Pros
getting to interact with members is a highlight. Most members are compassionate, interesting, thoughtful people. The business is in good shape and is stable.
Cons
The organization is rudderless and literally makes decisions by committee. There is no ceo. Well, there was one until one day he got fired (effective same day). Then, a couple weeks ago they fired another 20 people, including the CFO, the head of HR, and the CFO. When I say “they,” that is as specific as I can get, because nobody took ownership of the decision or explained to staff why it was made. It was simply announced online and that was it. We are left to assume it was one of the many committees, and wonder who is next. Know that no decisions get made at YPO. A simple business decision that would typically take 10 mins can take months at YPO. Many, many layers of committee approvals, pre-reads, meetings, etc. Oftentimes, it’s not even clear who the decision maker is, and multiple committees will weigh in, ultimately paralyzing any progress. On top all this, the committees rotate every year or two, so there will be drastic pendulum swings every couple of years, with no stability whatsoever. Many of the volunteer committees make decisions about operations without understanding the organization, and this further chaos is sewn. The top positions (I.e. elected member positions) are highly political, and it always feels like people are jockeying for the next chairmanship or what have you. Overall, it’s a highly political, disorganized organization with no vision or leadership to speak of (ironic, I know).