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SERVICES
Making your organization a better place to work in order to attract and retain the people you need starts with an intentional approach to leadership, culture, employee experience, and handling change. To accomplish this we concentrate on three areas:
Inclusion and Psychological Safety
It’s one thing for leaders in a meeting to say, “I want everyone to share their ideas!” It’s another thing for your teams to actually feel they can participate without judgment, uncertainty, or discomfort. Google’s Project Aristotle involved over two years of research and studying almost two hundred diverse teams to learn about high-performing teams. Google’s data indicated that psychological safety, more than anything else, was critical to making teamwork.
Harvard professor Amy Edmonson’s pioneering work defined psychological safety as ‘‘a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up.’’ Numerous articles and studies show that inclusion and psychological safety are essential for today’s workforce.
Your teams and performance benefit when the "intellectual friction" to explore ideas and constructively challenge others required for problem-solving and innovation increases - as a
result of judgment, rejection or a punitive response (i.e., social friction) decreases.
The foundation for a great culture, sustained performance, and innovation is when people feel they can share ideas, critique others, constructively disagree, and “be themselves” without negative consequences. We use proven approaches to ensure that inclusion and psychological safety become tangible behaviors on your teams—not just a great idea!
Jay is certified by Leader Factor, a global leader in the field of providing inclusion and psychological safety
training to teams and executives.
Senior Teams
Leadership teams are often a collection of talented, highly effective individuals who run a business unit, but may not always work well together. These leaders frequently act in the best interest of their own responsibilities and teams—which is different from acting in the best interest of the enterprise and fellow senior team members.
Given today’s internal and external demands, leaders need to openly and honestly explore diverse viewpoints, including areas where they disagree. Senior teams need to discuss and debate, be aligned, commit to the decision, and decide a common direction that best serves the organization. Hallway comments like “I don’t believe that just happened!” or “Not in my department” are signs of a dysfunctional team.
A great workplace atmosphere and employee experience require an aligned senior team that genuinely reflects and consistently communicates “what’s important” to the rest of the organization. In this regard, every leader is a “cultural architect.” Their behavior—whatever it is—sets the tone that others see and potentially follow.
We work with leadership teams to be able to effectively disagree and then commit to being on the same page. This work provides the consistency, transparency, openness, and humanity required to lead today’s evolving workplace and work force.
Our expertly facilitated retreats, executive coaching, and professional development programs promote high-performing leadership teams. Jay is a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Executive Coach, and facilitator of the Jim Kouzes’ Leadership Challenge program, and Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Change and Growth
In fast-paced and changing environments, some may believe there is no time to deal with issues that slow a team down. In this atmosphere, leaders may focus on getting the job done and ignore "how" people work together. The double-edged sword of success and growth brings increased customer and financial achievements, which are typically accompanied by organizational “growing pains.”
Flamholtz & Randle; 2016.
We provide the change management and communication planning tools and formats needed to outline clear roles related to various aspects of the change process. We incorporate forums to discuss the issues related to the transition—helping your teams stay informed, and most importantly involved as change occurs.
We elevate your workplace and employee experience to be extraordinary by incorporating inclusion and psychological safety where teams can make their best contribution, an aligned leadership team, and being focused and intentional about change. Contact us now to be better positioned to attract, develop, and retain the people you need today and going forward.