Retreats: Shifts Happen

Over the past few months, I’ve been working with a client who is opening a retreat center in the Southwest. During November and December, she held three different focus groups.

The goal of these two-hour sessions? To gather information from nonprofit leaders so she could create retreats that were meaningful and in line with what her target audience wanted.

She expected that members of this group would be mostly interested in workshops and trainings focused on improving their respective leadership skills. And maybe some professional networking.

She was off by a mile.

The overwhelming feedback was that they were really burnt out from their jobs. They wanted a break from their responsibilities, the constant pressure to perform, and the overall toll it was taking on them mentally. One leader commented that she didn’t even know how to go on a “retreat.” Another said the word “self-care” was foreign to him.

They didn’t want more trainings and workshops. They didn’t need more networking. What they wanted was the chance to step back and recharge — without the guilt and shame that comes with spending time away from the office — so they could focus on themselves and recharge their batteries.

What is a Retreat, Anyway?

Retreats come in lots of different flavors.

One of my clients went on a two-week trek, hiking in silence with an artist in the mountains of Europe.

Others take a more conventional approach, visiting a retreat center like Kripalu in Stockbridge, MA where they offer a Transformation Nonprofit Leadership Retreat where leaders gather with a small cohort of others to receive coaching, team exercises, and leadership development to enhance their leadership skills.

Whatever the specifics, these are not “vacations.” But they are intended to give people the mental space — and the permission — to step away from the office for a week or more without checking emails, without holding Zoom calls, and without “catching up” on work.

No Guilt. No Shame.

As nonprofit leaders, the weight of responsibility is immense. There is a constant demand for both strategic and tactical thinking — about programming, budgets, payroll, staffing, etc. Of course, that’s also largely true of leadership positions in any industry.

But nonprofit leaders face additional challenges: high staff turnover; a lack of adequate resources; the need to wear lots of different hats; and the biggest challenge of them all — the endless fundraising required to raise money to keep the doors open.

It’s easy to get caught in a cycle of never-ending tasks and to neglect the person most responsible for the success of the organization: themselves. Going on a retreat isn’t selfish; it’s paying attention to your needs so you can better serve yourself and others.

More specifically, a retreat is an opportunity to…

Unplug and Reconnect

Not just literally unplug (although believe me, doing so is huge). It’s also about having the time and mental space to reconnect with your inner self. To remember what inspired you to enter this field in the first place and rediscover the passion that brought you there.

Reflect and Refocus

A retreat is a deliberately constructed, unique environment. It is intentionally arranged so that participants are compelled to focus on personal growth. They start to see things in a different way, shifting their perspective and often coming away with significant new insights.

This, in turn, leads to shifts and insights on a professional level, often prompting significant organizational changes and improvements when they return home.

Cultivate a Supportive Community

Retreats are fundamentally about immersing oneself in a supportive community. Knowing that others in similar — and often, very dissimilar — positions are experiencing the same kinds of challenges and struggles can be both inspiring and empowering. It reminds participants that they are not alone.

Time to Reframe the Conversation

It’s time for nonprofit leaders to stop feeling guilty about self-care. Our societal expectation that we are always on the go, always on our game, and always within steps of our electronic devices, benefits nobody.

We need to prioritize well-being without the burden of guilt. So that we can return to our organizations with renewed vigor, clarity, and creativity, inspiring us to charge forward and lead again.

Burnt-out leaders are not effective. In 2024, self-care is a necessity.

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Workwonder is a supercharger for leadership empowerment and growth. Karen partners with some of the world’s most prolific nonprofit changemakers to do their best, most impactful work through bespoke strategic planning, innovative fundraising strategy, and holistic leadership coaching. Learn more, here .