Lake Chala is a place where inspiration is born. This expansive, calming, and downright gorgeous setting gave our team a sense of peace and excitement. I was shocked that in the nine years I have been coming to and working in Tanzania, I had yet to visit.

Lake Chala’s tranquility lent itself to openness and self reflection as we gathered as a team to learn more about each other. Our top priority was to focus on purposefully harnessing our many strengths.

Over a year ago my Global Shaper hub introduced me to the Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment and the book Strengths Finder 2.0.  I am a huge believer that work environments thrive when the individuals who work together know, understand, and respect each other and recognize and appreciate the strengths they each possess. This allows for creative and collaborative teamwork that utilizes everyone’s talents, which leads to a more effective and efficient workplace. The entire TFFT team read the book and came to the retreat understanding their 5 main strengths. I, for example, am predominantly an achiever with focus, input, competition, and belief following close behind. At Lake Chala we talked extensively about how to best apply each other’s strengths in a our work environment.

We also went through a life mapping exercise and shared some really powerful and formative moments of our pasts. I felt privileged to listen and also to have my story, past and present, so warmly received. This process gave the team clarity on each team member’s reaction to hurdles and successes, preference for engagement, and tendency to gravitate to certain projects. This took us into the night, and I truly feel that it brought us closer. I am thrilled everyone was keen to participate fully!

Following the retreat we held intensive sessions with each program director and coordinator to map out the next 12 months clearly identify how every aspect of the programs line up with our strategic plan advance our mission.

We plan on making this retreat an annual event!