Consulting Services

Our engaging 4-phase process meaningfully involves relevant stakeholders to help us design a user-friendly strategy playbook. As part of managing the change process, we use Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as an overarching framework to guide our work. AI focuses on strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results. The positive emphasis of AI is useful for successfully engaging organizations in intentional strategic management. The result is active participation, ownership, employee engagement, and execution.

Our experienced consultants use primarily qualitative research methods for data collection and analysis. Data collection includes individual interviews, focus groups, open-ended questionnaires, worksheets, and document and artifact analysis. Content analysis identifies themes, patterns, and core consistencies in the data.

The results of our work serve as a guide for developing your strategic framework, consisting of your organization’s vision, mission, core values, purpose, strategy, strategic drivers, and long-term objectives. We provide processes and templates that are tailored to meet your unique needs. We provide you with the tools you need to successfully drive strategy implementation, evaluation, and adjustment.

Our strategy initiatives help organizations achieve long-term superior organizational performance because we focus on a complete view of business success: 1) strategy formulation, implementation, and assessment; 2) using valid and reliable research methods; 3) effectively managing the change process; and 4) producing a user-friendly strategy playbook that encourages routine analysis and adjustment. Because we incorporate the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, and we establish implementation and assessment plans, our clients also experience improvements in team morale, employee engagement, and accountability.

The following phases provide a general overview for how our strategy engagements generally proceed. This is a good starting point for conversations on how best to proceed, which we will determine during our initial meetings.

The Strategy Playbook

The Strategy Playbook is a user-friendly deliverable that concisely provides you a working document for guiding your ongoing strategic work. An overview page provides a visual of the Strategic Framework, Operational Excellence, Leadership & People (S.O.L.) method. Section I, which is 3 pages or less, includes your organization’s vision, mission, core values, purpose, strategy, strategic drivers, long-term objectives, and key metrics. Section II lists key alignment initiatives related to Leadership & People and Operational Excellence. Section III is an actionable, living plan that outlines the boulders (major initiatives), goals, and objectives for each of the strategic drivers. Our clients love it!

Logic Models

Do you want a tool that simply and effectively presents your organization’s business model, strategy, and related initiatives? Well, look no further! Logic models have real executive appeal because they present complex ideas simply on one page, and focuses attention on strategy and long-term thinking. The practical and user- friendly approach of the logic model and its illustrative format prove invaluable when explaining initiatives and strategy, especially to the executive team.

Leading the Change Process

Small or big, acknowledged or not, change remains a constant in organizational life. Our consultants analyze the situation, understand the people involved, and design a plan to successfully lead the change process. There are many different models, theories, and approaches for leading the change process. We help you identify the one that will work given your situation and people.

Learning & Development

We work with executive and management teams to develop and improve their understanding of strategy, strategic planning, and strategic management. Our programs demystify strategy and build a shared language and understanding of organizational strategy that gets the team on the same page. This is especially useful when talking about and working on strategy. It makes all the difference!

We also work extensively with HR executives and HR teams to develop the breadth and depth of their knowledge in strategy, strategic planning, and strategic management. This helps them effectively shape their organization’s strategy. We help HR executives transform their departments into major strategic drivers!

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Strategy Assessments

If you are thinking about developing a strategic plan, already have one, or are already engaged in the strategic planning process, we have strategy assessments that make a difference!

• • The S.O.L. (strategic framework, operational excellence, leadership/people) assessment is a comprehensive organizational assessment used to determine if your organization has an established direction, alignment, and commitment required for realizing long-term superior organizational performance. The results will get your team talking about strategy in a completely different way.
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• • The S.F. (strategic framework) assessment examines the foundations of your organization’s strategic framework: vision, mission, core values, and purpose. Organizations can’t afford to get this wrong, which is why we are here to help.
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• • The S.C.A. (sustainable competitive advantage) assessment is an advanced diagnostic that uses a research-based process to determine your organization’s potential for securing a sustainable competitive advantage. Yes, the Holy Grail of organizational strategy! Why only focus on competitive advantages? They eventually disappear and simply become table stakes. You should also be thinking about the competitive advantage that won’t disappear, can’t be duplicated, and won’t become simple table stakes. That’s right, sustainable competitive advantage. Let us challenge your thinking!
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Talent Management

We focus on designing your organization’s approach to hiring, retaining, and developing people. Our goal is to help you get the right people, in the right place, doing the right things, the right way, for the right results. Our talent management programs are tailored to drive and support your organization’s strategy, developing a powerful value chain from recruiting through offboarding.

