Board Retreats and the Steward Leader
By Dr. Brian Simmons
Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash
Years ago, I accepted the call of the Lord to lead a large Christian school in Indiana. My first year as head of school, I led up and suggested to the board chair (also founder of the school 30 years earlier) that we go on a board retreat together. He agreed. We decided to go to beautiful Brown County in southern Indiana that Fall.
This founder had two board members by his side who had served with him for 30 years! After dinner the first night, we decided to take a walk. I purposefully decided to walk alongside of the 30-year board members. After a little while, I said to him “Isn’t this great to walk side by side, cast a shared vision for the school and get to know each other better!?” He replied, “I think this is a waste of time!”
What makes a board retreat effective from the perspective of a faithful steward leader?
Late summer/early Fall, 2025 I was privileged to attend two board retreats. One was with a large Christian school in Georgia, and the other was the board of the Center for Steward Leader Studies. Both boards enjoyed time together at the beautiful lodge at Amicalola State Park in the Appalachian Mountains of north Georgia.
Why do board retreats have the potential to be such special and effective events? As steward leaders we are entrusted with time, treasure, talents and relationships by the Master, God. The most precious of these good gifts is relationships! This explains why the evil one focuses his bunker buster bombs on destroying relationships! For Christian organizations the center of this bull’s eye is the board chair/CEO relationship!
Board retreats can be highly effective because they create a focused, high-engagement environment that encourages strategic thinking, honest dialogue, and stronger relationships among board members and leadership.
We all lead busy lives. Retreats create space to share meals together, watch the sun set over the mountains by a fire pit and get to know one another on a deeper level. What a shame it would be to serve together on a board for years and years and not become friends and really grow to love one another! Life is too short for that! Steward leaders seek to develop the relationships the Lord has entrusted to their care.
As relationships deepen trust grows! At the end of the day, it is trust that carries the day during difficult organizational stretches.
As trust develops, boards are able to leave group think behind and intentionally seek out differing views on important topics. Leaders who choose to bury these views see these discussions as a threat to their unilateral and authoritative leadership! The best boards mine out conflict. They understand that constructive conflict helps the organizations they lead to be more effective because as diverse ideas are discussed the best ideas win! No one person ever has all of the best ideas.
Retreats give a time and place to generative discussions! These important discussions help boards and CEOs develop a shared vision with accompanying strategic thinking. It is important not to stop until SMART goals are developed otherwise the best ideas are never operationalized.
Finally, retreats recharge our personal batteries! We can run out of juice when we maintain the status quo and never break out to new ways of doing and thinking about things! Just as there are faithful steward leaders and the other kind, so there are effective board retreats and the other kind! Steward leaders see retreats as a way to steward relationships, and this results in increased organizational effectiveness.
