First Annual Free to Relax Team Leadership Retreat
Be a part of the team – www.WealthWithCandles.com
Fun in the Sun, Staying Cool!
The Free To Relax Leadership Retreat – as told by Kathy Schneider, Cathy Mahady, Kim Cook, Tracey Gilmore and Jordan Schneider
After our 1st Annual Free to Relax Leadership Retreat this past weekend in Texas, the five leaders who attended each wrote a few paragraphs describing the event for this month’s newsletter. After compiling the five short stories, we combined them into one long testimonial – it’s incredible, that without discussing what we should write, the five pieces of this story share a common thread and flow together so seamlessly that you would never guess it was written by five individuals.
The first thing that comes to mind in reflecting on our Leadership weekend is how incredibly blessed I am to be working with such a talented and gracious group of people. I’ve never been in a situation where no one insisted THEY were the most important, or the most talented, or the one who most deserved to be heard. The Free To Relax Leadership Team exemplifies the best of what you imagine when you consider the word Team.
The weekend was filled with plenty of camaraderie, learning, sharing and fun. And the idyllic setting in rural Texas surrounded by beautiful farms, gorgeous horses, clear blue skies – and oh yeah – a pool and patio fit for royalty, couldn’t have been more perfect. But perhaps Jordan Schneider identified the solid base this group has worked toward as we sat around the counter eating breakfast one morning. She noted that as we sat, chatting and eating, it felt like something this group does all the time. What’s interesting though, is that prior to this weekend, we had only had brief moments of “live” conversation recently in Las Vegas. But because of the bond that has been cemented, it felt like we were all just neighbors getting together for that morning cup of coffee.
Jim Rohn says, “You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay?”
He goes on to suggest, “Get around people who have something of value to share with you. Their impact will continue to have a significant effect on your life long after they have departed.”
The Leadership of the Free to Relax Team recognized the importance of doing just that. We acknowledged the value and significant effect we have, not only as business partners, but also as lifelong friends.
We brainstormed about what is and is not working for our team, we discussed the philosophy we would uphold and the future direction we will take, we shared books and resources, and we shared ourselves.
So when I ask myself that all important question that Rohn mentions – Is it okay that I am becoming who I am because of the associations I have with this group of Leaders? I can only answer with a resounding, “YES!”
From stories about licking banana slugs to stories about Rocket, the evil horse, we laughed until we nearly cried. We planned the future of this team and shared our goals and dreams, and what specifically would tell us when we have achieved success. The entire weekend felt like a reunion with people I’ve known my entire life.
In planning for the Leadership Retreat, some were able to bring their husband and children, others were not and I must admit there were thoughts of “will this create any conflicts?”
No Fear! The dads jumped right in like “Team”, too! They loaded up the kiddos both Saturday morning and again Sunday morning with a plan! Over the course of the two days they covered Legacy Play Village, Gatti Land, the Disney Movie; UP, Putt-Putt (with stories of holes in one!), The Science Spectrum and the local Ice Cream Shop! We laughed, not sure who wore out who first… the kids or the dads!
In the evenings, as ‘family’ we all gathered around the grill for backyard cooking and swimming! Everyone jumped in as if knowing what was needed without it being said! An assembly line was set up for washing potatoes before baking, folding towels after all the swimming pool fun, and even hauling hay to feed the horses at night!
In telling a few of my friends who aren’t in this business about our upcoming Leadership Retreat, I was met with a lot of sympathy. It dawned on me that most people really don’t enjoy the people they work with – and the thought of wasting a weekend by being forced by your boss to spend time with those people seemed horrendous.
I have to say, that concept is lost on me – because I count the people I work with, especially the fellow leaders of the Free To Relax Team, as some of my closest friends, and there was surely no “boss” forcing us to spend the weekend together!
If I could think of one quote to sum up this weekend, it would be this, by Napoleon Hill: “No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible, intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”
He calls this the Mastermind Principle, which he defines as “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”
Jeff Olson expands upon this mastermind principle in his book, The Slight Edge, when he says “Surround yourself with people of like mind and different talents and temperaments with the purpose of serving the goals of every member of the group. Associate with these people regularly.”
The common thread between these three quotes and the Free to Relax Team Leadership Retreat this past weekend is that we are each others’ Mastermind. The coolest part though, is that we didn’t even have to fly across the country for the weekend to figure that out; we already knew.
One of the aspects of this retreat that generated a lot of excitement was thinking about who would be the next distributors on the team to join in on the Leadership Retreat? With so many talented distributors, only time will tell but it will surely be a great event again in 2010.
I thank each of you for sharing of yourself this weekend, for bringing out the best in me consistently and for spurring me to become all I can become. The Retreat only reinforces that I am in the right place, doing the right things, with the right people. I am blessed that I am becoming the person I want to be because of this group of incredible leaders – and more important, friends!
What a team! What a family!
Be a part of the team – www.WealthWithCandles.com
Kathy Schneider | 
09 17th, 2009| 
