It was the fall of 1981 when my office telephone rang. On the other end was my long time friend and work colleague, Larry Lottier, the Manager of Education at The Dana Corporation in Toledo, Ohio. I had worked with Larry for several years on the faculty of Dana University, the in-house leadership development center for Dana.
He asked me a quick question. “We have a large hospital system here in Toledo, and they are looking for someone to facilitate their upcoming Executive Strategy Retreat. Can you do that?”
“Yes, I can do that.”
After hanging up, I asked my self … “How am I gonna do that?”
Have you ever done that? Committed to something and then figured out how you were going to do that?
Well, we figured it out and my experience turned into a great relationship with The Toledo Hospital, now ProMedica Health System.
Executive Retreats in Home Health Care
About a year later, the phone on the kitchen wall in my home rang. Normally I would not answer it. With two teenagers in the house it was never for me. But I was standing close by so I picked it up. Surprise! It was for me.
Dr. Bob Smith, the paster at our First Presbyterian Church of Oil City PA was on the line.
“Steve, I need your help. I was just elected to be the Chair of the Board of Directors the Visiting Nurse Association of Venango County. The Board wants to do some strategic planning, and I don’t know how to spell strategic planning. Will you help us?”
The first executive retreat for the Board of Directors and senior leaders of the VNA led to a new connection and a solid relationship over many years with Ruthanne Nerlich, the COE of the VNA. It was Ruthanne who dragged me kicking and screaming into the Home Care industry.
Since that time, I have facilitated executive retreats for over 500 different healthcare organizations from hospital systems and senior living companies to home health, hospice, and Home Care organizations.
Flash Forward Four Decades
Several weeks ago I was in Pittsburgh, PA leading another Executive Leadership Retreat with the senior team of the largest Home Care company in our Top 5% Mastermind Group at the Home Care CEO Forum.
John Bennett, CEO of Sunny Days In-Home Care invited me to come and lead a one-day retreat for his leadership team on the topic of Organization Structure and Role Clarity. John’s company had completed several acquisitions and they are in the process of rebranding and restructuring. John had experienced our Role Clarity process, and he wanted me to work with his executives on developing Role Clarity for their positions, and helping them work with their teams on Role Clarity.
The team came away with a much clearer alignment on the structure of the new organization, and the roles for each of the key players.
As I was talking with John after the retreat, we discussed next steps in the process of scaling his company and developing his executive team. That led me to think about the other types of Executive Retreats I have led over the years.
What Type of Retreat is right for your next leadership gathering?
Over the past four decades, I had the privilege of facilitating over 500 executive retreats, and most of them have been for Home Companies that want to grow their business and get ready for the future. There are five types of retreats that Home Care CEOs often use to bring their leadership teams into alignment:
- The Visioning Retreat – crafting a five-year vision for your company, a three-year picture of what you want to become, and one year goals and strategies.
- The Corporate Culture Retreat – clarifying the core values that guide decisions and actions, and defining the behaviors that go with each value. Then developing your strategy to create the culture you want.
- The Competitive Advantage Retreat – there are 29,000 companies doing what you do. How do you differentiate your company for your major competitors and create competitive advantage in your local marketplace?
- The Operating Systems Retreat – we have defined twelve systems in an highly effective Home Care company. How well are your systems defined and executed? How do you see your company using AI to make your systems more efficient? What do your people need to know and do to execute your systems with excellence.
- The Leadership Development Retreat – one of the trends that is shaping the Home Care industry as companies grow larger in scale is leadership development. Growing companies need leaders who can inspire, lead, coach, and mentor teams of people.
If you are considering a retreat to bring your top leadership team into alignment, let’s have a conversation about how we can support you in planning, organizing, and facilitating your next Executive Retreat.
