Consulting services

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“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”  –John O’Donohue

Executive Coaching

Get out of your own way

“Working with Judy, I have learned how my personality shapes and affects my management style. With this knowledge, I have become a better leader by building upon my strengths and improving on my weaknesses. I am a much better leader and manager and my staff is happier as a result of working with Judy.”  –David McMullen, Principal, KPFF, Consulting Engineers

Executive coaching helps you get out of the way of yourself. Wisdom comes from knowing and tackling the barriers that limit your effectiveness. Some aspects in helping you get out of your own way: coaching and counseling sessions, creativity sessions in which you create the life and business you want, stress reduction tools, organization, focus and time management skill building, psychological testing for professional growth and development.

Coaching for Executive groups

Conversation, attunement, creating the right context and authenticity are the keys in creating great teams. Dialogue for executives helps create effective leadership teams. I have used the dialogue process, created in the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT, for over 15 years to help executive teams come together in effective ways, create context and vision for the team and the organization, and solve critical issues through the process of systemic thinking. The Harvard Business review states that a leader needs to be spending 30 to 40% of his or her time thinking. Learning how to critically think with your team is essential to effectiveness and retention of valued people. Working together in a true team helps increase meaning, morale and better decisions. To create effective teams a leader must be able to use the right lens. Great leaders know how to create context. By creating a lens through which their teams view the world, allows them to interpret even the toughest situations in constructive, empowering ways.

Leadership Development

Do “problem people” take up way too much of your time? Experience and research tell us that as leaders we spend too much time with the people who are problems and not enough with our “Stars”. Developing leaders is essential for a successful business.

You above all others have the essential calling to not only build a thriving business but also to develop those emerging leaders who can continue this legacy. Leaders learn how to create a culture where people want to get out of bed and come to work, where meaning and collaboration is understood as an essential tool to doing right in the world.

Individual coaching

Are personal barriers like the inability to handle stress and/or poor interpersonal skills limiting your executive talent? Through assessment and executive coaching help your executives and professionals perform even better. Clear, concise counseling and direct feedback is given in an encouraging and thoughtful way. A development plan is created to give the person tools for ongoing improvement.

Leadership development groups

A custom program can be designed for your organization. This program is developed around three core processes to help your emerging leaders become even more effective and to work with other upcoming leaders.

1. The first process is to help leaders develop personal effectiveness through self awareness, insight and psychological assessment, as well as peer feedback. Personal alignment of life vision and values with the company’s vision and values would be emphasized.

2. The second process is to educate in leadership effectiveness. Some key concepts in this process would be:

-Understanding the best leadership theories

-Self Mastery and organizational skills

-Situational Leadership and other practical applications of leadership.

-Development of others

-Mentoring

-Creating Narratives/Stories to lead others.

-Communication training

-Leading and facilitation of effective meetings and groups

3. The third process is the art of dialogue and collaborative thinking.  Key concepts here are team learning, systemic thinking, building community, tools of collaboration and how to lead groups in effective thinking. Participants actually engage in dialogue sessions together.

Business Retreats

A retreat is an effective way to bring key people together. This typically happens at a well planned destination where people can get to know each other beyond their roles, practice good critical thinking skills, create a better sense of meaning and more bonding with each other. This greatly enhances leadership skills and builds a better business.

Process:

-Key Issues: includes interviews with everyone to gather important data on crucial issues and concerns. Questions will be created and developed by with input from leadership.

-Assessment: Each person will be given an in depth psychological and communication assessment. Each person will receive a personal feedback session from me with recommendations for professional development. This assessment information will be coordinated by me to be given to the team. I will report on the teams psychological and learning style as well as the barriers to it’s effectiveness.

-Management Retreat: The team will go offsite to relax together, really get to know each other better as well as focus on the key issues, communication and better functioning of the team. We will discuss the key issues in depth and I will present assessment information and observations. The team will also do some team development exercises and  exercises to create deeper intimacy among each other

Assessment for professional development, hiring and promotion.

Executive Assessment

Hiring:  Hire the right person. Make your decision with solid data. Complete a psychological and business assessment to match the right candidate with the right position. Top of the line assessment instruments and  questionnaires along with an in-depth interview. A full report –  both verbal and written – is provided that  includes such information as emotional adjustment, intelligence and cognitive ability, critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, leadership potential, self control, creativity, dominance and other personality traits needed for each situation. Recommendations and suggestions for managing this person are included with the assessment. All assessments are custom-designed and tailored to your needs. You will receive continuous updates and consultation throughout the hiring process. The winning candidate will receive a complete assessment with suggestions for professional development.

Promotion and professional development:  Give your newly promoted “stars” tools to be even more effective.

A complete psychological and business assessment helps each star performer advance in his or her professional development. Feedback targets such things as leadership skills, interpersonal skills, communication skills, the ability to deal with stress and the ability to manage others. High level, top quality written assessments along with coaching and counseling help each person create a professional development plan and a portfolio of skills. Ongoing coaching and counseling is available.

Relationship audits of clients and customers

Do you really know what your clients think of you and your service or product?

To find out, I conduct personal interviews – not stale, generic questionnaires – with key clients or customers. These interviews yield important inside knowledge and understanding of what is important to your client and provide a deeper understanding of trouble spots. Most clients are impressed that your company invests the time and resources to conduct these in-depth interviews. Most are relieved to get the opportunity to express their concerns and appreciation to a trusted third party. (Often clients are less willing to discuss sensitive matters and concerns directly.)