Getting Out of the Weeds and Into the Work

Greetings from the Star City. This week’s edition of the Weekly Report comes to you from the beautifully decorated Hotel Roanoke, where I’ve spent the last few days “working on the business, and not in the business.”

Every six months, I get away from the office and spend quality time with my fellow members of the Virginia Council of CEOs at a retreat. (Although I was advised that CEOs never retreat, we should probably re-name the event as “The Advance.”) We had breakout sessions with subject matter experts and high-caliber speakers, mixed in with a few networking and purely social activities. #drinks #steaks #poker

I got a handy-dandy branded notebook and made lots of plans. I also spent some time in the hotel room and focused my thoughts on the future. What can I improve on? What kinds of factors will affect the company over the next year? How can I recruit and retain great people? How can we become more profitable? The VACEOS Conference gives me the opportunity to focus on the BIG picture stuff; the kinds of things I cannot think about when I’m “in the weeds.”

Leaders of companies need to recharge and refocus once in a while, and the best way to do that is by simply getting out of the workplace. It’s easy if you’re in VACEOs because my Roundtable meets every month offsite for four hours, and twice a year for retreats. Yet, any company leader can take the time to do it… if you make the time to do it. Set a four-hour block to get offsite every month. Have an agenda. Tackle one or two issues each month. Write down the ideas and share them with your team. You’ll find some of those issues are getting fixed. You’ll find success. And you’ll find that time away from the business is good for you, too.

Next year, the VACEO’s conference will be held at the lovely Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. If you join VACEOs, I’ll see you there.