Insights

Activating WONDER
Activating WONDER 2068 1438 SageRiver Consulting LLC

As part of SageRiver’s study of how wonder can inspire strategy, SageRiver’s founder, Susan Heinzeroth, sat down with author and management consultant Judy Goldberg. Following a cancer diagnosis in 2017, Judy realized that skills she spent a lifetime developing were helping her effect positive changes despite the health challenges she faced.  Wanting to share those tools with others, she developed a newly published resource, titled “Wake Up and Wondershift: Five Themes and 50 Exercises Designed to Activate Wonder and Create Lasting Shifts.”

SageRiver (SR): Thank you for being with us, Judy. Let me start with a basic question. What do you mean by wonder?

Judy Goldberg (JG): When I speak of wonder, I’m referring primarily to the wonder within our own control or influence. My focus is on the wonder that runs through our bodies and gives us hints at what we should pay attention to next, or the wonder that challenges us to leave our comfort zones or bring new ideas to life.

SR: So, your book is about the personal shifts and personal wonder we can cultivate in ourselves?

JG: Yes, it’s about waking up to the wonder that’s within us. Because I believe it’s within all of us. We all have a voice that whispers, “I wonder if I…” or “I wonder when I can?” I want to help people wake up to that wonder and do something about it.

SR: The subtitle of your book suggests that activating wonder is essential to making lasting shifts. Why do you think we need to activate wonder?

JG: Because it’s linked to our goals and objectives and what we want out of life. At the same time, activating wonder requires intentionality. It means that we’re actively engaging in our experiences, situations and ideas in new ways. And if we’re not activating wonder, then we might be closing ourselves off to possibilities and going after the wrong goals and objectives.

SR: I couldn’t agree more. In fact, SageRiver’s tagline is Illuminating Possibility. Igniting Change. We chose that tagline because we want to help our clients see the larger landscape and imagine a broader range of capability. Do you find that it’s difficult for some people or teams to do that?

JG: Yes, and there are myriad reasons why. One is people will say there’s no time, right? Other people have a cognitive bias that relies on familiar patterns and experiences. I think people also have a fear of the unknown, or fixed mindsets or simply limited exposure to diverse experiences that enable them to imagine possibilities.

SR: So how do you help them break through those barriers?

JG: It needs to be intentional and incremental because there’s been so much research that shows that throwing people in a room and asking them to brainstorm on the spot is probably the worst thing you can do.

Instead, we need to help people practice creative thinking and expose them to new experiences. For example, I ask people to read different reviews on a topic and bring people together to then engage in a debate. That helps them shift their thinking into seeing two sides of a question. Another strategy I’ve tried is to take people on a field trip to somewhere they’ve never been. Little things like field trips can be eye-opening and help people imagine possibilities.

SR: Those are great suggestions. Within our own firm, we make it a practice to inspire and invest in the curiosity and wonder of our staff. Even if the connection to our work isn’t immediately obvious, we find that by following our wonder, we bring back new ways of thinking that infuse our strategy work.

JG: Exactly!

SR: You included the word “shift” in the title of your book. Can you briefly describe the five themes in your book that help us wake up to wonder and make positive shifts in our lives?

JG: I use S.H.I.F.T. as an acronym as well as an outcome. Each letter stands for a different theme that I explore in a section of the book.

  • S is for Shape, which is about the power of mindset in forming our lives.
  • H is for Harmony, which is about achieving inner harmony as well as harmony with others.
  • I is for Imagine. This is where we let loose and let our imaginations run wild.
  • F is for Focus, which is where we cut through the world of distractions and zoom in on what’s important to each of us.
  • T is for Team, which helps us curate the team we need to make the shifts we desire.

SR: That’s a wonderful blueprint, and I highly recommend the exercises within your book and the creative thinking they spark. Before we close, is there one thing you’d like people to take away from our conversation about the value of wonder?

JG: I’ll share one of my favorite quotes: “A year from now, you will wish you had started today. So cross that threshold because your wonder awaits.”

Seeing WONDER
Seeing WONDER 2000 1333 SageRiver Consulting LLC

As part of SageRiver’s study of how wonder can inspire strategy, we sat down with photographer Tom Riggs. He has built his career around exploring landscapes with wonder to find the story, emotion and meaning in the world around him. His insights can help leaders understand how to open their eyes more fully to see possibilities that would otherwise stay hidden.

