A Club for Top Guns

Spend a Weekend With This Dynamic Group of CEOs

EDITOR'S NOTE By Scott DeGarmo

ONE TRAIT SHARED BY MANY TOP GUNS is a knack for having fun. Like our cover subject, the high-spirited entrepreneur Herb Kelleher, these are men and women who enjoy themselves. And I'm convinced that the pleasure they get out of life enhances their success.

So, get out your calendars. We've arranged for you to improve your bottom line while you network at an exotic location with the nation's most exceptional entrepreneurs, the members of the exclusive CEO Clubs Inc. It's a by-invitation-only organization - though as a SUCCESS reader, you need not be a member to participate in this event.

From wine tastings, to management weekends, CEO Clubs gatherings are outstanding. Kelleher himself has spoken at the club. Other dynamic leaders I've heard there include Fred Smith of Federal Express and Victor Kiam of Remington, as well as T. Boone Pickens and W. Clement Stone. I recall Ted Turner bringing down the rafters with his outrageously unconventional revelations. Other world-class speakers who've appeared at CEO Clubs meetings are motivator Zig Ziglar, negotiation guru Herb Cohen, and Amway cofounder Rich DeVos.

The club was launched 20 years ago by Joseph Mancuso, who sums up his philosophy as, "We think it is OK to make money while having fun. Our members go on each others' boards, play golf, and get a continuing education that is painless."

Mancuso urges his flock of entrepreneurs "to lead a balanced life." He labels this his "deathbed concept" because "few CEOs on their deathbeds regret not spending more time in the office." As Mancuso says, "There is no more exhilarating task than to grow a business, but too often this intoxication overpowers life's other needs." In urging CEOs to attend his events, Mancuso has an answer for those who plead they are too busy putting out fires. He reminds them they may well be the ones whose presence is causing the fires. So, why not get out and improve your skills, energy, and health, with a group of like-minded entrepreneurs.

Mancuso is an erstwhile electrical engineer with a Harvard MBA and a Ph.D. in business from Boston University who lives in a 10,000-square-foot penthouse in Manhattan. His outdoor terrace, with its panoramic view amid rooftop trees, flowers, and pool, is a great spot for CEO parties. Street-smart Mancuso uses every ploy to create top-notch programs - often with insanely appropriate speakers. An all-time favorite was a reformed con man. Even more colorful than the speakers are the members. An early joiner was SUCCESS contributor John Naisbitt. At one dinner and theater outing, I got to know Mary "Aggie" Jordan-DeLaurenti, an ex-nun who's president of a Dallas-based technical training company with more than 350 employees. I'm looking forward to meeting James V. Kimsey, 57, the chairman, cofounder, and major stockholder of America Online Inc. —the enormously successful on-line service he created in 1985. "Before that, he owned a second-floor bar," recalls Mancuso. CEO Clubs members are the most dynamic group of leaders you'll find anywhere. They're also the most congenial and supportive. They gather in smaller, confidential groups that use the power of the Mastermind principle of Napoleon Hill; you thus get a dozen business brains working on your prob lem. It's extraordinarily effective. Also, members are of all ages. "We don't like the age discrimination in other groups," says Mancuso. "We will take someone who is 83 and sit him next to someone 20 years old."

The CEO Clubs has 12 chapters across the country that hold meetings eight times per year. The club's Sales Management Weekend, to which SUCCESS readers are invited, will be held January 17 to 20 (over the Martin Luther

King holiday) at the Carambola Beach Resort on St. Croix in-the U.S. Virgin Islands – a spectacularly beautiful setting with unsurpassed boating, swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving.

The sales trainer will be Guru Ganesh Khalsa. On the platform, says Mancuso, "he's equal to Zig Ziglar—a gifted, powerful speaker, a mesmerizer, a barn burner." He'll help you obtain what Mancuso calls "the entrepreneur's silver bullet" - namely, an increase in sales.

All tuition from the St. Croix weekend will go to the nonprofit CEO Clubs. To attend, or to learn about a chapter near you (I'll be speaking at all 12 chapters this fall):

Phone: 212-925-7911. Fax: 212-925-7463. E-mail: into@ceoclubsorg World Wide Web: http://www.ceoclubs.org.

Sign up now while there's still room. See you there!