For many leaders, a leadership retreat gives them the opportunity to wear Indiana Jones style hats and to endlessly quote David Whyte at each other. The experience is often viewed as more of a treat than a retreat, and the question of who or what they are retreating from is rarely considered.

Some may be distancing themselves from the unpredictable behaviour of their followers, some may be temporarily avoiding the bulldozing boulders of their own leaders, and virtually all of them will be retreating from playing the character that they act out in business life.

However, if the retreat is being hosted with skill and empathy, the gathered leaders may begin to glimpse a space beyond chanting, aikido and Moleskine notebooks. In this discovered space, they may encounter their own authentic selves that are so often in retreat in their day to day corporate existences.

The leadership challenge they then face is to maintain a continuing dialogue with their authentic self as the experience of the retreat retreats from their memory. Although they may be full of great intentions and powerful affirmations, this is usually not enough to sustain their avowed authenticity and it begins to waste away like a rare animal in the corporate zoo.

It is easy enough for them to blame their business environment for the impending extinction, but by having the courage to speak up in their true voices, they can begin to recreate the space in which their authenticity thrives. In Dreamwork, we use Selves and Voices as a way to help leaders to open up new space by listening to their own voices speak their truth.