Weeeelllll let’s just say that’s a new term Willow is coining in the strategic business planning process, but we’ll get to that later.
February 8th was a big day for the Willow team. The first annual Vision Summit, an opportunity for our leadership team to share the company Vision with the entire staff. But the day turned out to be so much bigger than that!
The friendly folks at 1150 Academy graciously hosted our Vision meeting at their headquarters in Scott Jones’s former home—that’s right, the same one shown on Cribs. Not a bad place to be for a day out of the office.
Our team was greeted at the door and provided with a pair of Willow-branded socks. There are no shoes allowed in the Academy!
Little did our team know that wasn’t the only surprise in store—to reach the theater room, where the meeting was being held, you have two choices: a steep winding staircase or a slide. Naturally, everyone took the slide.
After a fun icebreaker activity, our leadership team shared the Vision (what we want to do in the future) and Mission (what we want to do now) of Willow. Or as I stumbled and called them, the Mision, an unintentional combination of the two—we’ll go with that.
It was important for us to tie each individual team member’s 2016 goals to the company’s goals. So we broke off into teams and shared the goals we’d developed for the year in our annual reviews. After which, each team was thrust into a Jeopardy-style game, “Whose Goal Is It?” The teams competed to see who could recognize the most goals of their coworkers.
But we saved the best for last. To bring the meeting full circle, Willow gave each employe
e a sealed envelope, dimmed the lights, and then rolled the Kid President Pep Talk. After the video was over, everyone opened their envelopes to find a letter and $50. The letter instructed everyone to take the money and benefit another person, pay-it-forward. Not a lot of information, instructions or rules. Just go do good. Bring the Willow Mision to life!
The team gathered together to discuss the options and how each person wanted to make an impact because teamwork makes the dream work. Some wanted to go make an immediate impact and make an individual person’s day. Others wanted to work to get matching gifts to make an even greater impact on a larger organization. It was so interesting to see how the team worked together to discuss options and make decisions! And then everyone went to work! And boy did our team make an impact!
Check out #willowdreamteam for all the great photos!
The day ended with drinks and celebratory stories of our adventures as a team, it was a truly special day!
And it’s just the beginning of all the BIG things this TEAM has planned for 2016 and beyond!
