Navigating Success Through Sr. Leader and Key Executive Retreats with Mark Weston

Hello and welcome to Mastermind Mastery, the podcast for professionals who want to create and run successful peer advisory councils, or as we call them, PACs for short, or they're also known as peer groups or business mastermind groups. I'm your host, Tina Corner Stolz, founder of Elix Council, where I've been in the industry running groups since 2005 and now help those like you with education, certification, and support wanting to do the same. At one time, I ran 10 groups, nearly 100 members, and sold my groups for a good multiple and recently released my second book, Your Seat at the Table: How to Create and Run Your Own Peer Advisory Councils, published by Forbes, and grateful to you that it's an Amazon bestseller. I invite you to join each week where we share strategies and techniques to successfully launch and become a master of running your PACTs. You'll hear insights, perspectives, do's and don'ts, learn from my and my guests' mistakes, successes, and get the inside track to key takeaways. Each time we have a guest, We'll be having a bit of fun.

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Let's get going and dive into today's episode.

So hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. I'm Tina Corner Stolzl, your host, and today we have a guest from like inside the company. Mark Weston joins us today. So welcome, Mark.

Thank you, Tina, for having me. Appreciate it.

Absolutely. And so the topic today is about retreats, but a very specific type of retreat. And it's one for senior leaders, senior executives. So not the CEO or the business owner at the table, someone within the firm in a leadership position. And I believe that this is a great topic to talk about as we get into the year. Because it is something that as you plan for your groups going into the year, this is something to always keep on your mind. If you're not doing a retreat, kind of why and what does a retreat even mean, as well as when and when not to do it. How do you let it evolve? How do you push it or not? But we're going to hear from Mark today how a group that he has been running for years evolved into doing retreats as an added value add of their membership. And so I'm excited today for him to share his insights, kind of how it naturally happened and a little bit about their agenda, their format with it, and some of the nuances that if you're running groups, you're going to want to know. So let's get started with that. And so Mark has been running groups underneath kind of the LX Downsell umbrella since 2017. We were just talking about that.

Yep.

And so it feels longer, which is, I think, positive, doesn't it?

Yeah, it does. Absolutely. Yeah.

Yes.

So can you tell our audience, our listeners today, a little bit about the type of groups that you're running right now?

I am running a group of senior executives in their companies. I always like to say, what is a senior executive? Probably somebody that sits at that table that can make— help make the that make the decisions in the company would be somebody that would qualify as a senior leader. It's not always about the title. It's about what role and function they're— and what voice they have with the CEO. And those are— that's the people that we have. We started this as an in-person group before COVID And when COVID hit, we had the opportunity to take it 100% virtual. And expand it beyond the local area to everybody around the country. And that's what we do. We have members from all over the country now, and it's 100% virtual group. And this particular core group has been together since January of 2021. So they've been together 3 years now.

Excellent. And can you share with the listeners the format that you use? Like how long— you obviously just said now it's virtual, And so what else kind of encompasses the format of virtual?

The format of the virtual is that we meet once a month for 3 hours. We start off like, like all ALS groups with my transition to get them into the meeting and get them out of their head trash, I guess, from the outside world and bringing them on in and focused in our group. And then we also spend probably anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the day, either doing a training session or what we call a perspective report or a deep dive into a specific member's work life as well as their personal life. And then we spend at least half of the meetings processing challenges, opportunities, problems, and ideas, which is really the main focus of, of the group. And the 3 hours goes just like that.

Absolutely. And do you find 3 hours, like, could you go longer? Now I know you probably could because there's always more to do, but the 3-hour window represents kind of what? Versus like 4 hours or 2 hours, that kind of thing.

Yeah, I think 3 hours, what we're able to do is at least process 3 people. We have 9 members right now. In our group, and we're able to process 3 people's challenges, opportunities, problems, and ideas pretty much every meeting. Once in a while we get to the 4th one, but we're able to do 3 in that time frame. Anything shorter, I don't think I could deliver the value to the members. And anything over that, it's kind of difficult to stay engaged, I think, in the virtual world. So I think the 3 hours is a very appropriate time frame.

Excellent. So it sounds like everybody transitioned well from in-person to virtual.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, there was some trepidation about it. People feel that they operate better in that in-person world, but they did transition very well.

So they found out that it could really be helpful still.

Absolutely. And the side note to that, Tina, is that People don't have to get in their cars to, to go to a central location, whatever. So it's much more mindful of their time and it has helped immensely with attendance. We pretty much get everybody in every meeting, whereas before you might get 80% of the people when they have to travel, uh, and can't make it. Now they can, they could be in their car almost and, and be at the meeting.

