Facilitating Leadership Retreats for Executive Teams and Boards
One-of-a-kind, highly engaging content design, delivery and facilitation to unblock your team and achieve your specific organizational objectives.
Building a successful retreat: The Braintrust Process
• Provides focused time to achieve a specific goal (a new direction, solve a complex problem, etc.)
• Upskills the team together with the same messaging, information, and a new shared vocabulary
• Builds stronger, trusted relationships
The goal of this meeting is to synchronize and set the overall direction. What are you hoping to accomplish with your team? What is the one thing that can be accomplished by bringing the group together that can’t be done during the regular day-to-day? What issues need deeper exploration, or would benefit from stronger alignment? And where are the no-go zones that should be avoided?
We meet one-on-one with as many of your team members who will be attending. We want to understand their priorities and challenges, hear what’s stopping them, and learn what would help them become more effective leaders. We do this so we can identify common themes and low-hanging fruit to include in our retreat design. (It also builds trust, which is critical during the retreat itself.)
Based on your goals and the interviews, we’ll put together an agenda that can include a mix of training modules, breakout group work, practical problem solving, and facilitated conversations. (It will also include relationship-building and social time.) There will be a “flow” – a story arc for the day where each block in the schedule builds on the previous one. Our approach will also put together possible pre-reading (or pre-work), so everyone can hit the ground running.
We’ll walk you through the draft agenda, and work with you to fine-tune it. Some clients are surprised by elements of the agenda – but they are there because it can address issues brought forward by members of your team. Once the agenda is set, we’ll begin developing the detailed facilitation notes, customizing any training, and putting together any pre-reading/pre-work.
Attendees will typically have many questions and reflections during the event. Some of the most impactful conversations happen outside the formal schedule: at breaks, the evening before, and the evening after. We actively seek out these conversations to help your team more deeply process their learning.
For any new learning to stick, there needs to be follow up. We will provide visual reference sheets, and provide post-retreat readings. After the event, we will also meet with your senior leadership to share additional insights that surfaced during the pre-interviews, formal sessions, and our on-site conversations.
What we do
- Listen to the goals, blockers and dynamics of your team.
- Plan and deliver the training content for your team (or board).
- Address as many issues as we can with sensitivity and discretion.
- Plan the breakout groups.
- Plan small group work and consolidate the learning.
- Facilitate important conversations to gain alignment.
- Motivate, educate, and inspire teams to work productively together.
- Work with the leadership team / CEO to ensure goals are met.
- Plan relevant pre-work, deliver reference notes, and post-event resources.
- Make it a fun experience for everyone. We're serious, but we have fun!
What we don't do
- "Open" retreats for individuals: we only work with groups.
- Event logistics: We don't pick the venue, meals, etc.
- Pre-packaged presentations: Every presentation is unique based on your objectives, attendee interviews, and your feedback.
- Drama: We are easy to work with. There are no surprises..
Our Process
A collaborative planning process has the greatest, lasting impact on your organization.
We work with your senior leadership on an agenda that meets your objectives, driven by insights from interviews from your team.
Design
Depending on the goals, the day (or days) will include a mix of
training modules,
breakout group work,
practical problem solving,
and facilitated conversations. (It will also include relationship-building and social time.)
Our approach also includes
pre-reading (or pre-work),
so everyone can hit the
ground running.
On-site Delivery
Experience facilitation, training and role modeling from a hall of fame speaker who is also an entrepreneur and executive.
We mix learning with small group breakouts; new concepts can be put into practice immediately.
The groups tackle your organizations real-world challenges, surfaced from the interviews.
On-SITE MENTORSHIP
Attendees will typically have many questions and reflections as they go through the day.
Some of the most impactful conversations take place outside the formal schedule: at breaks, the evening before and the evening after. We actively seek out these conversations to help your team more deeply process their learning.
Reinforcements
For any new learning to stick, there needs to be follow up. We will provide visual reference sheets, and provide post-retreat readings.
We will also meet with your senior leadership to share additional insights that surfaced during the
pre-interviews, formal sessions, and our on-site conversations.
Pricing
In the market for retreat leaders, you will find a wide range of fees, ranging from $5K to $100K+. As there are so many variables (and each of our clients is unique), it is impossible for us to provide a definitive quote without a conversation.
While our fees have typically ranged from $15K to $50K, we don't want this to be an impediment – we're more interested in working with great leadership teams who are looking to make a significant impact.
Give us a call – no obligation, just conversation.
– Randall and Ronja
"Our retreats with Randall and Ronja have been a completely new experience for us. Our retreats had previously never had an impact on the organization; the travel and luxury were just considered a job perk. Now our development days and post-retreat support really propel our teams' success. I wish we knew about them sooner."–I. K., COO
What determines pricing?
- Number of attendees
- Number of interviews
- Number of days
- Number of planning and feedback sessions
- Complexity of the overall goal or challenge to be resolved
- Complexity of pre-prep and post-event resources
- Training license fees
- Other services needed
- Location
More about our approach:
Transform Your Leadership Retreats and Development Days
At the Braintrust Professional Institute, we take a fundamentally different approach to leadership gatherings – one you'll notice from the very first planning conversation.
Our Unique Process
We take your overall goals, and then connect directly with your team members to understand the real challenges they face. This ground-level insight shapes every aspect of the program:
• For intimate leadership teams (under 25 attendees), we aim to interview each participant.
• For larger organizational gatherings (100-500+), we work with you to select interviewees across different roles, functions, and demographics.
Through these conversations, we identify the key themes that will drive meaningful change:
• Uncovering and reframing perceptions that may be limiting team effectiveness and work effort
• Identifying specific knowledge gaps and the topics team members want to learn about
• Addressing misalignments that impact culture, and results
Satisfying both overall goals while also providing participants precisely what they say they need vastly increases engagement, and the longer impact.
Ready to Transform Your Next Leadership Session?
Let's schedule an hour to discuss your goals and explore possibilities - no obligation, just conversation. We're passionate about helping leaders succeed and would love to hear about your vision. Either call us at 416-918-5384, or meet us for a Zoom coffee.
Listen in on this Q&A session on
leadership retreats.
Curious how we can help level up your organization?
Book a call to discuss possibilities, challenges and how he might help.