Mounting complexity driving business leaders to time-tested approach: Learning from others

For business leaders, experience is often described as the most valuable teacher. Yet the reality of leadership means that learning is frequently done in isolation, with few opportunities to test decisions or thinking against those who face similar pressures.

According to Nathan Farrugia, CEO of Vistage Malta since 2018, and more recently also responsible for the organisation’s groups in the UAE and Iceland, this is one of the defining challenges of senior leadership.

“As business leaders, it’s often lonely at the top,” Mr Farrugia said in a recent video alongside business mentor and coach Patrick Hulsen.

“Having a group of peers around you who are genuinely interested in supporting you, sometimes pushing you out of your comfort zone, but also encouraging and lifting you up, changes the way leaders think and act.”

Mr Farrugia points to the value of shared experience – particularly when leaders are able to speak openly about decisions, mistakes and uncertainty.

“It’s the perfect place to bang your head every once in a while,” he added. “Between the coaches, one-to-one support, retreats and the wider community, leaders gain perspectives they simply wouldn’t get on their own.”

A similar sentiment is expressed by Patrick Hulsen, a former CEO who now works closely with senior executives and founders.

“Vistage is really the organisation I wish I had known about 20 years ago, when I was CEO of my own company,” Mr Hulsen said.

Reflecting on leadership development and goal-setting, Mr Hulsen recently questioned the effectiveness of traditional New Year’s resolutions, particularly when they focus on targets rather than decision-making quality.

Many leaders, he observed, aim to grow their businesses, think more clearly or become better leaders, yet struggle to make lasting changes.

“Most resolutions fail for one simple reason: we try to solve tomorrow’s challenges using yesterday’s thinking,” he wrote.

For Mr Hulsen, learning from others’ lived experience is more impactful than consuming additional content or frameworks.

“Learning from experience matters more than consuming more content. That’s where peer groups of seasoned leaders make a real difference.”

He argues that when leaders regularly engage with others who have faced comparable challenges, blind spots are reduced and decisions become more deliberate and effective.

Globally, peer-based leadership forums have become an established feature of executive development, with tens of thousands of senior leaders participating in structured groups focused on accountability, strategic thinking and practical decision-making.

In Malta, similar approaches are gaining traction as business leaders seek more reflective ways to learn and grow.

As Mr Farrugia notes, the appeal lies not in networking, but in the depth of conversation.

“Sometimes the best resolution is choosing better conversations,” he said.