Summer Retreats to Build Culture, Capacity, and Vision

Planning a summer retreat for your team? Excellent. Make time for golf, the spa, or whatever helps your team recharge, but make sure that's not the main event. The elite advisory teams we work with use their summer retreats to:

Align, Elevate, and Accelerate

A truly effective summer retreat isn't a luxury – it's a leadership tool that brings clarity to your team, fuels momentum for the rest of the year, and sets the tone for the next chapter of firm growth.

I've said it before, and it holds true every year: the teams that finish strong are the ones that start strong. The momentum built between Memorial Day and Thanksgiving sets the tone for the year ahead.

Summer is your window. It's the perfect time to press pause—with purpose. In the daily grind of meetings, check-ins, and firefighting, few teams take time to ask the big questions:

• Where are we headed?
• What's changing?
• What's working?
• What needs to evolve?

A well-designed summer retreat creates that space. Done right, it's not just a break—it's a turning point—a chance to regroup, realign, and return with clarity and conviction.

How to Design a Retreat That Delivers ROI

Retreats aren't just getaways—they're strategic investments in your firm's culture, operations, and future growth. Done right, they surface what's working, reveal what's possible, and lay the groundwork for what's next.

With the proper structure, retreats can accelerate real progress—from boosting productivity to strengthening team culture—and provide the metrics to justify further investment.

1. Set a Clear, Specific Theme
   Anchor your day with a pertinent strategic focus. Whether it's "Scaling with Purpose," "Accelerating Organic Growth," or "Connecting With Future Inheritors," the theme should reflect the direction of the team and bring greater clarity to the key operational areas that matter most at this point in time.
2. Facilitate, Don't Just Present
   Avoid lecturing and instead strive to engage. Consider breakout groups, rotating facilitators, or interactive workshops. Foster open communication and collaborative exercises and discussions that enable team members to reflect, problem-solve, and contribute jointly. The goal is to leave each individual feeling heard, valued, and empowered. Foster open communication and collaboration.
3. Connect Strategy to Roles
   Every person in the room should walk away with a deeper understanding of the overarching theme and its associated challenges, as well as how their work will contribute to the firm's vision and help reach the set goals. That clarity will help to drive ownership, initiative, and trust.

Construct a High-Impact Agenda

A good agenda will be focused but comprehensive, including a mix of strategic planning, team-building, and professional development activities. You may also want to plan ahead and provide team members with some pre-work assignments to get their creative juices flowing so they can hit the ground running. Make sure, however, to include all of the following critical elements:

1. State of the Firm
   Provide a transparent and optimistic overview from the founder or CEO that outlines where you are and where you're going. This will help set the tone of the retreat and reinforce trust.
2. Client Impact Stories
   Ground your team in purpose by highlighting real stories of how your firm's work has positively impacted client lives. Encourage each team member to share their own story of a particular project, client/business challenge, or key activity from the first half of the year that was exceptionally successful.
3. Vision Alignment Exercise
   Lay out key firmwide goals (e.g., one-year client acquisition, three-year growth, or share of wallet targets) and identify potential impediments to achieving those goals. And invite your team into the conversation about what success should look like in the next chapter. This will help to build shared understanding and buy-in.
4. Team Communication Breakouts
   Create space to periodically surface and address any friction points, clarify roles, and build stronger collaboration. These can't-miss moments can make a tremendous difference.
5. Next 90 Days Sprint Planning
   End with clear, measurable action items and timelines for post-retreat follow-up. Additionally, try to have each individual or team commit to one or two priorities they will execute immediately. This will help ensure that the inspiration you just instilled turns into momentum.

Culture Building Is Capacity Building

Summer retreats aren't just about team bonding – they're about team alignment. When your team feels seen, heard, and adequately equipped, they deliver better client outcomes, solve problems more efficiently, and remain committed longer.

Service excellence is the lifeblood of sustainable success – driving both the retention of existing relationships and the acquisition of new clients through word of mouth and referrals. To deliver on it, however, takes time and resources. A summer retreat gives you the perfect opportunity to revisit your capacity plan and determine – based on YTD data – whether any adjustments need to be made. Keep in mind that effective capacity planning doesn't happen in a vacuum (or by just studying your lead pipeline). It takes the right insights, organizational structures, and technology.

You may also want to consider setting aside some time to address individual development plans – encouraging team members to identify one or two specific areas they would like to develop or improve on (both personally and professionally) over the rest of the year; along with what specific actions the firm can take to facilitate those efforts.

And for those of you developing next-generation leaders or future owners, a well-run summer retreat can become a developmental accelerator – helping tomorrow's leaders have a hand in shaping the firm's future.

A well-run summer retreat doesn't just energize your team—it unifies, challenges, and mobilizes them. If you're already planning one, lead it with clarity and intention. And if you're not yet planning one – there's still time.

Coaching Questions From This Article

1. If your team walked out of this retreat with one new belief or commitment, what would you want it to be?
2. How do you want your team members to feel when they leave this summer retreat?
3. What are the key leadership messages in your “state of the team” that you want to communicate?
4. How can you use this retreat to move from coordination to true collaboration?
5. What essential conversations have you been avoiding that need to happen when the whole team is in the room?

About ClientWise LLC

ClientWise is the premier business and executive coaching firm working exclusively with financial professionals. We specialize in helping clients optimize growth and maximize revenue by engaging as a knowledgeable partner in accomplishing specific and significant business results. Our full-service coaching program empowers financial advisors, wholesalers, managers and executives to enhance performance through customized, action-oriented solutions based on each client’s specific vision and situation.

Our certified coaches are members of the International Coach Federation (ICF). They adhere to ICF’s strict code of ethics and have the experience and insight to work with you on the unique challenges and opportunities you face each day.

Drawing from an in-depth knowledge of the financial industry, ClientWise’s mission is to professionally develop industry leaders and consistently raise the bar for industry service, commitment and integrity. Simply put, our singular focus is to help you get clear, get focused, and get results.