The Practice Of Retreat

The practice of retreat is not new: many of the world’s religions have a tradition of withdrawing from the routines of daily life for periods of rest and reflection, or for pilgrimage.  In today’s business world, we believe that this practice has much to offer.  An article published in Der Spiegel paper in Germany, talks about how German Executives are going on retreat, using the services that monasteries offer (1).  This is an extreme example, but most of us know the value of Away Days for our teams, or for time out for ourselves to reconsider our work, and retreat is a more formal and structured way of taking time out.

The practice of retreat offers benefits which we believe are of value today as in the past:

-         Space and time away from the day to day routine and pressures to reflect on life and work

-         A new environment which helps to give a new perspective

-         Companionship – other people on the journey to share with and learn from

-         Commitment to change – a chance to think about new things and how you would like the future to be

What do you do on retreat?  Each retreat is different, designed to meet the needs of those attending.  But we believe there is a common journey in most, which Brian Draper outlines in his book Spiritual Intelligence (2):

-         Awakening – Waking up to the reality of your situation, both work and life

-         Seeing afresh – Gaining a new perspective on your life and work

-         Painting a new picture – Imagining and creating changes you would like to make

-         Passing it on – Taking your learnings and decisions back to your work and life and maybe passing ideas on to other people too

Retreat is a whole life activity, it is about all of you: work, family, leisure, personality, preferences and skills.  It is an opportunity to take a new view on your life, and how these different factors interact.  We believe the benefit will be for you and for your work, and will enhance your impact.