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When planning a retreat, it's wise to ask, "Whatf do we want the end result to be? A vision? Harmony? Better sales More profits? Or all of the A good retreat involvess extensive pre-work in the form of team preliminary reading or leadership testingy and assessment. The planning and pre-worki can occupy more time and effort than theretreay itself. Here are two companiesd that implemented offsite retreats with decidedldifferent results. A $20 million Colorado company hired a consultanrt to improve itsdeclining performance. The consultant interviewed the managemenytteam confidentially, and compiled his note into a report for the founder/CEO.
None of his findings were surprising: An undertow of rumors, negativity, resentment and A culture of noconsequencesz ("36 strikes and you're out"). Startintg and not finishing. Workaholism leading to burnout. Confusing long hoursd or hard workwithout effectiveness. One senior manager said, "Everything aroundf here is harder than it has to Weekly leadership meetingswere subdued. The managers kept quieg unless the CEO spoke to them andthe CEO's focus was on problems to be not on wins or accomplishments.
The consultant compilefd an informal 360 review of theCEO -- that is, he interviewed the management team about the CEO's performance -- and the resultds were amazingly candid and The consultant presented the CEO with the data, and this was a wake-u p call. The business had no so the consultant implementedplanning meetings. The plan to "becomee the Ritz Carlton in ourindustry segment" seemed straightforward, but the legacty of non-accountability stifled any The company planned a leadership retreat to improvse performance.
The CEO discussed the old culturre ("36 strikes and you're out") and the new culture The consultant gave a primeron "the basivc success skills," such as showiny up on time, telling the truth, admitting mistakesx and keeping commitments. The group reviewed the emergingy plan and a departmental SWOTanalysiw (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). At the end of the the group prioritized tasks andassignedx accountabilities. Then nothing changed. Two montha later, the company held a seconde retreat. The consultant led a discussionjon mission/vision/values to give the leaders a self-chosen direction.
The senior team discussed "What's the same, what'xs better, what's worse?" and attempted to make the plan The group decidedto re-introduce a monthly all-employee meeting. Theses seemed like positive steps, and things begam to improve. Three months later, the companyg held its third retreat. The consultant decidedx to focus on strengthzand opportunities, and to deny negative He appointed several "monitors" to listen for negatives. They were askef to say things like, "That soundsw negative," "That sounds like a criticism," We're dwellin g on the problem" or "We'rwe getting off track.
" Knowing the group, the consultantf had allowed 10-15 minutes on the agenda to discussd positive changesand successes. Surprisingly, the positives took up the entirw morning. At one point, the vice presidentr of sales thanked the vice president of operations for some and then a waveof thank-yous broke out. It seemed as if everyonre was thanking someone else for In thisgroup process, a new culture of excitement and accountabilith was born. A $200 million privater company was about to attempt an initiaopublic offering, but first the board of directorsx felt it had to get all the seniof executives working together. It was a new leadership team composer of members fromdifferenr cultures.
Everyone had their peers evaluat e them in360 reviews. Everyone, that is, except the CEO, who felt he didn'tf need feedback. His mindset was, "If I weren't so good, I wouldn'g be at such a high level." The person who doesn'y want or need feedback is always suspectin leadership, and this prover to be a fatal flaw. The consulting firm interviewerd the senior leadersin depth, and the CEO was universallyy disliked. Most team members said, "If we weren't abou t to get a big payda [go public], I'd be gone." The management team departed fora two-dayh retreat, under the condition that the facilitators wouldn't include anythint touchy-feely.
As a result, the meetinge were decidedly businesslike, focusing on duties and responsibilities, goal and objectives. There's nothintg wrong with that, but the underlying dissatisfaction with the CEO neverwas addressed. At the end of the the CEO said, "We have taken a giant step forward." The who knew the board chairman personally, suggestexd an executive coach forthe CEO. This never was implemented, and six monthas later, the CEO was terminated and the IPO wasdelayee indefinitely. A leadership retreat is a valuablebusineszs tool.
You can gain immense leverage ifyou "begin with the end in mind," if you achievs everyone's buy-in, and if you do the planning and pre-work necessarty to make it
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