Performance Management

People need clear expectations, consistent and useful feedback, and an effective compensation plan. We know what the research says about this and have built a basic performance management model based on that research. Our consultants work with you to design a custom performance management plan that builds on our basic model, customized to your needs. An effective performance management plan produces engaged employees who drive the organization toward success

Developing High Performers

Organizations need all of their team members adding the right value, at the right level. We transform organizations by simply getting everyone to think of themselves in terms of being high performers. This does not mean high potentials. This does not mean high achievers, although it often leads to high achievement. Instead, high performers are individuals who add the right value, at the right level, given their role at the time. Since everyone is both a leader and follower, they need to be an effective leader and follower when in that role. Getting everyone thinking in terms of being a high performer, as opposed to only being a leader, follower, or manager, makes all the difference.

Embedding Core Values

Organizations that live their core values significantly outperform their competitors. It’s not even close. We developed a research-based process that meaningfully embeds core values throughout your organization. Our consultants use qualitative research methods to guide you through the five phases required for embedding core values throughout your organization. The response has been overwhelming!  So much so that we presented our work at the International Leadership Association’s 20th Annual global leadership conference.

Learning & Development

We transform how people think about themselves, their roles, and others. Our experienced consultants help people evolve from being workers, managers, and executives into high performers who add the right value, at the right level. We work with everyone throughout your organization: followers, leaders, managers, and executives. All team members  benefit from learning the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that generate the right results, the right way. Our research-based approach and award-winning consultants gets results. We are dedicated teachers, scholars, and practitioners who specialize in leadership development. Trust us with motivating your people to pursue their personal excellence!

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Leadership & People Assessment

The L/P assessment relies on our leadership framework to generate actionable recommendations for improving your organization’s leadership and people. Our consultants assess organizational leaders and followers and the context within which they operate. Our report details each factor independently, as well as the dynamic interactions between the factors. The L/P assessment remains one of the most effective and useful assessments in the leadership field because it relies on the context within which the organization operates, making the assessment specific to your organization. We will tell you what you need to do to grow and develop your people.

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Communications

Communications drive organizational direction, alignment, and commitment. We make organizations better communicators. Period. Our consulting team designs strategies and plans for these important communication areas:

• Social Media
• Internal and external communications
• Managing corporate reputation, identity, image
• Change management
• Crisis communications

Information Technology

Technology plans, investments, and governance support every aspect of strategic management. Crafting,
executing, and assessing strategy relies on a robust and holistic approach to information technology. Our
consultants help organizations capture technology’s full potential by helping them in the following areas:

• Aligning technology investment with overall business strategy
• IT transformation and change management
• Business intelligence
• Data analytics
• ERP implementation
• Master data management
• Data governance
• IT governance
• Data integration programs (transforming data into usable knowledge to inform strategy)

Execution & Continuous Improvement

Organizations who focus on execution, accountability, and continuous improvement leave the competition behind. We will help you develop the organizational rhythms, processes, and systems that lead to execution and accountability. Customers love our accountability maps because they help them stay organized and focused!

We specialize in formative and summative assessments, the cornerstone of effective continuous improvement programs, and know what methods to use for collecting good data. Our consultants transform that data into information that our clients use to make improvements. The strength of our assessments is that they are designed by professionally trained researchers and analyzed by experienced consultants who know what to look for. Our consultants make sure that our assessments are built into your processes so that evaluation and data collection becomes a routine part of the process.

Learning & Development

Organizations partner with us to increase their knowledge and expertise in communications. We work with executive teams, management groups, and boards to improve communications. Our consultants host workshops and seminars to bring people up to speed on social media strategies, approaches for managing corporate communications, best practices in change management, and effective crisis communications.

Our consultants also work extensively with organizations to improve managerial communications, interpersonal communications, and executive presence. Investments in these areas have a significant ROI for teams, and organizations report immediate improvements in morale, effectiveness, and efficiency. Our award-winning consultants know the latest research and strategies, and they want to make a positive difference. Let us help!

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Operational Excellence Assessments

Are you just not getting the result you expected? Do you feel like your company isn’t making headway fast enough? Are you thinking about changing course because the results aren’t what you want, or expected? We can help! Our experienced consultants are professionally trained researchers who know what to look for, and where. Your organization might have the right strategy, solid initiatives, and useful plans, but perhaps your organization simply isn’t executing. We evaluate your internal communications, organizational rhythms, and continuous improvement plans and provide you a detailed report with our findings and recommendations.

