{"id":2785,"date":"2013-02-19T13:59:43","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T19:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulbatz.com\/?p=2785"},"modified":"2013-02-19T13:59:43","modified_gmt":"2013-02-19T19:59:43","slug":"is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/","title":{"rendered":"Is now a good time to retreat?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
This statue of Sun Tzu, stands proudly in Yurihama, Japan. In his 500 B.C. book The Art of War, he proclaims the benefit of “retreat” as a strategy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Typically I avoid military analogies, but this one really works:\u00a0 Did you know the concept of “retreat” comes from military strategy?\u00a0 It’s largely attributed to the ancient Chinese teachings of Sun Tzu, in the book The Art of War, <\/em>written around 500 B.C.<\/p>\n

“Retreat<\/em>” as a military strategy is effective both under heavy attack and after winning.\u00a0 It literally means: pull back<\/em>, assess, refine the plan, <\/em>rest and replenish<\/em>, reaffirm mission<\/em>, and rally together to return battle<\/em>. All concepts relevant and vital to leadership and business today.<\/p>\n

When was the last time you had a good retreat — personally or professionally?\u00a0 Is now a good time to plan your next retreat?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Last summer my team and I had our own retreat. Even 24 hours away with time planned for work, rest and play will re-energize most teams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recently, I helped a strong group of leaders with an executive team retreat. After three years of cutting back, they were feeling isolated and drained. Spending money on a retreat became obvious after the employee engagement survey identified declining morale and a series of well-intentioned mistakes due to burnout.<\/p>\n

It’s easy to understand, right?\u00a0 We’re all living in the same movie: working longer and harder than we expected. New customers and profits are hard to come by.\u00a0 It’s easy for leaders to become battle weary in business these days.<\/p>\n

The client used the retreat as a strategy after he asked: I think most of us are exhausted. How do we breathe new life and energy into our team? <\/em>My answer: is now a good time to retreat?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Jonathan Beach Club in Santa Monica, California was the site of a recent client retreat. Open sky, sand and sea presents endless possiblities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s examine their retreat through the military lens:\u00a0 Pull back.<\/em><\/strong> With seven business units, this group of more than 20 senior leaders work mostly independently. Retreats are the only time they actually pull away from the day to day business and spend time together: in the same room, breathing the same air, having the same conversation.<\/p>\n

Assess. <\/em><\/strong>After a healthy discussion about what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not, they decided to share resources. Unprecedented!\u00a0 And through the help of a facilitator, the heated discussion never turned personal — it was about ensuring the success of the business.<\/p>\n

Refine the plan. <\/em><\/strong>Fresh from a vigorous fair assessment,\u00a0 new energy was channeled into mid-course corrections to catch-up where results were lagging.<\/p>\n

\"Britts
Britts Pub in MPLS, is an great urban retreat…Beer, lawn bowling and sunshine in the city.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rest and replenish.<\/em><\/strong> As with most type-A leaders, this group under appreciates the importance of R&R in the leadership equation. After a late night session, we chose to cancel the morning workshop to allow extra time for sleep or working out. The result was a final day of playful work with frequent laughter. “I forgot what it felt like to actually have this much fun at work,”<\/em> announced the CFO as we said our final goodbyes.<\/p>\n

Reaffirm mission.<\/em><\/strong> Even the best leaders need to be reminded of the \u2018why\u2019 in our pursuits. Especially when times are tough. This team rediscovered their trump card: a compelling mission that motivates people to action. “Forgetting to talk about our mission is a leadership crime of omission,”<\/em> remarked the Founder and CEO.\u00a0 “That’s on us.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Rally together<\/strong>:<\/em> A good retreat increases trust because people are reminded to care about each other <\/em>\u2013 personal commitment helps people stay committed in heavy battle.<\/p>\n

Good leaders make a habit of scheduling retreats throughout the year to pull back, assess and reaffirm mission.\u00a0 They plan in the reflection, rest and relaxation time to ensure the whole team is energized, leading together and prepared to win.<\/p>\n

Now, I need your help!\u00a0 My firm is continually researching success habits of the most invigorating leadership retreats: will you please share your ideas about what really works for you?<\/em><\/p>\n

Then ask yourself: when was the last time I had a really good retreat? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Typically I avoid military analogies, but this one really works:\u00a0 Did you know the concept of “retreat” comes from military strategy?\u00a0 It’s largely attributed to the ancient Chinese teachings of Sun Tzu, in the book The Art of War, written around 500 B.C. “Retreat” as a military strategy is effective both under heavy attack and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[81,107,69,90,83,78,42],"class_list":["post-2785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","tag-friends","tag-fun","tag-goodness","tag-leading-change","tag-personal-leadership","tag-positivity","tag-team-leadership"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs now a good time to retreat? - Good Leadership<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is now a good time to retreat? - Good Leadership\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Typically I avoid military analogies, but this one really works:\u00a0 Did you know the concept of “retreat” comes from military strategy?\u00a0 It’s largely attributed to the ancient Chinese teachings of Sun Tzu, in the book The Art of War, written around 500 B.C. “Retreat” as a military strategy is effective both under heavy attack and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Leadership\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GoodLeadershipEnterprises\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-19T19:59:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archivegl.unlabbeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Sun-Tzu-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Batz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Batz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paul Batz\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e04f1dec941a3368ccc20d0c45ce7e8\"},\"headline\":\"Is now a good time to retreat?\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-19T19:59:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/\"},\"wordCount\":734,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/IMG_8697.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Friends\",\"Fun\",\"Goodness\",\"Leading Change\",\"Personal Leadership\",\"Positivity\",\"Team Leadership\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Leadership\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/goodleadership.com\/is-now-a-good-time-to-retreat\/\",\"name\":\"Is now a good time to retreat? 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