The Key Associate Forums will use all the processes and best practices of a YPO Forum. However, based on years of running circles for non-CEOs, we have found that there are some differences that need to be considered. In general, Key Associates have less scheduling freedom than their bosses. They also are less likely to be as infused with YPO culture to start, which leads them to be slightly less likely to prioritize Forum. 

Therefore, we will have a professional moderator lead the group. The time commitment will only be 2-hour virtual sessions. Some Forums and individuals ask for more – so we strongly recommend an in-person retreat to the forums.

We’ve absolutely seen breakthrough results with this format. Certainly, more is always possible, and we’ll keep the door open to that. But it is important to lower the barrier to entry to get more of our Key Associates on the Forum path.

For many of us, the relationship with our Forum mates transcends the words “friend,” “colleague” and “advisor.” Key Associates will gain a circle of others who are deeply invested in their success. They will also experience the powerful leadership lessons we all have lived through, around vulnerability, inclusion, presence, listening, blind spots, storytelling, diverse perspectives, learning itself. You will gain leaders around you who understand and become allies, reinforcing those things in your own workplace.

Dues for this program will be $2,750/year, due when the Forum invitation is accepted, fully refundable after the first session. Different payment options will be available. The costs for the optional forum retreat ($850) are not included.

It is important that as their sponsor, you encourage your Key Associates to prioritize this just as you have. Most Key Associates don’t fully appreciate this going in. We recommend framing this as a Board Meeting. Because it is virtual, certain special norms, like being in a quiet stationary place with good internet, need to be practiced. At the end of the day, each Forum will determine its own norms, starting with YPO’s recommended best practices for Forum.

We’ll start with the YPO standard of “No one, Nothing, Never.” During the initial training meetings, Forums will spend time grappling with what this really means. We’re designing the first year as a gradual learning experience, where norms like this will be consistently revisited, with members’ understanding and skill deepening over time.

The number one rule is: ‘they gotta wanna’. Look for ambitious, open-hearted, rising leaders. If you have a star on your team, or someone with great potential, send her.

An important advantage of this process is that we can curate the Forums, instead of creating them one at a time, at the chapter level. A downside is that sometimes we won’t be able to accommodate a nominee, and they will have to wait until another cohort of several Forums is created.

The matching process will rely on the Launchpad technology built by Circl.es, which will survey nominees and pull in some other key data about them. Then, representatives from MXN, YPO, and Circl.es will curate the groups and send invitations. Some participants may be matched into existing Forums that are about to recommit for another year for Forum together. Nominees will have a few days to accept their Forum, after which we will add others to the group until we have 8 members committed.

We will first be selecting members who will feel like peers, which should be easy because they all come from the MXN. We’ll likely consider company size, sector, and years of experience. However, as you all know, diversity fuels learning. Once we achieve a certain level of ‘peeriness,’ we will diversify as much as possible. If there are enough of a key role, like CFO’s, we may try to form role-specific Forums.  Forum is fundamentally about leadership, not about tactical job advice, although if we do get a great functional group they may have the benefit of both.

Maybe. We are planning for a certain level of churn, and do have a process to add members to a Forum when this happens.

Maybe. It is possible that we’ll ask for her to wait until the next cohort is formed.

Our target is 6-8. We’ll likely begin with 8 members and anticipate possible drop-off.

Circles Learning Labs has partnered with YPO and other peer learning leaders like Harvard Business School and The Aspen Institute to build technology that makes it easy to scale a consistently great Forum experience virtually. The video space itself has features that make running a great Forum easy. Years of hardening has made the space reliable. But the entire digital environment makes the launching and managing of Forums at scale efficient. Participants will have almost no learning curve; they’ll simply join their session and instantly learn the few features that matter for Forum. There will be live and instant 24×7 support, just in case.

There’s nothing quite as powerful as a Forum retreat, so we strongly recommend that option for interested Forums. At sign-up, we will ask Key Associates for their interest in this, and try to match Forums where all members are inclined to have a retreat. In particular, we recommend Forums meet for a 1 – 1.5-day experience around their eighth session. The cost of $850 is not included in the Forum cost. Forums that make this commitment will reach a new level of connection, depth and help to each other.
In addition, the YPO MXN Network invited Key Associates to join in-person events, which offer a great additional place for bonding.