Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk
‘Do as I say, not as I do’, is a phrase that most of us are familiar with, one that we likely encountered more than once as a child. And, let’s be honest, one we have likely said to our own kids if we have them. It is usually accompanied by some sort of gesture that, although we have repeatedly told them not to do, we have done exactly that, right in front of them. It is the complete opposite of our blog title this week of ‘talking the talk and walking the walk’.
Now, let’s put this whole little trip down memory lane into context. We, The Crossing, are a conference and retreat centre. We encourage people to come and spend time, money, and hours away from their desks to visit us with their teams as it will improve overall performance and team relationships. I am sure that people often wonder if we do this ourselves and the answer is yes! And, although we are located at an actual retreat facility, it is our ‘office’ and therefore we must ‘retreat the retreat’ in order to do this with our own team.
It is extremely important for us to ‘talk the talk and walk the walk’ to our customers and guests. We believe in what we have to offer, therefore we practice it as well. How do we know what to provide, what the feelings of accomplishment and growth are if we do not do this with our own team? We truly believe that team building is valuable and not just from the standpoint of playing games or doing exercises, but from the intangible moments that help to forge and strengthen trust, camaraderie, friendship, empathy and FUN! We do this because we love it, we do it because it is fun, we do it because we believe in it!
We are not perfect, we are far from it, but we try to embrace the essence of what The Crossing stands for in everything that we do. We may not be able to get off site to team build every quarter but small in-house lunches, group coffee breaks, spring and fall clean ups, holiday decorating as a team, and the occasional team dinner around the dining room table are great tune ups!
Yesterday we did do an off-site team activity and, as always, it left us all feeling pretty good. With spectacular transportation by our friends at Southland Transportation (always safety first!) we headed out to the picturesque Bow Valley Ranche Restaurant in Fish Creek Provincial Park for drinks, dinner and a highly entertaining murder mystery! Good times, laughs, and full bellies were experienced and we all came home feeling happy to be a team, our team.
Off site meetings and activities can bring so much to an organization whether it be intense uninterrupted time for budget or strategy meetings, a working creative session, or a much needed intellectual break from the end of a busy quarter. We believe in it, we hope you do too and if not give us an opportunity to change your mind:)
Enjoy the weekend and Happy Halloween!
Your Friends at The Crossing
PS – The image above is one of many from yesterday’s festivities at Bow Valley Ranche.
