Maryland Family Network
Fall 2022
BACKGROUND
The Maryland Family Network (MFN), led by Executive Director Laura Weeldreyer, ensures that “all young children and their families have the resources to learn and succeed.” The organization’s management team, a group of 17 individuals who represent MFN’s structural and tactical leadership, decided to gather in person for the first time in its current configuration for two retreat days in October, 2022.
THE CHALLENGE
Laura hopes to lead MFN through a strategic planning process in the next year. In order to engage in this process efficiently and effectively, we knew that this team needed to spend dedicated time to forming its identity, and also to building the relationships among its members. We know that, as adults, change happens through relationships. We believe that the same applies to organizations. We believe teams that build relational cultures are best equipped to battle back the serious forces that often work against their well being. MFN’s management team had an opportunity to gather together, learn about one another, and build cohesion across what have been siloed work streams by building relationships with each other.
OUR APPROACH
Our overarching goal for both the MFN’s management team’s retreat days was to build toward a unified, relational team culture that is better prepared to take on the challenges of strategic planning as a unit. We spent the first day of the retreat slowing down as a group to reflect, listen, share, and ultimately build community. Our objectives for Day 1 were to:
Build a foundational understanding of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and its relationship to effective leadership.
Practice engaging the competencies of EQ (Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Management, Fostering Inclusion and Belonging) by slowing down, listening deeply, reflecting, and sharing.
Build a relational culture across the management team as a unit.
During our second day together we expanded out from a focus on the individuals who comprise the team to a focus on the values around which the team unites, and the hopes for how folks wanted to work together. Our objectives were to:
Reflect on the values that drive us as individuals, and connect on the values that we share as members of a team.
Dream about the ideal state of our work, and our capacity for collaboration, as a management team.
Following our two retreat days, we delivered a set of comprehensive recommendations to MFN’s Executive Leadership Team, with immediate feedback, near term, and longer term strategies suggested.
“WBT was a terrific thought partner in engaging our management team and helping facilitate conversations that helped move the team and our organization forward. The sense of partnership with WBT continued even after the consultancy ended, and the firm stands ready to support us as we implement the recommendations they offered. My experience working with them felt more like partnering with vested internal experts than hiring a consultant typically does. WBT’s interest in supporting our management and leadership teams in better communicating and collaborating was clear throughout the engagement. WBT challenged us to step outside our collective comfort zone and consider approaches we have never considered.”
“WBT provided thoughtful, intentional support in planning a leadership team retreat for our organization. They spoke individually with each member of our team to build an agenda that reflected not only my wishes, but what she heard from staff as well. She also provided valuable insights for me as the Executive Director, based on what she heard. The retreat was very successful and gave us a foundation upon which to build as we move forward. I highly recommend WBT – they are smart, thoughtful, sensitive, and creative.”