I attended a conference recently where some people came as individuals and others came with teams from their churches. One group came with a team of seven people. Although they did some arguing along the way, they will go back with quite a bit of focused interaction because they have a shared language and experience.
Next time you go to a conference or seminar, take a team. You can process the ideas coming and going and between sessions. You’ll have other people who “get it” and who will be on board to help implement the ideas. Those who go as individuals will struggle to do anything with the content afterwards.
We assume that our leaders will not have the time or the money to go to conferences or workshops with us so we don’t even ask. Ask, let them decide. When we don’t ask we are deciding for them. Effective leaders always bring someone with them. Good article Bob.