🎙️Two Perspectives on Retreat Planning: Facilitator vs Event Planner: Part 2 Continuing with this part 2 of the conversation between Randall Craig, as leadership retreat facilitator, and Dwayne Rutherford, as corporate event planner, to share a behind-the-scenes look at how we help our clients focus on the goals of their executive offsite without distractions.  Topics include: ↳ Calculating the ROI of a corporate retreat: The cost of doing business and employee engagement ↳ Virtual retreats and development days: What is the role of virtual?, and ↳ What are teams doing that is getting in their own way and preventing best outcomes for the corporate retreat?

🎙️Two Perspectives on Retreat Planning: Facilitator vs Event Planner: Part 1 In this episode we are joined by Dwayne Rutherford TAG HIM], corporate event planner, to explore leadership retreat planning and execution from the dual lenses of Randall as facilitator, and Dwayne as event planner. Catch the full episode.  Topics include: ↳ What might we not understand about the corporate retreat industry, and corporate retreat planning? ↳ What are purposeful and goal-driving reasons to have a corporate retreat?, and ↳ Managing expectations for your corporate retreat. Let’s talk about: ↳ How to demonstrate our impact on the outcomes of the event. ↳ Avoiding the biggest mistakes and challenges of planning an executive retreat. ↳ How to create an environment that is conducive to team learning. ↳ (And if you are considering holding a corporate retreat, what are the tough questions you should ask.)

There is one mode of learning that many leaders have not had experience with: A peer mastermind group!  Topics include: ↳ Go fast alone vs go far together ↳ Peer mastermind group vs professional association membership ↳ Facilitator or no facilitator (and do they need subject matter expertise)

How important is executive presence, and how much should it play into your hiring process?   Topics include: ↳ Executive Presence and Local Culture: Do core qualities of executive presence transcend geography? ↳ Executive presence and succession planning ↳ How best to elevate your executive presence

This episode is for leaders in their role as mentors and role models.    Topics include: ↳ Executive presence as a learnable skill: Can anyone get there or are some personalities better suited? ↳ Executive Presence vs Professionalism ↳ Having Hard Conversations: How do you talk about "executive presence" with your employees?

Gain new perspectives on how to incorporate greater efficiencies into your operations and processes so that your growth will be smoother – and faster..    Topics include: ↳ 4DX or alternative frameworks? ↳ Whose “job” is it to resolve inefficiencies? ↳ When head office won’t change… but you want to do something new in your division?

“Work smarter, not harder”, they say – but what does that mean exactly? Especially in growing businesses, leaders know what they know, but don't know what they don’t know…   Topics include: ↳ Is “getting ahead” a myth? ↳ How will AI impact how we work? ↳ How can we prepare for disruption?

Our 2nd segment on how and when to pivot.    ↳ Should organizations buckle down or take more risks when there is uncertainty? ↳ When is an “inspiration to pivot” wise vs a distraction from testing the current business model? ↳ Organizational pivot.... or create a new business?

In business, there is always change, particularly when you are chasing product-market fit. How do we decide to stay the course or look for new opportunity?  Topics include: ↳ Proactive pivots vs reactive pivots ↳ The role of "weak signals", and how to identify them? ↳ Predicting the future vs creating it

Going deeper into work-life balance for leaders, including frameworks from Randall’s bestseller Personal Balance Sheet.

A perspective on work-life balance that incorporates the realities of leadership and team dynamics (finally!).  Topics include: Managing by minute vs managing by objectives What should leaders share (or not share) with teams when trying to role-model work-life balance? Perceptions of work-life balance for younger employees who prefer a flexible schedule. And understanding the difference between work-life imbalance vs burnout.

We continue exploring digital strategy with live website feedback, questions on Google Adwords, and how to scale a tech startup.

One of the biggest drivers of business growth is Digital Strategy… so are your digital investments actually yielding the results you expect? Or is there a better way? Let’s talk about: Is your tech working together to actually drive business? Or are there disconnected silos of technology? Will AI be just another “bolt-on”, like social media and other shiny digital objects from the past? And how does what you have now build your reputation as a thought leader, improve engagement, and improve trust in your brand?

We continue with more on delegation as a key skill for leaders of growing organizations. Topics include: Making the decision to do it yourself or delegate to others Empowering your team and employee over-reliance Developing trust Letting go of the outcomes, and more.

This session will address delegation as a lever for business growth. Catch the full episode. Topics include: Proper way of delegating Obstacles and the flip side of delegation Impact of delegating to managers and employees Setting boundaries and expectations, and much more.

We continue with more ideas on how to upskill your team and retain the learning. Topics include: New Management Teams: What are good professional development topics to start with a new team coming together? Improving the impact of professional development for senior leaders. Professional Development Priorities: Build deeper expertise or train on skill gaps? When professional development topics are rejected by the team: Where is the disconnect?

New ideas on generating alignment while upskilling your team. Topics include: ROI: Getting the most out of your learning and development budget? How to leverage (and improve the impact) of your team’s professional development. What is the most efficient and effective approach: external trainer, internal dedicated resource, or other?

More on how to set up an advisory board to successfully support organizational leaders.  Topics include: ↳ Advisory board compensation: cash, or equity? ↳ Advisory board diversity vs “cohesive” culture? ↳ Building trust between board members (and with the leader).

Many leaders don’t fully take advantage of their Advisory Board… or even know why they should have one. Topics include: ↳ Key considerations when setting up an advisory board. ↳ Recruitment, engagement, and Setting the meeting agenda? ↳ Keeping it fresh: board succession planning (and how to off-board “stale” advisory board members?

Wrapping up this three-parter on planning impactful conferences with a focus on lessons we can learn from our conference planning efforts.  Topics for part 3 include: ↳ Reinvent the program anew or rinse and repeat what previously worked? ↳ How do we measure if a conference was a success? ↳ Conference post modems (and what if a conference falls flat…)