Last week I sent a few Tweets from Col­orado Springs where I was facil­i­tat­ing an exec­u­tive retreat with a won­der­ful group of clients. If you hap­pen to fol­low me on Twit­ter, you may have seen this pic­ture of me with a sweet Rain­bow Trout in my hands. The cap­tion read, “Fun exec­u­tive retreat today!”

I got some inter­est­ing com­ments after shar­ing that pic­ture. I heard every­thing from “You charge for this?” to “What a boondoggle!”

Today, I want to share my obser­va­tions about excel­lent lead­er­ship, mag­netic cul­tures, respectable results, and fun.

I am a huge fan of mag­netic cul­tures. When I see and expe­ri­ence them, my curios­ity races. I want to do all I can to learn about the lead­er­ship of such com­pa­nies. While inves­ti­gat­ing mag­netic cul­tures, I’ve observed many of the expected attrib­utes that fill the pages of lead­er­ship books. But I’ve also found some­thing that is rarely writ­ten about in the busi­ness world: FUN!

I am con­vinced that the com­pa­nies with the most mag­netic cul­tures, who achieve the most respectable results, are those with lead­ers who have fun with their teams. They actu­ally enjoy spend­ing time with those they work with, and they even make time to hang out together out­side the office every now and then.

The next time you plan an awards trip, a lead­er­ship retreat, and exec­u­tive off-site, or an all team meet­ing, chal­lenge your­self to invest 25% of your time into hav­ing fun.

When I lead exec­u­tive retreats, I usu­ally con­duct them over a two day period of time, and I break those two days into four quad­rants. One of those quad­rants always incor­po­rates some type of a fun experience.

Last week, it was fly fish­ing. This was a first-time expe­ri­ence for 6 of the 8 exec­u­tive mem­bers. Six months ago, we spent an after­noon on a horse­back trail ride through the beau­ti­ful moun­tains around the Broadmoor.

At BCI, I have fond mem­o­ries of beach bon­fires, moun­tain hikes, go-cart races, laser tag, and wake­board­ing. Even as I write this, I know that I must take my own advice and make sure that we are mak­ing time for these kinds of activ­i­ties more often!

There is some­thing about hav­ing fun together that cre­ates a bond within the group. These shared expe­ri­ences cre­ate cama­raderie and relieve stress. When it’s time to get back down to busi­ness, you’ll find your­self more refreshed and invigorated.

Have 25% more FUN, and you’ll be amazed at how much more you accom­plish with the remain­ing 75%!

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Tags: Culture, Executive Retreat, Fun, Playing, Teamwork

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.