Trillium Lake. Published by permission of Tom Riggs Photography.

SageRiver (SR): You’re known for your astounding landscape photography, and it’s often difficult to get to the locations you photograph. Why do you do it? Are these images for you? Or, are you taking them as a gift to others, in the hope the pictures will resonate with them?

Tom Riggs (TR): I take the photographs for myself and process them how I remember the scene. And if that resonates or strikes a chord or an emotion or a memory in someone else, then that’s just the joy of connecting with your audience through your work.

SR: How do you decide what you’re going to photograph?

TR: If I’m out in nature, I’ll have something already in mind that I want to use as my main subject. That will anchor the picture and be what draws you or me to that specific scene. As I look at that, I try to satisfy my need for why I was there in the first place. I make sure I satisfy that curiosity first, and then I’ll look for other things that you can’t see. I’ll look around and explore other angles or a different subject matter or perspective. I may get down on the ground or get an overhead view to capture an idea I was wondering about while I was traveling to that location.

SR: When you look at a scene, how do you compose the photos you take?

TR: Usually, when I come upon a scene, I’m immediately looking for some sort of composition. I don’t know if that’s something inherent or something that is trained, but it seems to come relatively easy to me. I just notice how the eye reaches and flows and focuses around a certain landscape item. I notice the scene itself, as well as how my eye responds to it.

SR: I’ve heard you speak about drawing attention to or eliminating information from the picture. Those feel like strategic choices, and I’m wondering if you can describe the process.

Sol Duc Forest, Olympic National Park. Published by permission.

TR: If I have a subject or an anchor for the photo, I want to decide where to put it in the picture. And it’s usually not smack dab in the middle. It’s usually best to begin with some of the general rules of photography, such as the rule of thirds. That means dividing your frame into horizontal and vertical thirds to create four points where those lines intersect. Typically, it’s a good idea to put your main subject in one of those four intersections. It doesn’t mean you’re locked into that. It just means that’s a good place to start.

Then, I consider how my eye moves around that frame. Do I need to crop out details that pull the eye away from my anchor? Or if I’m walking on a trail, for example, and it leads up to a mountain peak, my eye will naturally follow the trail. If I’m aware of that and use that detail in my composition, it will help give the photograph some depth that leads the viewer into the picture toward my main subject.

SR: Are you conscious about evoking emotion in your composition process?

TR: I think that’s the deepest part of a photograph for me. And the emotion might come from the entire experience I’ve had in capturing the photo. That might mean how I got to that location. It might mean that I waited out a storm for the clouds to clear, and then, miraculously, a beautiful scene reveals itself. Emotion to me is the very essence of a photograph.

SR: Can you tell me about an experience you’ve had like that?

TR: There was a time in Oregon when I wanted to photograph a remote mountain lake at sunrise (see the picture of Trillium Lake, pictured at top). So, I drove there and tried to sleep in my car overnight. I was rewarded with one of the most incredible sunrises—a crystal clear lake with a mirror image of the mountain in the background. It was pitch dark when I got there. I had no idea what the morning would bring. But I made the effort, and it was incredible.

There was only one other photographer there, and we just looked at each other with wonder. It was almost as if we were saying to each other, “I can’t believe we’re visualizing this incredible sunrise and nobody else is around.” The emotion comes out of the whole process. It doesn’t always work out the way I hope, but I have to be open to the possibility. The voice in my head always tells me, “Well, if you don’t go, you’ll probably miss the best sunrise that’s ever been made.”

SR: So, the lesson is to embrace all aspects of the experience as part of the wonder that you’re creating in your life through photography.

TR: Yes. I’d also say that you join a community through those experiences. Most photographers are happy to help with instructions and tidbits about what they’ve learned. Rarely do you find someone who is not forthcoming with helpful information.

SR: And the experience doesn’t stop after you snapped the picture, does it? You also have the opportunity to edit the photo to bring out the wonder of what you saw when you were in nature.

TR: Yes, and the individual expression you can bring to it. It’s interesting that you can have two people who are side by side taking the same photograph, but they will come up with completely different final images. That’s what makes it so exciting.

