Making new memories: TwoScots takes on the summit

Making new memories: TwoScots takes on the summit

When you think business retreat what do you envisage? Executives in a generic conference room somewhere otherwise exotic? How about a digital nomad at a coworking space amongst palm trees whilst submerged in a lap pool? Well for TwoScots it was something pretty different.

Whilst we did indulge in some luxury – major shout out to the villa with two pools, a hot tub, cinema and pool rooms. We decided to get out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves to achieve something very outside our norms. So when the entire TwoScots clan rolled into The Summit after three years away for returners and as a first time for many of the team, we didn’t really know what to expect other than it would be both physically and mentally hard.

And honestly, it WAS really bloody hard. Crawling through wombat holes, scaling walls, climbing towers, competitive obstacle courses, laser skirmish and swimming through mud isn’t usually our idea of a good time but every person left completely exhilarated.

At the end of a gruelling two days we came together to share why we loved the experience and amongst the tears there were a few popular themes; seeing people you normally associate with complete infallibility struggle and therefore realising you’re not alone in your own tough moments; knowing that not only will your team help you through anything but that they really want to; finding the drive to push through and win together; conversely being able to celebrate another team’s win with absolute sincerity. I could go on for days.

Really though, those things were the exact point of going away together. Our Directors knew that by forging forward through the physical manifestation of a mentally straining year that we would reconvene as a team. Throughout 2020 we picked up a hell of a lot of skills but also lapsed in our physical connections. Although we were constantly on Zoom in both a business and social capacity, it’s just not the same and we had become numb to that. It’s so easy to forget the importance of in person relationships and the ability to read each other and that was the real purpose of the trip from a business perspective. Really, the purpose was to let go of 2020 and push for a high achieving 2021.

Waking up on Saturday with aches and bruises I couldn’t help but thinking that it was completely worth it. The intention of going to a retreat such as this was not just to bond as a team but for each individual person to see the physicality of what they can achieve and use that as a driving force to succeed in 2021. It may sound like generic empowerment talk and as a major cynic I’m usually the first to dismiss anything that seems like a simple and obvious solution but it’s impossible to see this experience as anything other than a massive win.

So what will I take forward? Firstly, that the group of people I work with are resilient, supportive and exceptional. Next, the leaders of our business are running right beside us and will hit and overcome the same hurdles. Finally, it is our unique dynamic that got us through 2020 and will continue to propel us to achieve great things in 2021.

If you’d like to join our high achieving team in 2021, get in touch with Jeremy Cowan at [email protected] today.