My services are tailored to each of my clients. Typical components include 1:1 business coaching, additional consulting services (either from my own years in business or in conjunction with my colleagues), follow-up, and on-going support as needed.
So for any new client we first have a chat (complimentary, of course) so I can understand what would be useful to you. Some of the options I might then offer you include:
ISPI™ for Individuals We might start with an assessment, such as the Innovation Strengths Preference Indicator®, or ISPI™. This 20-minute on-line test plus one-hour debrief (for an individual) will tell us a lot about how you function best, and some of the things that might have puzzled you in your interactions with others.
Or we might start with a package of business coaching.
Coaching takes a person from where they are, to where (and who) they want to be. As your coach, I ask tough questions, in service of you achieving your goals. I become your “thinking partner”, committed ally, sounding board, and cheerleader. Together we’ll design an alliance for how we work in partnership, brainstorm new ideas, create a plan for achieving your goals, and I’ll keep you accountable for those pieces for which we agree it would be useful.
Occasionally, I offer my advice and experience (otherwise known as consulting). Projects I’ve undertaken have included Marketing, Strategy, and Business Development projects. I have taken on short-term Operations and Internal Communications roles. Or perhaps I’ve simply experienced a dilemma similar to one in which you find yourself.
Pre-Packaged Programs
Your Uniqueness Is Your Business Based on work I did for myself when I was first changing careers in the mid-’90s, this is work I have subsequently been doing with my 1:1 clients over the last 10 years. Whether they are looking to start a business, or change (or develop) their career, this program is designed to help people understand what’s unique about them, and how they can bring that into the work they do.
Talking About Business Derived from well-received workshops for small-business owners and entrepreneurs run in London in 2011, this series helps participants understand whether they are an entrepreneur, knowledge worker, change agent, Business Artist™, or other type of thought leader; things to think about when you’re starting a business; strategy and planning; and to what leadership role you are best-suited.
Business Mastermind Groups
These are small, facilitated groups of business people in the same field, who come together for mutual support, knowledge sharing, and exploration. They help lessen the isolation many small business people experience, particularly in the early days of setting up and running a small enterprise.
I present both pre-packaged programs, as well as “bespoke” programs developed for a particular team or to address a specific issue. Both types of workshops can be held in person or, where cost-effective and appropriate, by phone.
Pre-Packaged Programs
ISPI™ for Teams This 20-minute on-line test surfaces in one 20-minute on-line test what it used to take numerous tests (measuring a person’s Cognitive, Affective, and Conative preferences) and a day’s worth of debriefing to compile. I typically debrief each person on a team in a one-hour session per person, after which there’s a minimum of a one-hour session to look all together at the team’s profile, and use it to begin discussions about what’s working, what’s not, and how to address the gaps.
Bigger Game® We might run an internal Bigger Game process for your team, or for a few teams with which you and yours interact. The Bigger Game is a powerful approach to innovation and change which has been used by Fortune 500 companies and individuals around the world. Where useful, I can provide follow-on coaching to be sure the changes have fully landed and embedded with the participants.
Dimensions of Leading I’ve used this brief, experiential look at leadership using dance as a metaphor for leading and following. It is one of my most popular workshops, ideal for groups in academic as well as business settings. Dimensions of Leading stimulates conversation and new learning, and works well across cultures – some of my most enthusiastic participants have been in China and Poland, where it was offered in translation.
Power at Work This is a three-day experiential investigation into power and spirituality in the workplace. I once offered it at a management college, where it was a catalyst for tutors and staff to bridge the differences in their roles and forge new understandings.
Bespoke Programs
A sample bespoke program was for a US healthcare organization whose priorities had grown unclear amidst rapid growth. The team lacked cohesiveness. The founder wanted increased commitment to the organization’s founding values and principles. Her vision for the workshop included helping new team members learn the organization’s history, and enabling all team members to identify lessons learned in their three years of working together.
During a series of half-day “on-site retreats”, we identified top-of-list tasks necessary to achieve the next stage of expansion, and clarified the organization’s historical roots. Once the management team all had the same information, it became clear that the rest of the organization also had gaps in historical awareness. The team created a program that conveyed where the organization came from, the values it was built upon, and where it is headed.
We also gathered feedback from the management team around a series of matrices – e.g. inclusivity, organization and structure, openness to change and new ideas from within – which formed the basis for new initiatives and an action plan to be implemented over the next quarter.
My executive retreats reflect my overall approach to leadership development. They are experiential, reflective, and paced by the individual participant and group with which I work. Catalysts for Change is my flagship retreat. I also create customized retreats on request.
Catalysts for Change Busy executives find it difficult to make time for reflection, continual growth, and development. Catalysts for Change is a five-day experiential retreat for senior-level international executives to explore issues of power, leadership, and vision with like-minded peers. We video-tape role-playing of current work challenges, then “sculpt” what change might look like, having done various exploratory exercises to expand participant’s thinking about their options. We complete with a visioning exercise to identify “next steps”.
The first time I offered this retreat, I had a few participants who were experienced facilitators. One told me four months later that rather than “disintegration on re-entry” as he and his colleagues termed their oft-repeated experience, he found the impact of our work together growing stronger, to the point that it was remarked upon by colleagues and family.
(Note: Attendance at Catalysts for Change is by invitation only)
These are some of the services I offer at this time – I am continually adding new ones, and I always tailor what I do for the person I’m engaged with, so it will look different with each client and situation.