Meet Addison Bouck
Meet Addison Bouck 1707 2560 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Addison (Addie) Bouck has joined SageRiver this summer as an intern. A true Renaissance woman, Addie is studying history, philosophy and management consulting at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. She also enjoys art, volunteering, sports and sailing—and recently returned from a semester in Italy, where she spent some of her time learning about traditional printmaking methods. We sat down with Addie this month to talk about what she’s learned at SageRiver thus far and what drew her to an internship with the firm.

SageRiver (SR): What prompted you to pursue an internship with SageRiver?

Addie Bouck (AB): I’ve always been interested in consulting. The project-based structure and the problem-solving focus really pulled me into the industry. SageRiver’s size—coupled with its clear focus on strategy—gives me a perfect opportunity to explore the industry while getting hands-on experience. I was also excited to work with this amazing team within a company culture that I find inspiring and enjoyable. The SageRiver culture is one I will look for in future jobs.

SR: What will you be focusing on this summer?

AB: As I mentioned, I was really excited about the variety of work that I get to do at SageRiver. Thus far, I have been focusing on marketing strategy and graphic design, researching emerging industry trends (e.g., artificial intelligence and collective impact), supporting client projects and interviewing other industry members to expand my understanding of the range and scope of consulting practices. I’m looking forward to putting together a final presentation summarizing my work from the summer, as well as compiling and synthesizing the research I’ve completed into a final deliverable.

SR: How does this internship relate to what you’re studying in college?

AB: I’m a history major with minors in management consulting and philosophy. Originally, I added consulting to my degree as a sort of “practical application” of the skills I’m gaining in my liberal arts core studies. However, the more I learn about consulting, and the business world in general, the more direct correlations I’m able to find between these fields. For example, storytelling is a fundamental part of historiography, as well as understanding the developments and rationality of many philosophical trends. It is also foundational to developing an actionable strategy for an organization that speaks to the organizational values and mission, while also taking into account its culture and day-to-day operations. I’m really enjoying discovering these similarities, and I’m looking forward to uncovering other connections as I learn more about the industry.

SR: What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?

AB: I spent a month backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska two summers ago with the National Outdoor Leadership School. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever had the opportunity to do.

I also spent this past May in Barga, Italy, a small town just north of Lucca. with the wonderful artist Swietlan Nicholas (Nick) Kraczyna (pictured at left). He was my drawing professor during my semester abroad in Florence and is staging an exhibition commemorating the 50 summers he has spent creating art in Barga. He is a printmaker known for his multiplate color etchings, and he needed help producing the etchings for his show. I was lucky enough to learn from him and work in his print shop. It was a dream.

SR: What is your biggest learning at SageRiver so far?

AB: I have come to understand that team dynamics and company culture are even more important than I initially thought. Getting to work with the SageRiver team has been educational, interesting, insightful and straight up fun. I can’t wait to apply all that I have learned, not only to my future career but also to how I orient myself in future teams and communities.

SageRiver Adds New Consultant
SageRiver Adds New Consultant 2024 2560 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Mitchell (Mitch) Heinzeroth joined SageRiver last year as a consultant. With years of executive-level retail experience, he knows how to bridge the gap between strategy and operations. He also knows what it feels like to hang upside down on a rope more than 700 feet in the air. We sat down with Mitch this month to talk about what he learned at Target Corp.’s top-performing store, his passion for leading teams and his excitement about joining SageRiver.

SageRiver (SR): Tell me about the role you have at SageRiver. What is your focus?

Answer: I joined SageRiver last year, and my first engagement was with the Family Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC) in Summit County. They retained SageRiver to provide strategic planning services to help them address rising food and housing costs for residents. Stakeholder engagement was an important part of the project because FIRC wanted to develop transformative strategies and partnerships to solve complex, systemic challenges. I interviewed and conducted numerous focus groups with a range of stakeholders, and we synthesized and reported those findings as the foundation for our strategic planning work. SageRiver has always been at the forefront of new thinking and methodologies, and, with my unique background, I bring additional diversity to the team. My hope is to contribute fresh insights and approaches to delivering top-notch work to our clients.

SR: You bring retail leadership experience to SageRiver. Over your six years with the Target Corp., what were your standout experiences or achievements?

