Leadership Retreat!
If your organization has a leadership team, do they ever get away to vision-cast and strategize?
I had the opportunity to participate in a leadership retreat this past weekend with our team at LifeBridge Church. Our core leadership team and spouses left town and went to a secluded camp (in the middle of nowhere) to spend 1 1/2 days reviewing the past year’s goals and achievements, our purpose, casting vision for the next year, and strategizing a plan for the future. It was a weekend of celebration, relationship building, and talking through where we are heading for the next year. It was very encouraging, uplifting, unifying, and simply awesome!
Often in corporate environments, leadership teams will do something similar, but it doesn’t always happen there either. Small and medium sized businesses often neglect this activity altogether, and non-profits (especially churches) miss the boat here most of the time. You do not have to be a large corporation to engage your leadership team in a vision-casting retreat. Our group at LifeBridge was only 8 people in total and it served to be a very up-lifting and beneficial time for us as individuals and it will pay big dividends for the organization. In some ways, the more focused your organization, the easier it is to review and re-cast vision. For non-profits, because their leadership teams are often made up mostly of volunteers, this is even more important so you can get everyone on the same page. Your volunteer leaders are not necessarily working side-by-side every day like they are in a business environment.
I can not underscore the importance of casting a strong vision, setting goals, and reviewing them every year. If you don’t set a plan like this in place, how will you measure where you want your organization to go and determine whether it is making progress? This whole exercise rises and falls on leadership. If a strong leader is in place, they will want to chart a course with a clear vision and ensure that every leader is on board. It fosters unity. If you are practicing the leadership retreat concept, congratulations and keep up the good work. If you are not currently doing this, then I seriously encourage you to try it. I am confident that your team will reap the benefits of stronger relationships, growing as a team, drawing closer together in unity, and your organization will achieve more measurable results as everyone marches to the beat of the same drum. It fosters a healthy environment and leads to greater organizational success. What are you waiting for…plan your retreat today!
I welcome your comments and feedback if you have ever taken part in a leadership retreat.
(Image courtesy BuffaloGeek)
