Coaches ask us this one a lot. "Breven, I've never run a peer advisory group before. Do you guys have a curriculum I'm supposed to follow?"

No. And that's on purpose.

First, the experience part. Most of the coaches we partner with have never run a peer advisory group either. They've coached one-on-one for years, or done consulting work, and they know how to create change in a leader. That's the hard part. The group itself is one of the simpler models to run. If you can coach, you can run the room.

Now, the curriculum part. We don't force our coaches to teach a set philosophy or way, and the reason comes down to fit. Every leader works with a specific coach for a specific reason. I'm not the best coach for every leader. Neither are you. Some group types fit some coaches better than others, so we tailor leaders to leaders, and leaders to the right partner. Handing everyone the same script would undo the thing that makes the match work.

What we do hand over is what the best groups have in common. How they're structured, how they run, what keeps members in their seats. Best practices, not a script.

The retention numbers back this up. The coaches we bring on already keep clients for years. Referrals, word of mouth, people who stick around. Put that coach in a group model and two plus two equals four. The effect carries over, with more leaders in the room at once. I've got coaches who've kept the same members for four years now.

That's why we look for established coaches. Not people who've run groups before.

People who can coach.