When it comes to an event like The Global Leadership Summit, it isn’t just about what you learn, it’s about what you do.
So then, how do you turn what you learn into concrete, positive action?
More importantly, if you bring a team to the Summit, how do you ensure that your team’s insights translate into action?
The critical ingredient that turns learning into action is processing. Processing is the “secret sauce” leaders use to leverage Summit learnings.
But finding the time for such processing isn’t easy.
In my days as executive pastor of a large church it used to fall on me to conduct the post-Summit debriefing with our team. The goal was to capture fresh learnings, discuss applications to us individually and to our church, and to lay out tangible next steps.
But with the Summit taking place in the middle of summer back in those days, I knew that such processing couldn’t take place in August; there were too many teammates taking holidays. Early September was also out of the question because of fall start-up activities.
And so typically as the calendar started creeping toward Thanksgiving I would hastily call a meeting of those who attended the Summit, order some pizza, show a DVD of one of the sessions, toss out a couple of questions, and get back to work.
Very little of lasting value ever resulted from these gatherings.
This is why I was so intrigued to learn how The Global Leadership Summit has addressed this in its overseas locations.
From Great Britain to Australia to South Africa to Germany and everywhere in between, presenters of The Global Leadership Summit have begun to include process time within the Summit itself!
Imagine the impact when teams are provided a few minutes right in the Summit experience to turn to one another and discuss the impact of what they’ve been learning. Imagine how much more likely it would be to see these learnings translate into positive action.
Well, this year in Canada we will take a page from The Global Leadership Summit experiences around the world and will introduce a few such opportunities when we gather on September 29-30.
So come prepared to engage your team in the most robust, action-oriented Summit experience ever.
Because when it comes to an event like the Summit, it isn’t just about what you learn, it’s about what you do.
How do you process the learnings from the Summit with your team?
Scott,
Great post! I love your site! I’m glad you wrote this because often after great events like The Summit or Catalyst, I want desperately to prcoess with the team.
Sometimes they decliine or seem to miss the overall importance of what was just heard and experienced. Oh well, there’s always next time.
Thanks,
Brian
Brian, thanks for your insights. I believe all leaders know the importance of gaining maximum leverage out of these events for their teams, and often it starts with approaching it as a true learning experience, not merely a ‘leadership show’.
Thanks for weighing in!