ChairWaves

Most new leaders aren’t short on talent—they’re short on someone they can talk to.

Jim Heller has spent his career navigating that reality. As a fourth-generation leader of a Detroit-based machining company, he joined Vistage because he didn’t want to be the one who derailed the family business. Eight years later, after firing himself as CEO and helping transition the company to outside leadership, he discovered something even more ...

If you can’t walk away from your business and have it still run, do you own a company or do you just have a job?

Cynthia Goro’s perspective comes from experience. She grew up in her family’s garbage truck manufacturing business in Iowa, became president, and led the company through rapid growth, restructuring after 9/11, and a successful exit. Along the way, she discovered that real value isn’t just revenue or market share. It’s cre...

When things go wrong in business—or in sports—the fastest way forward usually starts with personal accountability. In the latest episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Lance Vieira explains why leaders have to look in the mirror before blaming circumstances and why trying to solve everything on their own often creates bigger problems. Drawing from decades as a football coach and business leader, Lance shares how adjustment, preparation...

Some people sell products. Bob Wightman sells possibility, and a path to better decision-making. After 40 years in banking, including starting two banks from scratch, Bob now helps business owners and executives navigate the unknown through peer advisory groups.

From the chaos of the '80s banking collapse to leading five Vistage groups—four with a co-chair—Bob’s journey is packed with insight. In this episode of Chairwaves, he t...

What happens when a group of CEOs shows up with both head and heart? According to Salt Lake City Chair Laura Langehaug, that’s when real leadership conversations begin.

 In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Laura shares how her background in human capital and executive recruiting helped her recognize a common thread among high-performing leaders: isolation. Her Vistage group breaks that pattern, with diverse voices, generation...

What does a college basketball coach know about business?

Matt Doherty gets that question a lot. But once he lays it out—recruiting, training, budgeting, board management, media relations—it’s clear the overlap is bigger than people think. In this episode, Matt unpacks how leading high-performance teams on the court prepared him to guide business leaders in the boardroom.

From playing alongside Michael Jordan at UNC to being named Na...

Some people crumble in adversity. Others discover a kind of fuel. For Heatherann Antonacci, that fuel has always been an inner spirit, a quiet resilience she believes everyone has, even if they haven’t tapped into it yet.

In this episode of Chairwaves, Heatherann shares her journey from a career on the business side of academia to leading four Vistage groups in Orlando. From guiding students to guiding CEOs, she’s learned that stron...

Sarah Castle spent 15 years at Amazon, helping launch products and lead technical teams, but today she’s focused on something very different: creating space for business leaders to think, grow, and challenge themselves. As a Charleston-based Vistage Chair, Sarah brings a balanced combination of enterprise experience and coaching expertise. In this episode of Chairwaves, we talk about her passion for teaching, the challenges of inhe...

Rob Halverson has spent his career in the trenches with small business owners, from supporting Snap-on Tools franchisees across the country to leading peer groups in Omaha, Nebraska. As a Vistage Chair, he leads a Small Business group that gives smaller-scale entrepreneurs the peer community and strategic insight they’ve often been missing.

In this episode, Rob shares how his background prepared him to guide Omaha’s small business f...

Jeff Oak spent his career fixing what others broke, leading complex turnarounds at massive health systems where ethics weren’t just an HR talking point—they were the whole strategy. Now, as a Vistage Chair, he brings that same clarity to business leaders who want more than just better numbers.

In this episode, we talk about why integrity is more than a checkbox and how culture, not just strategy, determines whether a company sinks o...

Before becoming a Vistage Chair, Howard Alt played key leadership roles in growing and selling businesses in the plastics industry—including one that manufactured massive paper tubes. He also spent eight years as a Vistage member, doubling his company’s size, increasing profitability, and ultimately setting himself on a path to guide others.

Now 18 years into chairing, Howard reflects on what makes a great group tick. He shares abou...

Cindy Cornell’s leadership journey includes global corporate finance, executive coaching at top universities, and a commitment to personal development that shows up both in the boardroom and on the water, where she spends her free time racing sailboats. As a Vistage Chair, she’s focused on helping members make smarter decisions by creating space for deep conversations and peer accountability—bringing a unique perspective shaped by ...

Tom Klein has opened luxury hotels around the world—and now he leads CEOs in San Francisco. In this episode of Chairwaves, Tom shares lessons from decades leading teams at top hotel brands like Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont, where he served as regional VP overseeing eight hotels. He also breaks down what it really takes to build a high-performing team, from hiring the right people to creating a culture of ownership, trust, and accounta...

Spending over three decades at Ford taught Dave Alden how to thrive in large organizations—and how to navigate change. That experience paid off when he moved from Detroit to Philadelphia and rebuilt his entire Vistage Chair practice from the ground up. His method? Coffee with one new person every day.

In this episode, Dave shares what it was like stepping into a group built by another Chair, the key differences between running a CE ...

Leadership isn’t always lonely, especially when you’re co-chairing with someone who pushes you to grow.

In this episode of Chairwaves, Vistage Chairs Daron Shepard and Mike Tetreau break down how they built a successful co-chairing partnership and what it’s teaching them about leadership. They explore the mindset shifts required to move from solo to shared leadership, the pressure points in small businesses right now, and how footba...

What do you do when Monday hits and you've got zero RSVPs for a critical event that’s supposed to happen this week? If you're Vistage Chair Tim Cole, you dig deep. Tim talks about the moment he realized his drive to succeed wasn’t just about him, but about showing his daughters what it looks like to push through.

We also unpack Tim’s journey from corporate tech at IBM to running a Hallmark subsidiary to starting a ceramics d...

Julianne Roth had a choice: buy an existing business or build one from the ground up. She chose to start from scratch and it paid off. In this episode, Julianne shares how she launched her home care company, scaled it into the top 4% of the industry, and led it through a successful acquisition, all while raising kids and staying true to her standards. That same clarity and resilience now fuels her work as a Vistage Chair, where she...

What if building a Vistage group didn’t require selling at all?

Suzanne Livingston has spent the last 20 years helping hundreds of Vistage Chairs discover a deeper, more sustainable approach to recruiting members—one rooted in purpose, not pressure. She’s not currently a Chair herself, but she’s worked alongside them long enough to know what actually works and what leads to burnout.

In this episode, Suzanne breaks down why so many ne...

Sometimes the million-dollar insight doesn’t come from the $100 million CEO. It comes from the $5 million CEO sitting across the table. That’s the power of Vistage, and it’s the kind of magic Nancy Capistran sees in her groups every month.

Nancy is more than a Vistage Chair: she’s a crisis strategist, a leadership coach, and a self-proclaimed “911 call for executives.” Her journey spans startups, multibillion-dollar companies, and e...