Summer is a great time for some much needed R & R. In our hectic 24/7, crazy busy world it’s even more vital we carve out time for recharging and rejuvenating.
Leadership teams also need time away from daily operations and everyday distractions to work together in planning and strategy, reflection and renewal, team building, and development planning. As you reflect on the blur of the first six months of 2016, this is also the right time to look ahead to the fall in finishing this year and getting ready for 2017.
Fall is a popular time for leadership team retreats. This time away provides space for the collaboration and planning so vital to increasing safety, service/quality improvement, leadership, or culture development.
Failing to work “on” your team, not just “in” your team can contribute to these common communication breakdowns that often derail teams:
- The team isn’t united in strategic priorities
- Conflicting messages ripple out to the organization
- Behaviors don’t model the desired culture or values
- Little personal feedback on leadership behaviors
- It’s not safe to discuss moose-on-the-table (touchy or politically sensitive topics)
“Clear leadership team retreat objectives and outcomes are vital to success“. Here’s a summary of some common retreat objectives:
- leadership/culture development
- team building
- leveraging leadership strengths
- improving customer focus
- revitalizing vision, values, purpose
- conflict resolution
- increasing communication and teamwork
- creating a coaching culture
- building a consensus/engagement and implementation plan for organizational change and development
- enhancing safety
- strategic approach to succession planning and talent/performance management
Taking time to sharpen the woodcutters ax is a story that’s become a cliché because it gets at a profound paradox. The busier we get, the more we feel like we can’t afford taking time out for learning, development, or retreats. But we actually become more productive by taking time out, stepping back, and sharpening our tools and approaches.
As you think about team reflection and renewal this summer, you might find my webinar on Executive Team Building and Culture Development useful. You might also want to ponder a few possible ways to configure your session at Leadership Team Retreats.
May your summer resonate with the words of American writer, Henry James, “summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
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