From Informed Decisions: Conversations and Q&A
with Randall Craig and
Ronja Francoeur

About this episode: 

What should the CEO (and other key senior leaders) be doing at a leadership retreat?

We invite CMOs (and those who work with them) to discuss pressing issues faced by marketing leadership.

• What should their intentions be?

• Are they showing up differently from their day-to-day?

• And how do you get the best from your team at the offsite?

Your leadership retreat is a huge investment, and the opportunities are endless. Let’s take an hour to unpack the impact of the habits and mindsets of senior leaders to maximize the impact of your executive offsite.

Topics Discussed (with timestamps)

• The role of the CEO at a leadership retreat (01:07)

• The impact of CEO as facilitator (06:06)

• How can a senior leader learn how best to participate at their leadership retreat when there is limited opportunity to observe other leaders in this context (since corporate retreats happen behind closed doors)? How can the senior leaders know they have done a good job? (10:20)

• Preparation: What does the CEO have to do to prepare for their team’s leadership retreat? (14:18)

• The positioning of any pre-retreat work (20:27)

• What kinds of one-on-one conversations should the CEO be having with team members at the offsite? (26:37)

• Should the CEO avoid socializing with their inner circle of colleagues at a retreat, or is it appropriate for everyone on the team to see how people are grouping together and who is participating in more influential circles? (30:07)

• How should a CEO react to a team member’s negative, rude, or otherwise anti-social behavior? (35:09)

• What is the CEO’s role in managing the quiet team members vs the vocal team members? Or is that the facilitator’s job? (40:54)

• Do's and don’ts CEOs should be self-aware of at their corporate offsites (45:31)

“It was good! It was very informative and I enjoyed it!” – Christine Allenby, CEO, Ontario Trial Lawyers Association