For Individuals

I guide the collection and use of 360 feedback from surveys and interviews, various proven diagnostics combined with individual and organizational aspirations.  My approach yields specific, personal, and measurable developmental objectives.  Often, the involvement of the supervisor benefits the process.  This process often yields the best results when combined with other work in the organization on change or strategy implementation—work that provides a broader context and enables particularly concrete coaching.  This type of development usually runs 6-12 months: the earlier months involve multiple meetings to get started, the later months tend toward check-in meetings every 4-6 weeks and then a closing meeting with the client and supervisor to review progress and to plan next steps.  I have worked extensively with various types of leaders including new CEOs, high potentials, and physician leaders.

I work through selected inbox challenges and use them as an occasion for focused, mini-seminars on leadership topics, with both immediate and longer term relevance, such as leading up, team development, effective communication, and mentoring.  This work proceeds for as long as the executive finds it beneficial, usually for an hour every 4-8 weeks for at least a year.

I serve as a thought partner, that is, a safe place to go to discuss topics such as change leadership, the human side of mergers and acquisition, succession, career advancement, team development, diversity, or leading through challenging times.  This work usually proceeds for as long as the executive finds it beneficial, usually for an hour every 4-8 weeks for at least a year.

For Groups

I conduct pulse or status checks by interviewing and/or surveying team members about team functioning.  The particulars of interviews or surveys come from collaboration with the team leader, group members, and additional key personnel such as human resources.  Throughout this process, I collect and tabulate responses, formulate a summary to share with respondents, lead their discussion of the results, and assist in constructing next steps.  The length of the work depends mainly on the number of people being interviewed— interviews last 45-60 minutes, processing of the interviews takes about 30 minutes per interview, and group feedback, discussion, and planning of next steps requires an additional 4-8 hours.

I provide ongoing support to group development by regularly sitting in on group meetings, providing feedback, assisting in the refinement of group practices through brief educational sessions and providing tools to enhance group functioning such as Responsibility Charting, Rules of the Road, and Guidelines for Leading Remote Groups.  This work usually covers about 6-12 group meetings followed by occasional check-ins, including with the group leader, whether she is a project leader, SBU head, CEO, or chair of the board.

For Organizations

I conduct pulse or status checks by interviewing and/or surveying key organizational members.  The particulars of what the interviews or surveys cover derive from collaboration with a combination of key individuals such as the executive team.  The process includes tabulating responses, feeding a summary back to respondents, leading their discussion of the results, and assisting in constructing next steps.  The duration of the work depends mainly on the number of people being interviewed— interviews last 45-60 minutes, processing of the interviews takes about 30 minutes per interview, and group feedback, discussion, and planning of next steps generally running about a day. Often client organizations favor a follow-up session 2-4 months out.

I customize and deliver leadership education—not training— education.  Education concentrates on improving one’s capacity to think, a crucial skills for any leader.  I help develop the capacity to think by ranging far beyond 2x2 boxes and tidy action grids.  I include those tools, but only as part of exploring the mindset and thinking behind their usage.  My writing, references, film clips, and other materials assist leaders in enhancing their ability to see more clearly and to guide both their thinking and that of their people.

I help extract more value from cross-functional peer review of talent for talent and team development.  For example, 9-box provides a useful focal tool, but absent clear guidance and facilitation its use can easily devolve literally into a ‘check the box’ exercise, leaving much of the potential value unrealized.  I can do the advance work of interviewing principals as well as facilitating the senior-level meeting to review talent and guide the follow-up, including further development of reviewed talent.