5 Reasons our Leadership Planning Session Rocked
by. Matt Monge
The exec team I’m privileged to work with had its strategic planning session over the past few days. Aside from fighting a stupid migraine both days, I thought it was a cool experience. Sean McDonald facilitated for us, and he did great.
Why am I mentioning this session? I mean, unless you’re a Mazuman, why would you care? There were some things that I really appreciated at this session. They were the sort of things you’d want to see from a team of humans working together toward some pretty ambitious goals.
1. Culture was a huge part of the conversation.
And not just one conversation. It came up over and over and over again, and it wasn’t confined to conversations where culture was the main topic. It was awesome to see a group of people pressing a lot of other decisions — operations, etc — through the filter of the culture our organization is working slowly but surely to build.
2. Togetherness
There’s something about going away from the office for a session like this. As our CEO mentioned while we were there, it’s important for teams to know each other, not just as fellow execs, but as humans.
3. We were able to just “be.”
How often can you let your guard down a bit and just “be” as you’re together with others sharing your passion. Hearing my teammates’ different thoughts and ideas was inspiring. Even when my migraine had me holding onto my chair in an effort to make the room stop spinning, it was clear that people were opening up, being vulnerable, having honest (and potentially uncomfortable) conversations, and so on. It’s moments like those — even the smallest moments — that can be amazing.
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