The SLT offsite: how to take your leadership team through change
You're planning an SLT offsite. Chances are it isn't just an annual ritual. Something is changing: your market, your technology, your structure or your strategy. And your senior leadership team has to work out how to lead everyone else through it.
That's a big ask for a day or two away from the office. Many leaders are trying to solve the problems of today with the solutions of yesterday. Your offsite is the chance to stop.
What makes a good SLT offsite?
One clear outcome agreed in advance, an honest conversation about the change you're really facing, and time spent thinking together rather than reporting. Leave with a shared story of the future, one big goal and small next steps with owners and dates.
Charts last updated by Captain Cook.
Just east of the Panama Canal lie the San Blas Islands, around 365 of them, ringed by coral reef. When I sailed there, I was struck by how many boats had run aground.
The reason was simple. The charts for those waters were last updated by Captain Cook, several hundred years ago. Good crews were steering carefully by charts that were wrong.
I see the same thing in leadership teams. Capable people, working hard, steering by charts drawn for a world that no longer exists. An SLT offsite is your chance to put the old charts down and draw new ones together.
Five things to think about before your SLT offsite
What has to be different afterwards? Write it in one sentence. If you can't, the agenda will fill itself with updates.
What change are you really facing? Name it plainly. Teams often spend a whole offsite circling the real issue.
Do people feel safe to disagree? If not, you'll get nods in the room and resistance in the corridor.
How much of the time is thinking, and how much is reporting? Updates can go in an email. Protect the time for thinking together.
What happens on Monday? Decide now how you'll keep the momentum once everyone is back at their desks.
Why the Big Bold Mindset fits an SLT offsite
The Big Bold Mindset® is a way of thinking for achieving big bold goals in a changing world. Its starting point is simple: you can't navigate a new world using an old set of charts.
That is exactly the job of an SLT offsite. Your team needs to redraw its charts together, agree where it's going, and work out how to take everyone with it.
The Big Bold Mindset® is built on 21 principles, each with a practical tool. Six of them speak directly to a leadership team taking people through change.
Kevin Gaskell: one version of the truth
His process is made for a leadership team. Forget 5 or 10% growth: what could create 5x, 10x or even 100x?
The team goes into the future together and describes what they'll see, hear and feel, until there's one version of the truth everyone shares. Then they choose the projects that matter most and run them as 50-day sprints.
Six principles for a leadership team facing change
Redraw the Charts: what do we see, hear and feel five years out, and what one project could we start in the next 50 days?
Challenge the Impossible: which of our objections are facts, and which are opinions?
Rewrite the Narrative: what would make us proud if we achieved it together?
Build Your Trust: what builds trust in this team, and what erodes it?
Create Through Conflict: how will we disagree, and what makes it feel safe?
Inch Yourself Forward: what are the three small steps that will make Monday count?
Where a keynote fits in an SLT offsite
Many leadership teams open their offsite with an outside voice. A keynote at the start sets the frame for the day: why the old charts no longer work, and what it takes to lead people through change. It gives the team a shared language before the real conversations begin.
Built for your team, not taken off the shelf
Every audience is different, and every leadership team is facing its own set of issues. So no two of Caspar's keynotes are the same.
Before the day, Caspar does a deep dive into your world: what's changing, what matters most to you, and what you need people to think and do differently. Where it helps, he speaks to several of your senior leaders to get a wide view of what's really going on.
Then he crafts a keynote specifically for your offsite, applying the Big Bold Mindset principles that fit your challenges. Not the talk he gave last week, but one built for your team.
About Caspar Craven
Caspar Craven is the creator of The Big Bold Mindset® and a leadership keynote speaker. He has spoken at events in over 38 countries, for over 400 organisations going through change.
Before speaking, he spent five years at KPMG Corporate Finance, where he was an Associate Director, was CFO of a fast-growth tech company through its sale to private equity, and co-founded and sold a tech business. He has sailed around the world twice: first in the BT Global Challenge, then as skipper with his wife and three children under ten.
His lesson from both worlds: put people first and the results will follow. See Caspar's keynotes.
“Caspar delivered an amazing, inspiring talk to 42 members of our senior leadership team and left them fired up to really deliver big goals. His message of being more human and putting people first has definitely changed my management and leadership style.”
Caspar has worked with organisations including BAE Systems, Burberry, GSK, Intuit, INEOS Styrolution, Johnson & Johnson, Nuffield Health, Pearson, Sage, Suntory and Thales.
SLT offsite questions
What does SLT stand for?
Senior leadership team: usually the chief executive and the people who report directly to them.
What is an SLT offsite?
A meeting away from the office where the senior leadership team steps back from day-to-day work to agree direction, priorities and how they'll lead together. It's also called a C-suite offsite, leadership away day or executive retreat.
What is the purpose of an SLT offsite?
To think together about the big picture: where the organisation is going, what has to change, and how the team will take everyone with it.
How long should an SLT offsite be?
One or two days works for most teams, often with an evening together in between.
What should be on an SLT offsite agenda?
Start with the one outcome you need. Then make time for the real change you're facing, honest disagreement, and agreeing next steps. Keep updates out of the room.
What should an SLT offsite produce?
A shared story of the future, one big goal tested against reality, clear rules for how you'll disagree, and small next steps with owners and dates.
Why do SLT offsites fail?
Too much reporting, not enough thinking, and nothing agreed for Monday. The energy fades within a week.
How do you keep momentum after an SLT offsite?
Agree a few small steps with owners and dates before you leave, and check them at your next leadership meeting.
Should you book a speaker for an SLT offsite?
An outside speaker can say what's hard to say from the inside, and give the team a shared language for the rest of the offsite.
Can a keynote be tailored to our leadership team?
Yes, and it should be. Caspar starts with a deep dive into your challenges, often speaking to several senior leaders, then builds the keynote around what matters most to your team.
How do you lead a senior team through change?
Start with the mindset, not the plan. You can't navigate a new world using an old set of charts.
Offsite and retreat guides
Leadership offsites
Leadership offsite · Executive team offsite · Strategy offsite · Tech leadership offsite · Leadership away day
Leadership retreats
Leadership retreat · Retreat themes · Retreat ideas · How to plan a retreat · Retreat agenda