CONNECTING, REFLECTING AND DREAMING ON RETREAT

Last week was another magic offsite event with Steve Kloss and his executive team at Pentana Solutions at the beautiful Crystalbrook, Byron Bay resort.

This executive team has recently expanded to include several new members, and their June retreat was an important time to forge stronger connections and bond as a team.

Pentana Solutions is, this year, celebrating its 50th year anniversary. They are a leader in automotive software solutions, having been at the forefront of digitisation and automation in the automotive and mobility industries since their inception. For a tech company – especially a tech company a rapidly evolving industry – not only surviving for 50 years but thriving and leading in their field – is a notable and admirable feat.

In their 50th year, they are taking a moment to reflect on what has driven their success in the last 50 years, and daring to dream about the next 50.

Being in an executive team in a company with a complex system of products, delivery services, geographic hubs, and customer profiles comes with its challenges. The expectations are high – both from the board and from the teams they serve. These individuals take the responsibility and privilege of leading very seriously. It is rare indeed for them to take time out like this in their calendar to invest in themselves and each other.

In considering how to make this retreat a valuable investment, Steve Kloss (CEO), Tammy Kokkinos (Executive of People & Culture) and I worked together to set three key objectives for the three day event in Byron:

• Develop capacity for self-leadership and mindfulness
• Connect deeply – build trust and respect, activate the “team” in leadership team
• Dream the next iteration of Pentana’s vision and strategy

We designed an agenda that equally addressed all three objectives. Days 1 and 2 were devoted to developing mindful awareness through breathwork, life purpose and life vision sessions.

We worked with the awesome Tim Thomas from Breathwork in Bed who took the group through deep breathing activities.

There might have also been an ice-bath in there just to reset our nervous systems and elevate us to a new level of shared experience!

We then shared stories of our most pivotal life moments and worked together to build and share personal life visions that aligned with personal purpose, values and goals for a fulfilled life. Opening themselves to be more vulnerable and transparent with their individual needs, goals and motivations in life allowed the group to deepen the bonds of trust. This is a necessary part of developing a positive group dynamic.

Day 3 was reserved purely for aligning as a team on the vision for Pentana moving forward. We considered what lies at the core of Pentana’s long-standing success; homed in on how to define success drivers clearly and succinctly, and how to empower departments and teams to continue to drive that success by developing and owning their goals for innovation and growth.

In between all the sessions were plenty of moments to connect and enjoy what Byron Bay had to offer. By spending days and nights together, away from the normal distractions of life and work, individuals were able to get to know each other on a whole new level and to appreciate each other’s unique qualities and personalities.

Team retreats are a huge investment for any business. It’s time away from your desk, your team and your family. It needs to be worthwhile. Instead of packing them with a laundry list of items to work through, we kept the content light to allow the space for connection, reflection, and the one thing executives miss the most – rest.

The outcome is a team who are connected, aligned, and totally pumped for what’s to come. They have a new language for their future and a re-energised sense of purpose that will motivate individual and collective action for many months to come.

I’ve been working with Pentana Solutions now for 9 years – they are my longest standing client. I feel incredibly honoured to have been part of their story in their last chapter of being 50 years running. I am inspired by this new leadership team’s vision for their future, and I can’t wait to see how the next chapter unfolds for this company.

If you’ve been inspired by this story and can appreciate the value of taking your executive team on retreat – give me a call. I’d love to help you realise your vision for yourself, your team and your business.