A: I was very lucky to work at the No. 1 store in the country for five of the six years I was with Target. It was a massive operation that employed anywhere from 300 to 450 team members at a time, depending on the season. There are accomplishments I am proud of but never expected, such as becoming a district subject matter expert in reverse logistics. My fulfillment role also gave me the opportunity to build a business that grew from just under $3 million to almost $13 million in three years.
Most of all, however, I learned about building teams and developing people. It’s something that gives me joy. Retail operations employ people from all walks of life and every educational and experience level. It’s a fast-paced business, and you need to connect with people quickly, understand what motivates them and create a team environment that encourages everyone to push for success. It’s challenging but fun.

Working for Target also helped me become a better problem-solver. Nothing works as quickly as retail. The challenges you’re presented with every day need immediate remedy. I learned to look at problems from a bird’s-eye view so I could see immediate solutions, but also pursue longer-term fixes within systems over time.

SR: You worked for Target Corp. during the pandemic. How did you lead your team through that experience?

It was difficult. As a large corporation and retailer, Target had responsibility for millions of employees and guests. The government considered us an essential business, so we stayed open throughout the pandemic. The corporation provided policies and procedures that we then implemented in our stores, but we also had to understand the fears and individual circumstances of our team members and guests. Especially at the beginning, most employees and guests were afraid of the unknown—of what it meant to get sick—and didn’t want to step within 10 feet of someone else, but they still needed an income, work, or the essentials to live during lockdown. As an executive team lead, my role was to make adjustments to the extent I could, consider their individual feelings and concerns but still run the business. I tried to always stay positive for the team and keep us moving forward.

SR: What excites or interests you most about your new role at SageRiver?

A: It’s exciting to be asked to strategize the future with an organization. Many of SageRiver’s clients are nonprofit or government organizations, and they make a huge difference in their communities. I’m VERY excited to be part of enlarging their impact even further. The leaders we’re engaging are invested in the process of change and in looking deeply at systems and opportunities for transformation. We’re building change with them, and that’s exciting.

SR: What is your philosophy of customer or client service?

A: In retail, I learned that treating everyone with genuine respect, honesty and a welcoming attitude is critical. Kindness also goes a long way. Those lessons apply to consulting as well, but I’d add that engaging people in envisioning and working toward a better future is also key. That’s what SageRiver is known for—and it’s how we help organizations transform and grow. We’re hired to help make an impact—and it needs to be an impact our clients embrace and own.

SR: What do you enjoy outside of work?

A: I’ve got a wonderful fiancé and two dogs, and any time I can spend with them and my family and friends is time well spent. I’m also a Broncos fan, which has been rough over the past few years. I also love riding my Peloton, and I ran the Colfax Half Marathon this spring. I’ve taken up golf as well, and I compete in fantasy football.

SR: What’s something about you that people might not know?

A: I bungee-jumped off one of the top 10 “legal” bungee jumps in the world (Bloukrans Bridge in Tsitsikamma, South Africa). I’m also an avid Garmin watch user. In my lifetime of wearing it, I have 32 million steps—or 16,337 miles—tracked on Garmin.

Ball Corporation Drives Progress Toward Real Circularity
Ball Corporation Drives Progress Toward Real Circularity 2560 1707 SageRiver Consulting LLC

In our “Stories from the Field” series, SageRiver sits down with senior leaders who are transforming their organizations for tomorrow. Our latest conversation is with Ball Corporation’s Mike Schaarschmidt, senior director of supply chain. As a leading supplier of aluminum packaging for beverage, household and personal care customers, Ball is focused on helping the world move toward a truly circular economy, where materials can be used again and again. Recently, Ball accepted a unique opportunity to further its mission by partnering with young strategists to market a more sustainable solution to plastic cups. The collaboration helped Ball double brand awareness and optimized an online sales distribution channel to drive increases of the new product sales.

It wasn’t how Mike Schaarschmidt expected to begin his new job at Ball Corporation.

“The day I started was the day we decided we were going to pivot,” he recalls. “It was June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, right when everyone realized that social distancing would last more than a few weeks.”

As the new supply chain leader, Schaarschmidt was part of a team charged with launching a breakthrough product via retail, online and foodservice channels. Called the Ball Aluminum Cup®, the product was infinitely recyclable and promised to significantly reduce plastic use and landfill waste.