I think that is also— you tell me if you agree. It feels like and seems like that the reason that is is because being a senior leader, you're sort of sandwiched between the CEO and the owner and what's going on there, but also all of the employees in the organization. And so typically, you're going to get called more urgently and also a little bit more not planned. To solve things or get involved and that sort of thing. And so probably them still being at their desk can be helpful to them versus going, I have to now do travel time, go to this meeting. I'm actually really away and then travel back. Right.

That's a very good point. And one of the things that we did when we started this group, we were meeting East Coast time, 11 to 2, and we've shifted that to 8 o'clock in the morning to 11. So most of the people are actually taking these calls or being on the virtual meeting from their homes. So there's really no distractions. So it's even been greater that we move the time to earlier in the morning.

Good point. Good point. So share with everyone how this evolved to this concept of a retreat, and then we'll talk a little bit about what, what is a retreat. To your group? Like, what does it mean to them? So how did it happen?

What happened?

Group had been together probably about almost a year, and they had a social during the holidays, which we did virtually. We had planned activities during the virtual event, but it's like these people wanted to all get to know each other, which we don't really get to do, get to know on a personal level during the course of the meeting. And they enjoyed that so much that a few months after the holidays, they said, can we do an in-person meeting? And that was the impetus to getting this all started, just because of that social event.

Excellent. And then as you came upon that, these are senior leaders. They don't all have a budget that they're in control of necessarily. So how did that work? And was there a trepidation if they were going to go to their CEO and ask for money to do this? Because they have to travel, go somewhere, be out of the office, and that's like an added expense, obviously.

Exactly. I'm going to say this. It's like somebody once told me, it's about your beliefs and you get stuck in your own head about your beliefs. And I was the one that was more conscious of this budget and the time away, whatever, than they were. I was trying to put it together. So I was very conscious about, let's say, for example, if we're going to meet here on the East Coast, which is where most of the people were. How can we be mindful of their time away from the office and keeping the budget low? And so I chose to do it in my local area, which is in the Washington, D.C. area, as well as the timing of it meant if I could start my meeting around 12, 1 o'clock in the afternoon, everybody can get— fly the same day. Instead of having to overnight, uh, and then end the meeting at 12 o'clock the next day so they can get back. So they're really out of the office 2 days, and then really would be one night's hotel, just doing everything I can to keep that expense low. That's how it started.

And then what happened?

And then, you know, so what I found out is that their CEOs were extremely supportive of them getting together. They see the value that they're getting, not only on the virtual meetings, but what the takeaways were from the in-person meetings. It has evolved now where I guess the end of the story is, is that they now want it to be a day and a half meeting instead of just really a 24-hour time slot. I can get into that if you want, you know, now. Yes, but it's all involved. But really what happened is, is that we had our first meeting in November of 2022. And really what they found is, is that they got more out of the time at the bar that evening and spent 4 hours in the bar closing it down were, if you want to call it, they were processing their own copies, you know, and helping each other out at the bar. So that was a big bonding moment. And then when we did it again in April of '23, again, some of the same scenario, but this time people were coming in a day early because they wanted to have dinner together. Ah, yeah, more bonding moments.

Mm-hmm.

Same thing happened in the November meeting that we just had down in Tampa. Almost everybody came in the night before. And so what people were doing is, yes, they were probably working the next morning before we started the meeting because we can all work virtually today. And at the end of that particular meeting, they said, you know, we really need more time in the meeting. And since we're coming in the night before anyways, as a natural thing, let's go start it in the morning. And go for really a day and a half.

Yeah.

So that's how this whole thing has evolved. And they really feel that they get a lot out of these in-person meetings. And that's why it's a retreat, because it's meeting and personal.

And, and there's so many kind of probably definitions that people use for retreat. And in this case, what you're really doing is right, is bringing the meeting that you have virtually now in person and expanding the format for them, both where they have time to bond, but also I know you have some speakers. Typically they can do some deep dives and also just really probably process more strategic copies because you have a little more time in that in-person creates more questions, which enhances that whole experience. Right.

Yeah. One of the things that the group said, that especially after the first one, they said, we want to have an opportunity for everybody to process a copy in person. Back to what you were just saying, it's more lively, maybe a little bit more engaged, you know, than it is virtual. And I find that they do take a little bit longer because there's just even, even a greater amount of interaction in that particular room. And when you got 9 of those to process, just think about this here. If they take 30 minutes apiece, you're basically taking 5 hours of your meeting time. If I was doing it from noon to noon, that's 8 hours of meeting time when I also have, like you said, speakers, I have training session, I have exercise, I have breaks I have to do. There you go. It's way more than the 8 hours. So you can't get to everybody if you're doing all those activities. So they want to continue with all those activities, plus have the ability to process everybody's in person. And, and, and that's why it's good to be a day and a half.

