On Thursday, February 18th, Sullivan Engineering held its annual planning retreat. While preparation for this event demands considerable time, energy and expense, our team members eagerly look forward to the retreat every year. Common themes such as our company’s history, our visions for the future, and our employee culture are always discussed at our retreats. This year we delved more deeply into the organization, strategies, policies, procedures, commitment and recruitment necessary to attain the goals associated with what we refer to as our one year plan, our three-year picture and our ten-year target. With the usual transparency, our leadership team presented and reviewed the current picture and the company’s mission. They detailed their expectations of our present team and future recruits. Questions and comments were welcomed. Open discussion was encouraged. The retreat was vibrant and dynamic. Everyone who participated accessed their minds and hearts in order to create a collective vision of success for the firm. Once again, not only was momentum and good will generated, and better communication, mutual trust and appreciation for each other enhanced, but we were able to truly understand the paths to move our work forward in powerful ways.
We capped off the day by celebrating at SmartCEOa_s Future 50 Awards Dinner where Sullivan Engineering was one of the companies honored. The winners of this award are recognized for their exceptional employee and revenue growth along with the potential to be the backbone of our region’s economy for decades to come.
Thursday’s momentum continued into Friday’s Blue Sky Thinking session. Sullivan Engineering team members proposed concepts and ideas that would be typical in a brainstorming exercise, but also, more unconventional and creative wishes, dreams, and outside-the-box ideas were put forth for discussion.
Lastly, on Friday afternoon, the group enjoyed a presentation on Patrick Lencioni’s book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by small business growth guru Jim Neidhardt.” Jim provides team coaching and training based on this business fable in which the author illustrates the behaviors of a healthy and focused team, and offers business leaders the practical advice and a model to assist in building an inspired, effective, and most of all productive staff. By the end of these two intense, yet exciting days, we all sensed how close we are to becoming that type of team, and committed to work hard and aspire to realize that ideal.
