ESOP CEOs: Find Your People in Philadelphia
If you ask directors or executives at model employee-owned companies about the secret of their success, you will be shocked by how often their answers refer to the same place: the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.
Hundreds of the best-known employee-owned companies trace the ideas and relationships that fuel their companies back to the Leadership Program for CEOs and Presidents of ESOP Companies. The program, originally developed with input from a group of successful ESOP CEOs, has been ongoing at the University of Pennsylvania since 2004.
Why is that?
As the CEO of the NCEO, I don’t buy the old cliché that the CEO is the loneliest job, but I do think it’s the most complicated job. Talking with other CEOs, one theme I hear is that being the chief executive of a company draws on all aspects of their abilities: analytical, relationship building, values, imagination, problem solving, and old fashioned dedication to hard work. Add to that, in a company where employees are co-owners, they have different expectations for what they want from leaders in order for ownership to mean something beyond having an ESOP account. Internally, almost every relationship CEOs and presidents have is multi-dimensional, and every interaction with staff and the board has a power dynamic.
Fortunately, there is one type of business professional with whom a CEO can have a simple relationship with no power dynamic—and that’s a peer, a CEO at a company that’s not a competitor or vendor. In addition, top leaders of other ESOP companies understand the opportunities and challenges of employee ownership, which is a major benefit of having one another as a resource. I believe that one reason for the deep impact of the program at Penn is that it provides a venue where CEOs can step back from the day-to-day complexity and give themselves a chance to go deep—not on a repurchase spreadsheet or even a strategic plan, but on what leadership skills mean when employees are also co-owners, or on their own strengths and gaps as leaders. It also gives them the time to fully think through what they can do to make their companies as successful as possible.
Another reason for the Penn program’s impact is that participating leaders don’t go on the journey alone. The instructors combine the informed expertise of an Ivy League school with the long-time commitment to the specific issues and peculiarities of employee ownership.
Program meetings are onsite on Penn’s campus for a week in both July and December, and the program facilitates extensive interaction between those sessions, leading to long-term supportive relationships. One participant says that, years after completing the program, “I am in contact with someone from our group almost weekly.” Another participant, Hope Thompson of Northern Radiator, says the program "helped me see leadership through a new lens—one rooted in shared purpose and ownership. It gave me practical tools to strengthen our culture and empower our employee-owners to think and act like true partners in our success."
To explore participating in the 2027 program, visit the program’s page at Penn and fill out the interest form. A member of the program’s core faculty will contact you for an interview and to answer any questions you may have. Students will be accepted on a rolling basis.
Through countless conversations, I’ve seen the impact this program has had on individual companies and on the entire field of employee ownership; that's why the NCEO is proud to partner with the leadership program. You’ll be able to meet current and former participants at our 2027 NCEO Annual Conference (April 12–15 in Pittsburgh) and our 2027 NCEO Forum, as well as in our peer networking groups.