden their understanding of strategic challenges.

Collective Problem-Solving and Knowledge Sharing

Engaging with peers enables leaders to collaboratively brainstorm solutions to complex issues, draw on real-world experiences and accelerate strategy formulation.

Idea Validation and Confidence Building

Peer groups provide a confidential, low-risk environment to test new ideas, solicit constructive feedback and refine decisions before implementation. This process not only increases confidence in decision-making but also supports accountability and continuous leadership growth.

The vital thing to acknowledge is that none of us has it all figured out. That's why continuous learning is critical to future success. There will always be people "ahead" of you in your journey from whom you can seek help, and there will always be people "behind" you whom you can help. Solving problems, validating ideas and confidence-building are compelling reasons to tap into the power of peer groups.

Will you phone a friend this week?

Think Big, Make Big Things Happen!

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com. You can all so connect with him on X and LinkedIn.