Does anyone recognize this game?
Last week I spent a day facilitating a leadership team offsite for DaySmart, where much of the time was spent to build Understanding > Awareness > Internalization of their new company values.
I’ve facilitated values kick-offs multiple times, and there are a few approaches that I always incorporate as I know they work:
- Share how the values came to be–the why and the how.
- Invite executive leaders to share personal stories related to the values, how they’ve brought them to life, and where they’ve struggled.
- Include an experiential activity to engage participants somatically, and bring the values to life in a different way.
- Give space and time for individual reflection and action planning.
We did all of this during the day with DaySmart. Many thanks and kudos to the 4 leaders who bravely got up and shared their stories.
As for the experiential activity…
The game pieces in this photo are from an activity I learned years ago:
Broken Squares
With any activity in a facilitated session, it’s critical that the activity align with the content and isn’t extraneous.
In this case, it was a perfect fit to reinforce the values.
What I love about this game is the individual and collective behaviors that come to light, leaving an incredible opportunity for reflection on the potential impact of those behaviors.
- We played the game at about 1:30 in the afternoon.
- The leaders were still talking about it at 10:00 that night.
I have an inkling it might continue to come up in conversation for a while. Not only because of the personal observations but also because of the many, many laughs that were had in the debrief and well after.
You CAN laugh and learn. In fact that’s some of the best learning.
(hint: “Do you know what a square looks like?”)
(hint x 5: “When you think you have your act together, you really don’t”)
I want to thank the DaySmart leaders for fully engaging in the game, committing their energy and attention to the entire day, and trusting me to bring their values to life in a meaningful and memorable way.
Architecting and facilitating days like this bring me the greatest joy in my work; knowing the continued impact is the icing on the cake.
What’s a memorable leadership offsite experience you’ve had?
Looking to increase the cohesion, trust, and impact of your leadership team? Reach out and let’s discuss The Compass Team Experience and how I can help.
#leadership #leadershipteams #leadershipteamdevelopment #teamdevelopment #experientiallearning
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