The best organizations balance two things: a clear vision and strategy from the top, and real ownership for executing it throughout the company.
The leaders immediately below the executive team, often titled Director, sit at the center of that balance. They translate strategy into work, represent management to frontline employees, advocate for their teams’ resources, and form the succession pipeline for executive roles. Yet they are usually the least involved in building the strategy and see the least of where the business is headed.
Investing in this group deliberately is one of the bigger unlocks we see in midsize companies. One practical way to do it is a Leader Day: a one-day, in-person offsite for the executive team and the leaders who report to them.
Planning one
- Why. State the purpose plainly, and repeat it before, during and after. Attendees are trading time away from family and their own teams; they should know what the day is for.
- Who. The CEO’s direct reports and one level below. One person is accountable for the day, supported by a small working group: someone from HR, an executive (often the CEO), and someone with communications experience.
- When. Around a natural inflection point, such as annual planning or the launch of a major initiative. Once or twice a year in steady state; quarterly during rapid growth or transformation. Allow about three months to plan.
- What. One theme that connects strategy, results and a leadership skill, such as “Improving Our Customer Experience.” Every session should build toward it.
- Where. Your own offices work well, paired with a dinner. If the agenda involves hard choices, stay close to home. Nothing feels less authentic than flying the leadership team to Aspen to discuss cost cuts.
A sample day
A Leader Day built around customer experience might run like this:
- Morning. A welcome and a strategy and business update from the CEO and executive team. Then a live panel with three to five customers, followed by table discussions on what the company does well and where it falls short.
- Afternoon. A problem-solving workshop applied to the real blockers surfaced in the morning, then a team community-service project.
- Close. Commitments, a short survey, and dinner together.
Make it last
The day matters less than what changes afterward.
- Commit before leaving. Each participant writes down one to three changes they will make this quarter.
- Pair up. Everyone picks an accountability partner from another team and meets with them within the quarter.
- Ask for feedback on the spot. A three-to-five-question survey through a QR code on the last slide gets the best response rate. Share what you learn and what you’ll stop, start and continue next time.
- Close the loop on blockers. The executive team keeps a blocker log from the day, assigns each issue an owner, and reviews it weekly.
Members of the Kanbrick Community receive the full Leader Day playbook, including a facilitator’s guide, a three-month planning checklist and a sample communications plan.