Leadership Retreat Locations are Important to the Strategic Process

The location of a leadership retreat is just as important as the agenda to be discussed.  First, let’s go back a moment and review the purposes of a leadership retreat.  Simply put…times change…and in the world of business, there are so many variables in play, that times change often.  Sometimes, we as business leaders are so “heads-down” doing our jobs, that we may not be aware of the changes happening around us.  Other times, we may be aware, but don’t have an opportunity to sit down with our colleagues and objectively discuss the potential impacts.  Thus, the idea of a leadership retreat emerged.  The two main purposes of a leadership retreats are as follows.

One.  To break the leadership team away from the pattern of their heads-down, day-to-day duties; so that they are able to step back and critically take in the larger picture of what’s going on in their environment. Two. To facilitate the critical thought processes and discussions that lead to the development of a strategic deliverable.  Some deliverables aim to develop a strategic plan or to re-visit one that has been previously created.  Some, aim to overhaul a process, achieve alignment, make critical decisions or “fix” trouble spots.  Regardless of the specific deliverable, the second purpose of the retreat is to enable the creation of that deliverable.

The point is that a leadership retreat is as much a mental excursion as it is a physical one.  To mentally break away from the everyday routine and to mentally get the creative and critical thought processes flowing.    This leads into the case for why the location is as important as the agenda.  On occasion it has been managers have the privilege to participate in leadership retreat functions.  Some are very successful and others, not so much.  One of the important differentiators is likely the retreat location.

Scheduling an “off-site” in another building on the same campus, or on a different campus but still in the same company facility, does not provide an environment different enough to really get the sensation of a being away from your day-to-day duties.  A retreat is a “get-away” but it does not have to be physically far away from your regular working location.  Yet, it needs to feel as if it’s far away mentally.  Also, the location does not have to be costly just different enough so that one is able to mentally escape the sensations of their day to day work environment.  This will help those in attendance to make the mental jump to “retreat.”

Feeling mentally as if one is in a different environment will in turn help to fuel the out-of-the-box thinking that often leads to success.  And that’s why the location of a leadership retreat is important to the strategic process.
Thanks for reading!