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DialogueDirect believes in leadership development, and we've seen that summits are essential for fostering our leadership skills. These team retreats are designed to bring our teams together, focus on the essentials, and reinvigorate our team's sense of purpose. Our Mexico City and Guadalajara campaigns were both excited to take a step back from their challenging work and refocus on growing as fundraisers.
We've listed a few of our guiding stars for an outstanding team retreat below. Put these to use when you want to get away from it all with your team, to come back refreshed and stronger than ever!
Go Somewhere Beautiful
An outstanding summit should have the feel of a retreat to it. It's an opportunity to step back, and take a look at the long view. What better place to unwind and reflect than the beautiful Queretaro Valley in southern Mexico? With views like this, your team will be reflecting like pros in no time, while providing robust material for your Instagram feed.
Focus on the Essentials
Taking a step back from the day-to-day grind, you can better focus on what matters most to your team's success. For the Mexico Campaigns, we dialed down our three most important qualities: Vision, Integrity, and Motivaiton.
Mexico City Coordinator Eduardo Velasco opened the proceedings with his talk on Vision.
"I talked about our 'vision and mission' because I feel passionately that our leaders should focus first on their roles as change makers, and how they create an impact in our world through social awareness." -Eduardo
International Operations Manager Steven Richer followed up with his thoughts on how to pursue your vision with Integrity.
"Integrity is crucial for DialogueDirect leaders, and the leaders of any purpose driven company. It is the foundation for growth and sustainability in the business of shaping a new world." -Steven
Finally, Client Services Manager Beatriz Puga brought it home with her presentation on how to maintain team Motivation, to see a vision through to its conclusion.
"We talk about motivation a lot in our campaign, but I felt that we needed fresh eyes on the subject. I wanted to talk about motivation as a tool we use in our professional and personal lives, and to dive into a topic that has much to be explored, in an unconventional and fun ways." -Beatriz
Ask An Expert
Don't rely solely on your team's expertise: bring in those in the know, and get their thoughts. Our own CEO, Mike Wakeland, has been leading outstanding fundraising teams for almost two decades, and he shared his expertise on leadership.
Mike shares his thoughts on the summit:
The 2016 Mexico Summit was full of future leaders of our company. This team continues to shine and set the bar higher for face to face fundraising in Mexico.
A common theme for our summit was, "What type of leader you want to become?" Being a leader at Dialogue is a privilege, and we will continue to invest our time and resources into those leaders who prove to be strong and resilient. In order to win, you first must be a winner!
Many Voices, Not One
Top leaders and managers should have their time in the spotlight, but you lose something if you don't hear from voices across your organization. We know our Team Leaders have valuable insights and we wanted those front and center for our collaboration. The Team Leaders touched on "7 Ways To Win With People", overcoming frustration, field leadership, and developing student mentality.
Celebrate Together
After an intense day of development, remember that you're also here to reinforce your team bond. What better way than to kick back with a local vintage, and celebrate?
Friendly Competition (On The Dance Floor)
It's imperative that fundraisers understand who can really throw down on the dance floor. A leader without sufficient salsa expertise is unfit to lead. There are many points of research that back this up.
Don't worry about the research, just get out on the dance floor and win that salsa/raggaeton competition.
Bonus: Visit A Vineyard
Beautiful scenery, surrounded by a team you love, with a wine glass in hand, cruising through a wine tasting festival. Is there a better way to end a weekend of team bonding?
We want to know how you bring your teams together! If you're interested in visiting Queretaro Valley as a member of our team, you can follow our career opportunities here:
https://www.dialoguedirect.com/careers