OUR APPROACH
EASE AND IMPACT
Gotten Stuck?
It happens all the time: at a certain point, a company gets stuck. Maybe key players aren’t talking to each other. Or people feel hopeless that anything will ever change.
From a distance, things might look fine. Even impressive. But, closer up, things aren’t working nearly as well as they could be. You can practically smell the stress and frustration.
Meanwhile, important long-term questions get avoided. What’s the point, after all, when people don’t listen? Or when constructive challenge is met with blow-ups or shut-downs?
So, time passes. Opportunities are left on the table. Leadership transition is delayed or made in herky-jerky fashion. Morale suffers. High performers begin to drift or give up, while others are on the verge of burn-out.
That’s where we come in.
In challenging situations, we’re here to listen to what you’re up against, to think together with you, and to equip your leadership with tested and trusted interventions that can ease or resolve the roadblocks in your company culture.
We bring years of study and research into the topic of individual behavior in complex relationship systems–among people and even in the natural world. So, we focus on the connection between culture (how people act) and mission (what gets done).
From that perspective, we bring long experience coaching leaders toward greater ease and impact.
EASE because, instead of worrying about challenges, you’re moving through them with greater clarity, courage, and conviction. Fewer headaches show up, banging on your door. You’re snared in fewer confusing relationship triangles. There’s trust. There’s alignment.
IMPACT because leaders are equipped with what they need to move boldly in pursuit of the mission, no longer hampered by unresolved tension, confusion, and gossip. They can respond swiftly and effectively to challenges and opportunities, in concert with others, to the benefit of all. And, all the while, they’re building capacity, with a “succession mindset,” developing the next generation of leadership.
By the way, ease and impact aren’t restricted only to work. In fact, leaders tell us that what matters most is the difference they see at home, applying what they’ve learned. If you have the skills to build trust and deal with challenges at work? You can do the same in your family.
WHO WE HELP
We’ve worked with leaders across a wide range of sectors, including technology, accounting, finance, real estate, non-profit, manufacturing, telecommunications, congregations, education, law, transportation, and more. The common theme in them all: the importance of relationships. That’s why our strategic focus is on family businesses.
Most of our clients are family businesses with 40 to 400 employees. Family businesses have both unique challenges and unique opportunities. The meaning and pride can be powerful. But so can the pressure and complexity.
Some consultants promise subject-matter expertise and solutions in various areas: finance, marketing, information architecture. Our approach is different.
We’re focused on building leadership capacity within the company to tackle challenges through greater personal clarity, composure, and courage, and through relationship strategies that ensure alignment, accountability, and the end of avoidance.
ARE YOU COACHABLE?
Our primary mode is coaching. The “coach approach” is rooted in curiosity and candor. Our best work is when we ask a question that stirs your own thinking. Or when we offer feedback no one else has been willing to give. This is different from pretending that we know what’s best for you. It’s different from spoon-feeding off-the-shelf solutions.
As coaches, our clients who see the most gains are high in “coachability.” Coachability means the motivation to take a hard look at your own part in the mess; to see what you need to strengthen or develop to lead others better; to be willing to hear other perspectives; to be up for risking difficult conversations. When clients are humble and hungry to learn–to try something different–that’s when we lean in.
If you’re pretty sure you’ve figured everything out, and are only seeking confirmation? Or if you believe that what’s wrong in the company is only about those “bad apples” and that you have no part in it? We may not be the best fit.
WE CAN HELP YOU TO:
-
Learn to address “the elephant in the room”
-
Grow top-producers into effective leaders
-
Manage change (and resistance to change)
-
Dial down your anxiety to lead by principled conviction, not panic
-
Coach the best out of others with clear, piercing questions–and then hold them accountable to the best they can be
-
Embrace critical feedback from others as an invitation to grow
-
Work through succession to build a legacy you’re proud of
-
Build trust when it’s broken, or not even there
-
Promote a culture where high-quality relationships is the norm
OUR VISION OF TRUE LEADERSHIP
None of us is self-created.
No matter how hard we may have worked, none of us invented ourselves, fully formed. We are all the products of family systems, family patterns, and deep forces that compel us to lead and to serve. To the extent that we’re aware of these patterns, we can begin to make choices in relationship to them.
Invest in Yourself.
So, when we work together, it’s not going to be about how to trick others into doing what we want. Or how to get results fast. Our work is going to invest in you. In your long-term growth. In your ability to lead with integrity. With passion. With clear-eyed purpose. With a vision that inspires.
Invest in What You’ll Become.
In these anxious times where finger-pointing and blaming is all the rage, what the world needs is leaders who can weather the storm with some calm, who can move forward thoughtfully into uncertainty, guided by their convictions and deep awareness of the systems they’re part of. And, because workaholics burn out or lose sight of what’s important, these times call for leaders who are grounded in healthy, sustaining relationships with their own families. Leaders who are leading fulfilling lives of learning and fun on their own. Are you ready to be that kind of leader?
What Clients Say
Working with Jake, I’ve gained strategies for bringing out the best in others while staying anchored to the best of myself.
Sadie Lansdale
Greensboro, NC