Chapter 6 is Utilize A Smart Guide.
The authors admit they struggled to come up with a neutral, all-encompassing term for the person who is charged with leading a peer advisory group. The leader of an effective peer advisory group needs to be smart and seek the guide the group so they came up with the term smart guide.
The point of this chapter isn’t to teach somebody how to be a smart guide, but rather to allow members and prospective group members to gain insights into how these groups operate and why effective guidance is so critical to maximize the potential of the group.
A smart guide in action
Co-author Leon Shapiro begins the chapter with the story of a business owner – actually a co-owner with his brother – of a business that had recently discovered a serious inventory issue. The chairperson of the group had some insight about the relationship of the two co-owners, brothers. When the issue was brought before the group, the chairperson asked questions that prompted deeper discussions about how the two brothers approached running the business. By having a smart guide help navigate the discussion, the business benefited more fully from the support of the peer advisory group.
What does great peer advisory group leadership look like?
The challenge is simply stated – how can you help your members be at their best both inside and outside the group meeting, professionally and personally?
At the top of the list is having a passion for the work. The authors talk of a group leader named Pat who died in 2013 at the age of 98, still actively leading his groups. Many of the members had been with him for more than a decade. His passion was evidenced by remaining engaged in the work as he approached the century mark of life. The interesting note is that he didn’t start until he was 73. That means he enjoyed doing the work for almost 25 years. Pat regarded it as the most meaningful work of his life. He wasn’t just helping CEOs. He was helping create jobs, helping families buy houses, helping companies support non-profit causes – work that went well beyond the top or bottom line of a company’s performance.
Bula Network was formed when I left the C-suite after having run a company for almost 20 years. As Tom Petty sings, it was time to move and time to get going. Time for a new chapter. That was back in 2008. Mostly, I wanted to help other businesses by way of consulting. That morphed into coaching, which introduced me to the idea of peer advantage. Having never been involved in the formal work of peer advantage, it immediately clicked with me. I knew I was wired ideally for the work so I set about to learn all I could. That was over 2 years ago. 
That led to me connecting with Leo Bottary, a co-author of this book. Which led to me urging him to start his own podcast…which he did, YEAR OF THE PEER.
All the while I was desperately wanting to enter this space, even if in some small way. And to do it the way I felt was most suitable for the people I really wanted to serve – small to medium sized business owners. I’ve worked with many CEOs and executives, but there’s something unique about owners. They’re operators. They’re close to the work. They have a point-of-view that resonates with me. I’ve been in that world since I was young. My passions began to intersect – my passion for small to medium business coupled with my passion to help facilitate deep conversations where problem solving and taking advantage of opportunity could be enhanced. That’s how The Peer Advantage began…and why I’m now full-throttle ahead in seeking out SMB owners who want to experience the tremendous value of the peer advantage.