Time for a Retreat?

The word retreat has been a common one for me in the past month. I have had the chance to facilitate some leadership retreats for some wonderful teams. I personally had one around a significant birthday. For some people, the summer is a time to be able to retreat, while for others it may be more difficult and perhaps more necessary. A few years ago, I was asked to facilitate a retreat for three generations of a family that has had the habit for years of getting together for fun and relaxation with some form of learning and improvement. Over the years I had people come to spend a few days with me one on one to relax, dream, plan, and prepare for what they have designed.

Sometimes you must slow down to speed up.

For some the idea of slowing down is counter intuitive. They must keep pushing forward or else they are falling behind. When I googled “retreat” it said, “withdraw from enemy forces as a result of their superior power or after a defeat.” If someone were to view retreat as an admission of defeat, it makes sense that they would not want to retreat.

Militarily, a retreat can also be a deliberate tactic to gain more defensible ground, consolidate forces, encircle an enemy, or lead them into an ambush.

In the context of the individuals and teams that we work with, a retreat is an opportunity to set a new course to a different result than the one you have been getting.

If it is time for a retreat, here are some things you might consider.

Recovery

Perhaps in the gym you have pushed your muscles hard and are aware that to allow the muscles to recover from the damage caused is part of the growth. Metaphorically we often get into the habit of constantly lifting weights and believe that we have the capacity to keep lifting and it is making us better. People in this industry are tough. They are resilient. They have a lot of endurance, and they can take on a lot of responsibility and pressure. The problem is that if they don’t acknowledge that maintaining that pace has its costs, they may end up paying the price. Sometimes the price is paid in terms of health, effectiveness, reputation, or losses with relationships or their employment.

In some ways we are all still recovering from the global pandemic, supply chain problems, hiring challenges, smaller teams, bigger expectations, and less time for us.

Recharge

If there was some recovery to do you need time for that, then you can recharge. This is about energy. It is about getting your mojo back. Not just energy to go back to give your all again but to truly give your best. When you recharge, the little irritants don’t have the same impact. When you recharge you can see and think and be different. When you recharge you can energize others. A big part of your value to your organization, your family and your life is the passion, the joy and the energy you bring to them. In terms of self awareness, how is your energy? Are you excited? Are you passionate about something? Are you giving energy to others or are you taking energy from them?

Re-Design

A retreat gives you the chance to design or re-design. Some people have a clear design that they have decided upon for the life they are going to live. Many people are living life by a design created by others. We may be living lives by designs that have been created by family members, mentors, teachers, and advertisers or influencers who convinced us that we should live by their values. The design can be subtle and gradual, and we may even be convinced that we designed it ourselves. In a retreat, we have a chance to evaluate and decide on a design moving forward. What do you want the future to look like for you? What is the most powerful use of your time? What do you want to experience? Where do you want to go? Who do you want to hang out with? What difference will you make?

Reinvent

At a retreat, beyond the opportunity to design what you are going to do, you can consider who you are going to be in order to make your design come to fruition. How do you need to think, feel and act differently than you have in the past? How are you? Are you the same person that you were pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and just after the worst of the pandemic? How would you like to be moving forward? Reinventing takes a combination of awareness and intention.

Re-Fire!

A few years ago, in our Extraordinary Leader Program we had the chance to interview Ken Blanchard. He had written a book called Refire Don’t Retire. It’s about making sure you have passion and purpose in your life. That is good advice at any age.

A retreat is a good time to consider your physical health and your mental health. We recently read the book Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope by Johann Hari. (Light summer reading) This paragraph sums up the book:

“You aren’t a machine with broken parts. You are an animal whose needs are not being met. You need to have community. You need to have meaningful values, not the junk values you have been pumped full of all your life, telling you happiness comes through money and buying objects. You need meaningful work. You need the natural world. You need to feel you are respected. You need a secure future. You need connections to all these things. You need to release the shame you might feel for having been mistreated.”

Our job is to bring the best out in the people we are privileged to work with. We have some coaching tools that we would be pleased to share with you to support you with your design, your reinvention and getting your needs met. If you would like any of them to take on your retreat, just ask for them.

Time for a Retreat?