Grand Success

Wow, just completed a 3-day offsite retreat with a large enterprise here in Dubai. It was an experience of a lifetime. They all came in as individuals and they all left as a team. I can't imagine how much skill it takes for an external consultant to make something like this happen. But here are some helpful hints at achieving transformation in 3 days:

1. Develop trust with the entire system. You can't just take your client offsite somewhere without knowing them and them knowing you. We talked to everyone individually and had constant contact with the system for a month prior to our transformative retreat.

2. Don't be an expert. You will be rejected if you go into a client system and start telling them what to do and how to get effective. We must install self-confidence in the system by making them aware that all the answers lie within them.

3. The client is not the CEO. Never believe that the client is the top guy of the organization. As external consultants, we have a duty to ensure that even the CEO is accountable for his/her performance. So we work for the system as a whole.

These are just some principles that would help get the organization unleash its potential.