Options
Making the Call
Nothing you invest in developing your skills and confidence as a leader will ever be as immediately gratifying as buying that new phone or attending another industry conference.
Add to that the challenge of finding someone you trust to guide you in that development,
and/or the development of your team and it’s easy to justify putting that decision on the back burner. However, in the immortal words of Rush:
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“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
We spend a third of our lives working and those hours in the office are worth improving. Here are some of the triggers that have prompted leaders I have worked with to retain me.
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They feel they have spent too much time in a career plateau and want to push to the next level.
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The incredible work of their teams remains unremarked or mostly invisible to the organization and the executives to whom they report.
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They have projects they feel strongly about that they just can’t seem to get approved, financed and implemented.
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Every report they get from their teams include additional impediments to progress on projects with no remediation options or alternatives.
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Feedback from the organization is that they don’t know what’s going on, training is insufficient or requires too much time away from their job and they aren’t sure exactly what’s expected of them.
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They have a specific goal they are working toward (their yearly evaluation … retirement … legacy planning) and they need to accelerate the timeline on it.
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They need some impartial and experienced thought partnership during a particularly challenging time of transition.
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They can’t add additional team resources, but their team lacks competency in communication strategy and training strategy and could use some targeted training.
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They are beginning to hate their job.
That last one is a killer, and it's why I feel so passionate about the work I do. Think of a moment in your work where you felt strong, competent, capable, and proud. I want that for you every day. Your bad moments (which will happen, let’s be realistic) should be surrounded by successes and teams that love their work. Because a happy worker is 20% more productive (Forbes) and are significantly more likely to stay with the company (Forbes).
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I have been studying people my entire life and they still surprise me. They're mysterious and unpredictable. Which is why executives quite don’t know what to do with them, and why they engage me. Knowing how to work with people and being able to switch strategies “in-flight” based on their reactions is not something that can be trained in schools or certification programs. I’m able to do what I do because I have decades of experience and it’s my passion.
I know a decision like this is a big deal, which is why I generally suggest an initial free introductory call. If I am new to you, I generally recommend engaging me, or any coach or consultant on a discrete, time-bound initial project with clear objectives. That allows both sides to evaluate the working relationship and decide what’s next. I have listed below some of the ways that I have been engaged in the past. These can and are often modified to fit the needs of a client. It's a good starting point for understanding how I work.
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(NOTE: After needs are identified in our initial discovery session,
a detailed description of each option will be provided with the proposal)
Coaching - Executive Leadership
What you can expect
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Consolidated leadership profile: Style, SWOT
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Facilitated visioning and goal setting session
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Scheduled weekly sessions
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Accountability tracking and action plan
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Key deliverable reviews
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Stakeholder Management and Visibility planning
Executive coaching can also be designed for a group of peers who will take weekly sessions together and learn to be accountability partners for each other and review each other’s materials. Initial profile sessions and visibility planning will remain individual sessions.
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After six months of consistent coaching, individuals will have the option to either continue as a retainer client or switch to ad hoc coaching as needed.
Team Optimization Intensive
For a situation where a team’s productivity is compromised by teammates working in silos, tensions within team, lack of alignment with leadership goals or just inadequate overall delivery.
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What you can expect
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Immersive Team Evaluation and Opportunity Analysis
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In depth interviews with targeted team members
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Opportunity report and plan
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Scheduled bi-weekly sessions with leader
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Team accountability tracking and action plan
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Key deliverable reviews
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Stakeholder Management planning
I will attend a variety of meetings at the start of the engagement to ensure that my assessments are informed by a representative sampling of team interactions. Initial meetings will be in person, if possible. Following meeting attendance can switch to virtual if that works best for the team.
Specific Project Support
This is a pure “contracted for delivery” arrangement to support project team that lack sufficient communication, learning and/or measurement skills for a project.
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What you can expect
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Current state Communication, Stakeholder Commitment, Learning, and Measurement benchmarking
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Identification of immediate needs, quick wins and long-term goals
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Required meeting attendance (as initially agreed)
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Role activity tracking and reporting
The project support option is available for short term assignment to an existing project in need of strategy and template development for implementation purposes. It is recommended that a member of the current team be assigned as a team anchor for these activities once I have completed the strategy and toolset for the identified areas.
Coaching - Emerging Leadership
What you can expect
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Consolidated Leadership Opportunity profile: Style, SWOT
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Working session – option identification, skill development mapping and tailoring of strategic path
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Scheduled weekly sessions
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Accountability tracking and action plan
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Key deliverable reviews
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Stakeholder Management and Visibility planning
Similar to executive coaching but more focused on ensuring fundamental preparedness for the next couple of stages and visible behaviors of an emerging leader from the perspective of those capable of progressing their path. This option can also be designed for a group of peers who will take weekly sessions together and learn to be accountability partners for each other and review each other’s materials. Initial profile and working sessions, as well as final visibility planning will remain individual sessions.
After six months of consistent coaching, individuals will have the option to either continue as a retainer client or switch to ad hoc coaching as needed.
Competency Transfer
The leader may wish to add permanent competency into the organization in communication and/or learning delivery.
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What you can expect
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Targeted team member(s) current state evaluation (SWOT)
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Prepared training to level against set goal
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Key associated deliverable review
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Post Training evaluation or periodic evaluation if longer timeline
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Handover: final evaluation, reference materials, recommendations
Individual or team overview training can be arranged for overall skill development in communication and training delivery modalities and strategies. Depending on the goals identified by the leader and the current level and availability of group, these trainings can be effectively delivered in anywhere between one calendar week of partial day sessions, to up to two months of guided adoption of skills. The shorter time periods will be accommodated with quick reference material to account for retention challenges inherent with fewer reinforcement opportunities. I also can be retained for an additional period for ongoing reviews of materials developed, questions from the team, and mentoring.
Special Projects
I am often asked about projects that do not fit cleanly into any of the above categories. Provided that I have the availability, I am happy to discuss these needs and deliver a responsive proposal. I have, in the past, worked on one-off projects as specific as working with a group of subject matter experts to design role-based training and as broad-reaching as working with an executive to expand his network of peers outside his company.
Most of the executives I work with will tell you that they don’t really understand how I do the work I do. They aren’t quite sure what it is that gives them more confidence in their leadership after working with me or why their projects seem to run smoother when I am working with their teams. It's really a team effort, of course. The details aren't as important as the result.
I’m happy to work with you to create exactly the kind of engagement you need to improve your relationship with your work life. We can start with a casual phone call. Click below to schedule time.
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Book your free, no commitment, introduction session with me today!