015: Why Leaving Work Makes Us Better at Work

This week I’m wrapping up the agenda for our annual off-site leadership retreat. This year, we’re trying out a new lake cabin spot the week after Labor Day. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite times of year to pause, reset, and get intentional before the busy seasons kick in. I’ve been reading a couple of books lately that really shifted my perspective, and I can’t wait to share how they tie into the way we run our business…and why we even started doing these retreats in the first place.

Here’s the thing: an offsite retreat isn’t just a “nice-to-have” getaway. It’s essential. In EOS, there’s this principle that says you can’t work on the business if you’re always in the business. And it’s true. Day-to-day operations are nonstop. It’s nearly impossible to think big, solve big, and plan big when your brain is full of urgent fires.

That’s where the magic of the offsite comes in. It gives us:

• Space to see clearly - A new environment = fresh perspective.

• Time for the big picture - Vision, goals, and key issues without interruptions.

• A reset for alignment - Making sure we’re all rowing in the same direction.

• Stronger relationships - Because the better we know each other, the better we work together.
  

We also tie our retreats into our quarterly team-building, focusing on one core value at a time. Our values aren’t just words on a wall - they guide how we hire, fire, communicate, and make decisions.

Take FUN, for example. It’s our #1 value, which means it’s never an afterthought. Someone is always making sure it’s built into what we do (and yes, it’s not always me, LOL). It’s not fluff, it’s culture. It’s what makes people love being here.

So when we step away together, it’s not just about getting work done. It’s about building trust, strengthening alignment, and making sure our team is ready for whatever comes next.

See you at the retreat, -Casey 🎯Real Talk - Let’s be honest, if we never step away from the day-to-day, we start to lose sight of why we’re even doing all this in the first place. We get stuck in email purgatory, living off cold coffee, and measuring success by how many fires we put out before lunch. That’s not strategy - that’s survival.

An offsite gives us a chance to breathe, zoom out, and actually think bigger than “what’s due tomorrow.” And yeah, sometimes those conversations get messy or uncomfortable. But that’s the good stuff. That’s where growth actually happens.

And no, we’re not heading to the lake to sit around a campfire singing kumbaya (though… never say never). We do retreats so when the big waves hit, we’re all paddling in the same direction.

If you never leave the weeds, don’t be surprised when all you can see is weeds. 🌱