Most of the time when leaders invite me to facilitate their strategic retreats, the first thing to do is to encourage self-discovery, break the boundaries to create team cohesion. To achieve this quickly, we do a simple exercise called the ‘trust game.’
In 2019, I was invited to facilitate a strategy retreat for the Board and EXCO. The CEO had earlier briefed me about one of the challenges the company was facing; poor board relationship due to trust issues. As part of the retreat, the CEO asked me to help deepen bonding and trust among members for team cohesion.
At the start of the retreat, I asked the members to get a partner and try out the trust game. This was before the Coronavirus pandemic, and it was swift. The trust game requires a pair of people where one partner puts his hands tight on the chest, closes his eyes and falls back into the hands of the other colleague. Many variations of this game exist, the focus is one person puts his life in the hands of the team. Do you have my back? Or does the team have your back?
