It is that time of year again when @Brian Kempisty and I take the Port X Logistics leadership team on our annual retreat. Our retreats are not typical and require months of preparation and planning. The team goes through a process of physical and mental preparation, so they are ready for an eight-mile hike up the mountains of Montana.
You might be saying to yourself that is craziness! Why would anyone want to do such a thing? Well, there is a purposeful intention behind this approach to leadership development and personal change.
If you are a true entrepreneur, you understand the need to grow your business. But do you understand the power of focusing on the growth of your leadership team first?
Entrepreneurs typically believe overcoming the competition is the main goal; losing sight of what really matters. Continuing to do the same things as everyone else in business just creates more of the same. Nothing really changes.
Consider your leadership team. Do they really experience growth and change by sitting comfortably around a boardroom table? Does reviewing PowerPoint slides and spreadsheets help them to gain confidence and overcome self-doubt? Does it inspire creative thinking, change their mindset, and shift their perspective?
Please do not misunderstand these are very important activities to grow your business but are they impacting your leadership team in a way that will really move the needle? Ask yourself, do you want to keep copying the old ways or do you want to create something new?
Port X Logistics has committed to creating something new in business and it started with the leadership team. Peter Theil said, “Today’s [best practices] lead to dead ends; the best paths are new and untried (Zero to One; book). If you want to leave a real legacy in your area of business start by committing to doing something new to help support the development and strength of your leadership team.
Brian and I have discovered that when we have taken the leadership team to a place where they can experience something of amazement and wonder it creates a permanent change. Guiding them to the top of the Montana mountains (literally the top) has allowed them to feel more connected to each other, decreased their sense of fear, and opened their minds to the unknown.
Real leadership transformation happens when you get uncomfortable and experience moments of awe. Climbing to the top of a mountain to see a view that most will only experience through a picture is life-changing.
If you want to grow your business take your leadership team on a real retreat that will provide an experience that will shift their mindset, help them realize their true potential, and inspire something new.
You and your team will return with a greater sense of confidence, an exciting story to tell, and a new perspective about who you are and what you are capable of as leaders.
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