Confidential peer forums, authentic sales workshops, and executive education for San Diego CEOs and Founders navigating growth and complexity.
Most executives are surrounded by people who tell them what they want to hear. We challenge your blind spots. We don't give cheap advice; we share hard-earned perspective.
We rigorously vet our members. No egos. Just a hunger to grow, build better organizations, and leave a lasting impact on the San Diego business community.
Through our School of Selling, we teach genuine communication that earns trust. No pressure tactics. Just authentic, purpose-driven intent.
Business has a responsibility to its people and its city. We build leaders who don't just extract value, but create it for everyone around them.
An 8-month executive leadership program for San Diego's emerging leaders. Small cohorts. Practical frameworks. Real results.
The Purpose of Management & Principles of “Followership”
In our opening session, we’ll review the Final Exam, outline what the course covers, and—most importantly—explore why each concept matters. We’ll connect the principles of management and “Followership” to real-world leadership challenges you face every day.
One-on-One Meetings
Our second class centers on the most important meeting in any business—the one-on-one between manager and direct report. We’ll explore the structure and agenda of an effective one-on-one, and how this simple practice builds empathy, compassion, and trust while driving results and retention. It is the manager’s most powerful tool.
Giving Specific Feedback on Performance & Behaviors
Communication is the foundation of every high-performing team. In our third class, we address the challenge of delivering consistent, effective feedback. For many managers, feedback feels daunting—too personal, too infrequent, or too vague. This session focuses on making feedback specific, objective, and as natural and regular as breathing.
Goal Setting
Our fourth class centers on one of the core responsibilities of effective coaching—setting goals. Goals aren’t only about new projects or learning; most often they drive productivity. We emphasize the importance of setting specific, measurable goals, and why consistent follow-up is the single most critical element of accountability.
Delegating
Delegation is the most effective driver of organizational growth—and one of the most challenging skills for leaders to master. In our fifth class, students audit their calendars, compare how they spend time against their true roles and responsibilities, and identify tasks that should be handed to their directs. We then explore how to delegate effectively.
We Manage Behaviors
In management, we don’t manage results—we manage behaviors. Our sixth class explores the key interpersonal skills that make up the majority of how we’re measured, and managers must pay close attention to these signals. This is where the principle of “Management by Wandering” comes alive: to truly connect with our people, we must be present and in front of them.
Effective Hiring
The first six classes focus on helping managers communicate, coach, and inspire their people to be better every day. But that work becomes infinitely easier when you start with A+ talent—which makes hiring the most important job a manager does. In our seventh class, we teach managers how to identify the behaviors that drive success, build a proactive bench of talent, and apply a structured hiring process.
Culture in a Circle
Our final class ties together the lessons from the previous seven sessions and captures the essence of an effective company culture: the collective behaviors and results of people working in harmony across the organization. The program concludes with the final lesson in our “Culture in a Circle” curriculum.
Gary Peterson founded Esteemed MBA following the successful build and 2023 acquisition of gap intelligence, an eight-figure competitive intelligence firm he grew from a bootstrapped startup into a trusted partner to Fortune 500 companies. Over more than three decades, Gary worked alongside executive leadership teams across the technology and consumer electronics industries, helping organizations navigate competition, execution, and long-term growth.
Having carried the responsibility of founder and CEO himself, Gary understands that many managers are promoted for performance but rarely taught how to manage people and lead teams. Esteemed MBA was created to close that gap. The program equips emerging and established leaders with practical frameworks for day-to-day management, self-reflection, and communication so they can lead teams with clarity, trust, compassion, hope and stability.
“Grounded in real operating experience rather than theory, the Esteemed MBA focuses on the behaviors and decisions that define effective leadership long after the classroom ends.”