In 2006, Dan Eckert considered buying a small company. As the CEO of a medical manufacturing company called PolyRemedy, he thought that going into the home entertainment and automation sector might be a fun and rewarding change of pace. Before he made a purchase, he wanted input from people in the know who could give him an idea of what he might be getting into.
"By definition, the CEO doesn't have any peers at his company," says Thomas Hong, a former CEO and present owner of a networking group, Board of CEOs. Advice can be hard to come by, but several companies and organizations are filling that niche with networks of executives at the ready to support members with advice and information.
Three years ago, Eckert's former boss put him in contact with Vistage, an international CEO networking group. His local California network has 15 to 20 CEOs from a ...