Our Leadership Groups is a program with 8-10 entrepreneurs at comparable stages of company development and diverse in their experience, vision and markets. The cornerstone is a monthly half day working session facilitated by a coach. Meetings are segmented into three parts: (1) Mastermind (structured discussion on a few challenges facing some of the companies), (2) Education (learning and discussion on one pre-determined topic, often with a guest speaker), and (3) Accountability (review company statuses, milestones, and goals and accountability for the next session).

Sometimes exploration is worth it. Sometimes you just spent a week of the team’s attention answering a question the founder could have tested in an afternoon. That is the part I think leaders underestimate. Ideas do not only cost money. They cost time, focus, and brainpower long before anyone approves a budget. The question I’d want answered is: how much of the organization does this idea deserve yet?