I recently listened to an interview that Oprah did with Nate Berkus, the renowned interior designer, author, and television personality who has just published his latest book, Foundations. In it, he includes four principles of timeless home design. He suggests that when you’re thinking of designing a space, you should consider how you can:
- Make it personal.
- Embrace history.
- Build character.
- Develop a vision.
My home is in need of a refresh soon, and I found this guidance helpful to consider, but it also struck me how similar these four principles are to the advice I give when I help a business, practice, or even a corporate department plan for a Team Calibration Retreat. Though there are many options and reasons to plan a retreat, our primary goal is for the owner or leader to craft and communicate a clear and compelling “invitation” for the team to align with the future vision, values, and company standards.
We help plan and facilitate a lot of these retreats in Q4 and Q1 (though they can be done at any time), and we always coach the owner(s) on their presentation to the team. I encourage them not to make it seem like an overly memorized speech but rather a clear and personal conversation about the future they’d like to create. I encourage them to speak about why they chose this career, location, and style of practice as well as what they love about it. In other words, make it personal.
Then, I suggest that a brief recap about where they’ve come from, the challenges they’ve faced and overcome, and what brought them to where and who they are today will create a sense of history and belonging for the team. In other words, embrace your history.
Next, they should talk a bit about what they now stand for, believe in, and are passionate about. In other words, speak about how you’ve built your character.
And lastly, I encourage owners to set the vision for the future they want with specifics, clarity, and excitement. You want your team to know and fully understand your short- and long-term dream for the future and feel from you a sense of positive expectation, confidence, and optimism about it. In other words, develop and cast a vision.
Over and over, year after year, we’ve seen teams have complete reboots, resets, and total turnarounds because they got the clarity they needed and the inspiration they crave from their leaders. If you’d like 2026 to be your very best year yet, not just in terms of revenue goals, but also in terms of culture, respect, professionalism, attitudes, and workplace happiness, don’t hesitate. Get a Team Calibration Retreat on your schedule and recalibrate your team with your vision, values, and cultural standards. You can make 2026 your breakout year. Stop tolerating what you don’t want or like, and start living into the best version of you and helping your team become the best version of themselves.
That’s what all great leaders do. They make sure that everyone working for them is clear about what they are tasked with creating and who they need to be or become along the way. You can do it, too. And, you’ll be so glad you did.
Call us. We’ll walk through every step.
“The best teamwork comes from people who are working independently toward one goal in unison.”
~ James Cash Penney
