Leaders need regular reflection time to stay effective and grow their companies. A monthly three-to-four-hour Council Group meeting plus an annual one-to-two-day retreat creates space for problem-solving and strategic thinking without wasting time. The commitment is modest but essential, freeing leaders to work on their business instead of just in it.
What's it worth for you to step back and think about your business, yourself, how effective you're being, where is your company going? If you don't do that occasionally, then I don't think you can do a good job leading a company or growing a company.
Well, the time commitment isn't as vast as I thought it was going to be. We meet for 3 or 4 hours once a month. The meetings are very well administered. All the follow-up, all that type of thing is taken care of by the moderator of the meeting. So I think it's a matter of planning and realizing that it's kind of like, well, I don't have time to go to the gym. Well, yeah, you got time to go to the gym after you had that heart attack and your doctor says, okay, buddy, it's time to start cleaning up your act.
It's one afternoon, one time a month. And, you know, I think that if you looked at the amount of time that a person struggles with a problem or an issue, and then you apply that to one afternoon and having a lot of resolution, I think you're saving time.
Some people spend 100% of their time working, and there's some people that spend 100% of their time dreaming. There's a small group of people that spend 10% of their time dreaming and 90% of the time working. But those are the people that do really well. And I think Council Group gives you that time, just frees up your mind for 3 or 4 hours once a month. You always come up with ideas, always learn something, and there's always something to be applied. So, you know, I'm a great believer in having those times for productivity. And you spend all your time working in your business instead of on your business, it's a problem.
The couple days once a year and then 4 hours once a month. I think it's a commitment that if you can't make that kind of a commitment to your own growth, then I think you're kidding yourself as far as being a leader of any company.