Initial market research showed that the product tended to “sell itself forward,” meaning consumers would recommend it to friends and family once they’d experienced it themselves. With those findings in mind, Ball developed a launch strategy aimed at driving consumer sales through word-of-mouth marketing and social media virality. The strategy would center on sales to large venues—such as sports stadiums and concert venues—supported by advertising and celebrity-endorsed social media content.

But COVID restrictions threw a wrench in those plans, forcing the company to focus instead on retail sales through large distributors and stores such as CVS and Target. The Ball Aluminum Cup® found early success among older, more affluent consumers and larger businesses. But, the product hadn’t gained traction among younger consumers or smaller businesses and restaurants.

Enlisting New Strategists for Fresh Insights

Just as Ball was developing the next phase of its strategy, Schaarschmidt received an unexpected call from Susan Heinzeroth, founder of SageRiver Consulting and an adjunct faculty member at the CU School of Business. Heinzeroth had been inspired by Ball’s new infinitely recyclable product and suggested that a partnership with her strategy class might benefit Ball, as well as her students.

Schaarschmidt liked the idea—and his colleagues agreed.

After briefing the students on their existing marketing strategy and results, the Ball Corporation team identified four marketing strategy goals:

1. Grow overall awareness of the new brand
2. Educate consumers about the benefits of the product (i.e., that it was more than just a disposable cup)
3. Drive trial via a more expansive push into the foodservice market (especially restaurants)
4. Reach younger generations via a push into organic and paid social media

Four teams of student strategists were formed to focus on younger consumers or small businesses. With coaching from Heinzeroth, the teams conducted interviews, focus groups and surveys to understand the perceptions, needs and values of those audiences and then presented their recommendations to Ball.

Going Viral Via Lifestyle Content

The first teams targeted consumers in their late twenties to early forties. These consumers valued sustainable products and could afford a slightly higher price point than the red plastic cups they were accustomed to purchasing. These consumers were especially active on Tik-Tok and Instagram, and they liked engaging with content from social influencers and friends who shared their values and interests. Word-of-mouth marketing was an effective strategy with this group, and they liked the way the Ball Aluminum Cup® kept drinks cold in a sturdy container.

One challenge emerged with this audience, however. Younger consumers didn’t know much about Ball or understand the tagline that was being used for the product—Infinitely Recyclable. While this disconnect made them question the truth of the message, it also opened the door to educating consumers about Ball’s longstanding commitment to sustainability and the promise of aluminum, which can literally be recycled again and again without degrading.

“Most people don’t realize it, but 75 percent of all the aluminum that has been mined globally is still in circulation,” Schaarschmidt said.

The student team recommended that Ball create behind-the-scenes videos showing how the cups are made and recycled and share that content on social media. They also encouraged Ball to shift toward more authentic and timely content by giving influencers contractable freedom to jump on trending topics around sustainable products and integrate the Ball Aluminum Cup® into other activities and content. These messages, which would leverage Ball’s Colorado roots as part of an informal, outdoors-oriented culture, would position the Ball Aluminum Cup® as a lifestyle brand that was better for the environment.

Building New Avenues for Personalized, Convenient Sales

The other student teams focused on small, independent operators, including restaurants, breweries and bars, as well as corporate, wedding and catering services. While these audiences had diverse needs, they all wanted an easier way to purchase Ball’s product in smaller quantities, since they don’t order in bulk through large distributors. The students recommended that Ball establish an online store through Amazon, offer the cups in different sizes and drive small businesses to the Amazon store through search engine optimization and sponsored ads.

Most small operators also wanted the ability to personalize the Ball Aluminum Cup® with their own business or event logos. The students recommended that Ball leverage relationships with third-party vendors to explore labeling options for small quantity purchases. This would allow Ball to service the market without investing significantly in limited-run printing.

Telling a Larger Story

Ball has already implemented several of the students’ recommendations—and seen big results. Brand awareness has doubled from 20 to 40 percent, and the Ball Aluminum Cup® can now be purchased in multiple sizes through an online Amazon site that has significantly increased sales. Thanks to rising demand, Ball is now selling its cups through 35,000 retail stores and has gained distribution in 60 percent of retail chains as well.

