I facilitated a two-day retreat for a national restaurant chain. Afterwards, I sent the CEO this complimentary letter. This letter served two purposes: First, it praised his leadership skills (and mine, because I led the meeting). Second, it set the stage for me to get a superb letter of reference from a CEO.
Harper,
Congratulations on a fantastic retreat!
The content flowed nicely, just as you planned it. I enjoyed seeing the group work together and unify.
Your messages came from the heart, not from a flip chart or PowerPoint, and as a result, they were believable—they had impact.
Here are a few of your words that hit home to me:
- Wanting to make money leads to bold moves.
- We just flat need each other. [Excellent!]
- It's one thing to live in fear; you still have to act and take some measure of risk.
- There's nothing wrong with self-interest-seeing our stock at 45, not 25.
- Bold Vision. Bold Step.
- We have the chance to produce wealth for the shareholders and for ourselves.
- I'm going for it!
- This is going to be successful. I'm not going to work for a company that slogs along.
Harper, as I said in the meeting, I've worked with hundreds of companies. 100% of the time, the limiting factor to growth and success is the leadership, specifically the CEO. Because if the CEO doesn't buy into it, whatever "it" is, it's never going to happen.
You do a good job of modeling the behavior you'd like to see. You have a great vision for the future, and you're the kind of leader others want to follow. I'm very proud to be partnering with you in your bold adventure.
:Bill