I love hearing how they are creating their experience. And then I love how they must be selling that internally. To their CEO in order to go and spend extra time away, and which also costs extra money too.

So, and like I said, it was me that was more budget conscious than them, but this group in general, go, you know, this, they're being, you know, their time is being paid for, their trip is being paid for, their membership is being paid for by that CEO. So they're all very good about reporting back to what their learnings are. In the virtual meetings and the retreats and everything like that. So it's a no-brainer for the, the CEOs from what I'm hearing from the group that they feel that they're getting a great return on their investment.

I think that is a big key, particularly for any of you all listening right now. If you're considering doing this level of group, or if you are, how important it is for those members to report back to to who's signing off about the value they're getting, et cetera. So it doesn't always be a mystery. And it's not something that gets cut when it's really delivering a lot of results for that person, that member in the group. And that's good that that's a must-do, in essence.

And obviously, what happens in the meeting has to stay in the meeting. But the takeaways that— that the individual member is getting and the things that they can bring back and make it and make actionable in their companies is enormous. And that's something they wouldn't get if they were still in their box in their company. And the fact that we have different verticals and people in different roles in their companies, that blend also creates this great experience here and brings different expertise levels to, to the subjects. The one thing we always hear in our takeaways is that we're all from different walks of life. We're all different verticals. And I think that is, but it's amazing. We're trying to solve the same issues.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So as we kind of come down, I have a couple of questions and one is, is what has been your learnings through this whole transition of now having these retreats and you've gone from not to having one a year to now two a year. So what have you learned that would be good advice for out there?

I'd like to start it off with really what is it that the LX Council member journey looks like and what that did was accelerate that member journey. Something that might take two years, three years, it just— that first meeting that we had in November 2022 took that member journey from where they started out as a group to our group to my group. They all came back after being at the bar that night and said that next morning, they all said, it is now my group.

And they're priceless.

And that was the priceless moment. And, and that's how I knew that the retreats were were working. And that was the greatest learning here is it's one thing to do the virtual groups, but it's still like everything else in this world doesn't take the place of being in person.

Absolutely. And as a last note of all of your experience in successfully running groups, any advice, like what one thing would you like to share with our audience that would maybe help them do a better job at moderating, whatever that might be?

I think the key thing is, is that, you know, at LX Council, we have a very good framework, but it's really about getting feedback from the members and delivering upon what it is that their needs and wants are, you know, and getting that feedback from the group is extremely important. So that I'm constantly pivoting based on what they want this to be while still keeping it in the same framework of this very successful LX Council, you know, business model is the key thing to having that successful group. There's times that I know I've shared with you in the past, like they do a perspective report every You know, every year. And I thought, okay, after 2 years they probably wouldn't want to do it anymore. No, they want to do it because they want to keep updated with each other, so on and so forth there. So it's really about getting that feedback from them and delivering upon it.

Yeah. Good advice. Excellent. Well, Mark, thank you. I definitely, um, from our conversation know that the listeners today will get takeaways in regards to not only just format, but how to maybe take the groups to the next level if they're not doing a retreat. And that another good learning is a lot of what might be in your head is not in your member's head about the whole idea on top of it all. So don't make assumptions, right?

Exactly. Get rid of your beliefs.

Exactly. So thank you so much for joining and sharing your insights on this topic of retreats. And for those of you out there, we will have Mark's contact info in the show notes if you just want to reach out to him. It's mark@lxcounsel.com. And if you have any— Mark, what?

W. Mark W. Yeah.

Thank you. Very important point.

Yeah.

It will end up going to no one if it was just Mark.

So Mark W. And I know you can find Mark on LinkedIn as well if you want to connect with him. So Mark Weston, W-E-S-T-O-N. And until then, enjoy. Have a great, strong next week, and we will see you back here next Tuesday on the next episode.

Hey, moderators of groups, thank you so much for listening to today's podcast. To get access to today's show notes and exclusive content and resources, visit TinaCornerStolz.com/podcast or LXcounsel.com, where you can also become part of an exclusive online community, attend our academy, or get free resources, templates, checklists, and more. And you can even contact contact me there as well. So if this episode resonated with you and you know someone who can also benefit from listening, please share with them by taking a screenshot and even posting on your social media. I also love reviews and appreciate hearing from each of you, those actually doing this wonderful work. Please tune in next week for another episode of Mastermind Mastery. And I'll close by sharing something my mentor did after every learning moment. He shared a shiny pebble from his pocket with anyone he passed knowledge to and asked them to forward that pebble knowledge on. So now I encourage you to go pass on a pebble, the takeaways you learned today, to either your existing groups or fellow peers. Now go make it a great one.