Committed to the work, behind the work
We just wrapped up our 8th annual company retreat in sunny Florida. If you scroll through the photos, you’ll see the usual suspects: palm trees, team dinners, beach sunsets, everyone laughing around a table. This year we added more team bonding since our communications and public affairs teams are fully remote and to encourage cross company collaboration with our association management and events team. This included a hilarious “toilet paper game” thanks to our resident summer camp counselor Noah and human battleship (who knew our accountant would be the last one standing!). And yes — all of this was fun, encouraging a lot of laughs and we do enjoy each other, and we do make space for fun.
But behind those photos is the part no one posts, until now: the hard conversations. Because for a small company that prides itself on excellence, honesty isn’t optional — it’s the only way we keep leveling up for our clients.
A retreat isn’t a vacation, though we do disguise it with a warm state for those of us in the freezing Midwest. It’s the one time each year when we pause long enough to ask ourselves the uncomfortable questions:
- Are we doing enough?
- Where are we falling short?
- What’s not working — and why?
- What do we need to change to serve clients better?
- What unspoken tensions need to be aired out so they don’t grow roots?
- Are we building systems that last beyond any one person?
- What meetings are no longer productive?
- Do we have a culture of collaboration?
These conversations aren’t always easy. They require vulnerability, humility, and a willingness to admit when something isn’t working. But they’re also where the growth happens.
This year, we dug into roles, expectations, communication gaps, workload strains, client challenges, and the moments when we didn’t show up as our best selves.
We talked about accountability — to our clients, to each other, and to the standards that make our work exceptional.
We talked openly about burnout and bandwidth.
We talked about systems that need to evolve as we grow. Is our CRM outdated? Why do we have two email platforms?
We talked about the messy, real-life parts of working in a fast-paced, people-centric business. Why aren’t we communicating more?
And we walked away better for it. After spending ten intense hours participating in our pre-retreat Black Swan training this fall where we worked through how to employ Never Split the Difference strategies in our daily interactions, I intentionally paid extra close attention, I got curious and I stopped thinking of responses while my colleagues were talking. I actually listened. I found through that I genuinely like the people I work with – but beyond that, they’re damn good at their jobs.
Our team culture is rooted in transparency. Not the sugar-coated, “everything’s fine” version — the real kind. Radical candor is nice. It’s the type of honesty that says: We can do better here. This is not sustainable. I need help. We have to raise the bar.
When you run a small firm like K2 that has such a broad depth of services – communications, fundraising, association management and events – when clients depend on you for strategy, execution, and outcomes you can’t afford to ignore friction or to not maximize the work product with hours in the day. It seems impossible but we’re trying. You have to face it, talk about it, and solve for it.
We don’t have the luxury of guessing. Our clients trust us with missions that matter, and we owe them a team that is aligned, strong, and honest about where we’re headed. The strongest teams aren’t the ones that avoid conflict and just keep coasting through year after year. They’re the ones that address it. They’re the ones that can sit around a table in Florida and say, “Let’s talk about the hard stuff so we can get better.” They’re the ones committed to constant improvement, refinement, and reinvention. That’s who we are — and that’s why we retreat every year not just to connect, but to build.
Retreats are fun. They’re refreshing. They’re good for morale. Gosh I had fun – the golf cart ride, the human battleship game, the tears of laughter from maybe a few too many cocktails.
But the real value comes from the work you don’t see in the photos: the candid conversations, the honest feedback, the course corrections, the willingness to evolve. Hard conversations matter. They’re how we ensure that year after year, we’re leveling up for our clients — and for each other.
Lucky for our K2 clients- we are. We slowed down this week so we could speed up. We’re here to finish this year strong and to take on more next year.
– Kristen Sheehan, Founder and Partner
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