Once in a leadership role, I rapidly grew to recognize the overwhelming importance of organizational culture, of how the general wellbeing of staff mattered far more than a common direction or sound policy. I could have created the best strategic documents, the most definitive and clarifying policies, but neither made a difference if the team I supported did not feel engaged, safe, or aligned.

How could any leader expect a team to prioritize something as ephemeral as strategy over deeper threads of teamwork, connection, and trust?

A well-designed strategic session or retreat is full of ‘treats’ in the form of insights, connections, new questions, and shared accountability. At their best, great offsites energize the people and fuel the work.

Our north star is clear: after more than 30 cumulative years as senior leaders in diverse organizations, we know what organizations require to thrive, and we love helping them in this journey. Our secret sauce, if you will, is this clarity of purpose combined with a very human-centred, joyful approach to the work. Simply put, thriving organizations need:

• Clear direction,

• Strong leadership,

• Effective teamwork, and

• An adaptive organizational culture

The mediation approach I am learning revealed a lot about the dynamics of conflict and communicating, and also brought me back to my initial exposure to interest-based approaches and win-win thinking.