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You want information to help inform your decision-making, which is why you are here. And you want that information to be good information, which means the data used to generate the information needs to be clean data. We are your answer! Our experienced team of doctorally trained researchers know how to design research methods that capture valid and reliable data. We also know how to analyze that data, transforming it into actionable information. It’s what we do, and what we’re passionate about.

The S.O.L. Assessment: Our Comprehensive Organizational Audit

The S.O.L. assessment is a comprehensive organizational assessment used to determine if your organization has established the direction, alignment, and commitment required for realizing long-term superior organizational performance. We assess if you are set-up for success. The results will get your team talking about strategy in a completely different way!

Our consultants evaluate your organization’s strategic framework, leadership and people, and operational excellence. We look at these three areas individually, and then we assess how effectively they are working together. The S.O.L. assessment provides an objective analysis of your organization. The insights gained from this assessment provide a launching pad for honest discussion about your organization’s current reality and future prospects. You gain the information and knowledge required to make the right decisions about organizational investments. The S.O.L. assessment provides a report on the health of your organization, giving you the information and knowledge required to make the right decisions for your organization’s future.

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Strategy Assessments

If you are thinking about developing a strategic plan, already have one, or are already engaged in the strategic planning process, we have strategy assessments that will make a difference!

• S.F. Assessment – The S.F. assessment examines the foundation of your organization’s strategic framework: vision, mission, core values, purpose, and long-term objectives. Organizations can’t afford get this wrong, which is why we are here to help. There is a science and art to designing the foundation of an organization’s strategic framework. That’s right, science and art. Our experienced consultants not only know the latest research, but have contributed to that research! We use our proven research methods to make sure the foundation of your organization’s strategic framework is rock-solid.
• S.C.A. Assessment – The S.C.A. assessment is an advanced diagnostic tool that uses a research-based process to determine your organization’s potential for securing a sustainable competitive advantage. Yes, the holy grail of organizational strategy!  Why only focus on competitive advantages?  They eventually disappear and become table stakes. You should also be thinking about the competitive advantage that won’t disappear, can’t be duplicated, and won’t become simple table stakes. That’s right, sustainable competitive advantage. Let us challenge your thinking!

Leadership & People Assessments

The L/P assessment is comprehensive and uses our leadership framework to analyze your leadership and people. Our consultants evaluate your leaders and followers and the context within which they operate. Our analysis details each factor independently, as well as the dynamic interactions between the factors. We let you know how your organization is doing in these areas and provide actionable recommendations for how to strengthen your organization’s leadership capabilities and how to develop your people. The L/P assessment remains one of the most effective and useful assessments in the leadership industry because it relies on the context within which your organization operates. This makes the assessment and recommendations specific to your people and your organization. We will tell you what you need to do to grow and develop your people, and what is required to strengthen your organization’s leadership capabilities.

If you want to discover how your people are performing and receive the insights and tools to help your team members add the right value, in the right role, at the right level, at the right time, then you want the L/P Assessment! Our consultants focus on developing leaders and followers, and in the process, we transform everyone into thinking like high performers. High performers are individuals who add the right value, at the right level, given their role at the time. Since everyone is both a leader and a follower, people need to be effective in their role at a given time. This is what we mean when we say that we transform everyone into thinking like high performers. This is a game changer for your people, and for your organization!

As part of the L/P assessment, your organization also receives recommendations for improving your organization’s direction, alignment, and commitment (DAC). A firmly established DAC is the foundation for achieving long-term superior organizational performance.

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Operational Excellence Assessments

Are you just not getting the result you expected? Do you feel like your company isn’t making headway fast enough? Are you thinking about changing course because the results aren’t what you want, or expected? We can help! Our experienced consultants are professionally trained researchers who know what to look for, and where. Your organization might have the right strategy, solid initiatives, and useful plans, but perhaps your organization simply isn’t executing. We will evaluate your internal communications, organizational rhythms, and continuous improvement plans. Our report provides analysis and recommended actions to get you moving in the right direction. The O.E. assessment helps your organization gain the momentum and traction that you want!

If external communications are your concern, our experienced consultants audit social media and crisis communication strategies. We also audit strategies and plans for managing corporate reputation, image, and identity. A customer’s perception of your organization can’t be overlooked.