Earlier this year Penobscot General Contractors (PGC) hosted a transformative three-day retreat for their senior leadership team that was designed and led by Kevin Hancock. Clay Maker and Jon DiCentes, co-owners and co-presidents of The Penobscot Group, worked with Kevin to build an event focused on shared leadership, disbursed power, and how mission + culture aligned with these principles can lead to transformative business outcomes. This immersive experience invited the PGC team to step away from the day-to-day and reflect inward—on their leadership style, their team dynamics, and their greater organizational purpose.
Over the course of three days, PGC’s senior leaders experienced Kevin’s customized and intimate program. With two half days spent at a lakeside cabin and one full day with Team Hancock at their Home Office in Casco, Kevin guided participants through discussions, case studies, focus groups, storytelling, and interactive exercises designed to showcase examples of disbursed power and tools to help build a culture of shared leadership. The retreat created space for individuals to explore these concepts and discuss how to put into action at their organization.
Kevin’s philosophy centers around the idea that successful leadership is not a top-down model—rather he advocates that shared leadership, dispersed power, and spaces where every team member feels trusted, respected, valued, and heard create winning cultures. Leaders must focus first within and become the change they wish to see—ultimately, leading by example and then helping to create change beside and beyond themselves.
The PGC team left the retreat with actionable strategies to empower their teams, encourage open communication, and create an environment where everyone feels valued and heard. Kevin’s ‘Business of Shared Leadership’ customized program aligned with PGC’s mission to deliver excellence not just in the projects they build but also in the way they engage with their employees and customers.
“When I reflect on our session together, it was powerful being able to see the results of true leadership and how giving everyone a voice that is heard and respected plays out in real life. We know that this model really works because we could see firsthand the culture that has been created at Hancock Lumber. It is one thing to read about leadership, go to training, or have philosophical discussions about it, but it’s another to not only see it in action, but to see the real outcomes.”
– Jon DiCentes, Co-President, Penobscot General Contractors
For PGC, the experience served as both a mirror and a window: a mirror to reflect on their own individual styles of leadership that form their culture, and a window into what’s possible when you go deeper with shared leadership and disbursed power in the place of work. When individuals are empowered to lead from where they are, companies don’t just perform better—they become better places to work. We’re honored to have shared this journey with PGC and excited to see where their path leads next, building off the amazingly talented and incredible organization they already are!