C-suite, a lifetime learning platform designed for executives, has launched its official web application to help professionals improve their knowledge, skills, and credentials. This online learning platform is built to be an online-to-offline-to-online system that also features a social network, a forum for news and views, and a recommendation engine.

The web app launch proceeded right after the company closed its Seed funding round. No details were revealed about the actual amount raised, but the company hints that it is in six figures. C-Suite’s Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, Don Tsai, is identified as one of the angel investors.

In the first two weeks since C-suite started its operations, it already managed to attract 200 high profile members. C-suite aims to “super-serve” Singapore and Asia “to help managers become high-performing leaders, to help leaders become better managers, to help aspirational professionals join the C-suite ranks, and as a result, to help businesses win.”

Leadership, not just management

Dean Carroll, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of C-suite, laments how “there are too many bad managers or so-called ‘leaders’ in the business world – all the way from the talented arsehole and the temperamental genius to the overpromoted drone, or worse still, the uncontrollable egotist.” He says he had experiences with these bad company figureheads and acknowledges that he may have been, at one point in his life, one of these bad leaders.

“I’ve experienced them, I’m sure everyone out there has at some point in their career. In fact, I probably was one myself at a certain time. And the reason being that, for many people, they are just expected to know how to do it – without receiving the tools to make it happen,” Carroll adds.

The C-suite CEO goes personal in explaining the purpose of the lifetime learning platform the company is promoting. “I think what really brought it home to me was participating in some seriously challenging leadership training in recent years and also finding myself a career mentor to guide me along the way,” Carroll says. He believes in the importance of having someone who can drive some sense on the most important calls and enable informed decisions when encountering forks on the road.

“I could see the positive results these things were bringing in terms of making me a better professional, way beyond the benefits I got from doing a master’s degree. They also opened up new opportunities. The trickle-down effects resulted in enhanced performance and growth on the wider team I led. It created a culture where excellence and collaboration thrived, while unchecked dysfunction and toxicity vanished,” Carroll explains.

Carroll elaborates further that an MBA or EMBA degree, in-house leadership training, and higher-level business education may not be enough to become a good leader. “It is clear the learning journey shouldn’t stop there. This is most definitely a marathon, not a sprint,” the C-suite CEO maintains.

“So hopefully the C-suite community can play its small part in helping to make members, their companies and their teams better. Get those elements right and the business success will surely follow,” Carroll says.

Community, content, and connectivity

C-suite facilitates virtual gatherings and real-world conferences to support community, content, and connectivity. The company makes it clear that it intends to help business executives become true leaders and not just managers by designation.

At the moment, the C-suite website (web app) is already accessible to the public, and anyone with a LinkedIn or Google account can sign in instantly. New accounts may be created by supplying an email address, name, password, company name, and job title. Creating an account is free but accessing the services comes with a fee.

C-suite also operates the C-suite Circle, which is an invitation-only network for senior business leaders. This exclusive community of experienced business executives has members from 41 countries. It aims to provide new ways to connect influential business leaders both online and in person.

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