Just as importantly, working with the students has reinforced how the Ball Aluminum Cup® can help the company tell a larger story.

“Every aspect of Ball—from aerospace to cups to cans—is truly about sustainability and the sustainable benefits of aluminum,” Schaarschmidt said. “When the students presented their recommendations, they told us what they learned about the product and about recycling in the United States. We need to take the whole country through the same journey.”

Luckily, Ball will have help from a passionate new group of brand ambassadors.

“It was rewarding to work with a company to help solve a real problem,” said Emilie Waggoner, who participated in the project before graduating. “I still talk about this project a year later, and now, my coworkers bring me Ball Aluminum Cups® because they know I love them so much!”

“The Meaning Quotient: Unlocking the Secret to Joy in Our Work”
“The Meaning Quotient: Unlocking the Secret to Joy in Our Work” 800 533 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Editor’s Note: Susan Heinzeroth delivered the following keynote address on Sept. 25, 2020, for the University of Colorado Staff Council’s Staff Excellence Awards ceremony.

Without question, COVID-19 has caused tremendous loss and hardship in our community. We don’t want to minimize those difficulties, but we can appreciate the lessons this challenging period offers for us.

What I’ve observed in the way many people are responding gives me hope.

We are leaning into our humanness in new ways, embracing the messy process of learning and sustaining ourselves through community and common purpose. We are—by necessity—reprioritizing and focusing on what matters most.

When we focus on increasing what researchers Susie Cranston and Scott Keller call the “Meaning Quotient,” we become more resilient and more likely to achieve peak performance and joy. So today, I’ll unpack what ‘meaning’ entails and explore how the Meaning Quotient applies to our work and our lives.

Recognition: Affirming That We Matter

The first element of the Meaning Quotient is Recognition—and that’s what brought us together today. On occasions like this one, we recognize how weeks, months and perhaps years of work have culminated in a significant achievement. It’s important to celebrate big milestones and accomplishments, AND it’s just as important to embed recognition into our daily work.

Why does recognition matter?

  • It affirms that we matter—that our contributions are valued.
  • It gives us insights into strengths we may not realize we have.
  • It encourages us to keep going, even if our progress is slower or harder than we hoped.

Recognition doesn’t have to be an expensive reward or highly public, although it can be. What matters most is building recognition into the way we work together and offering different types of recognition to match the preferences of the people we’re celebrating. For some people, a personal note of appreciation will mean the most. For others, a callout in a team meeting matters more.

The primary takeaway—whether you’re a leader or a coworker—is to commit to recognizing the talents and contributions of those around you. It makes a difference.

Measurement: Driving Learning and Growth

The second element in the Meaning Quotient is measurement. Measurement is important because it indicates we value something enough track it. Measurement gives us line-of-sight into how our work supports larger objectives. As our metrics improve, we can see exactly what that means for the organization.

If we bring the right mindset to this process, it can also bring us joy.

What do I mean by mindset?

As we all know, learning involves struggle and hard work. It often requires us to challenge our existing beliefs and assumptions. It requires us to be vulnerable and open to feedback.

It asks us to lean into our humanness—to look to each other for encouragement and guidance.

The learning process can be painful or exciting, depending on our mindset.

Carol Dweck of Stanford University articulated this idea in her book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” Through her research, she developed a powerful theory about growth versus fixed mindsets.

According to Dweck, those with growth mindsets believe that abilities can be developed. Instead of judging themselves if they aren’t exceptional at everything, they find joy in getting better.

By contrast, those with fixed mindsets believe that abilities are set. If they don’t succeed right away, they become discouraged or defeated.

If we bring a growth mindset to our work, then measuring our progress will be exciting and affirm that—step by step—we’re getting better.

Relevancy: Fueling Our Work with Purpose

The last element in the Meaning Quotient is relevancy. In the business world, we once believed that people were primarily motivated by money or advancement opportunities. Although both matters, we now know that a better predictor of employee engagement and productivity is purpose—the sense of doing work that makes a difference for a larger whole.

The question each of us must answer is, “What is my purpose? What do I do that contributes to a larger whole?”

Our sense of purpose grows over time along a predictable trajectory. I call this the “Me—>We—>World” continuum.

It starts with understanding our own talents, abilities and interests and taking care of ourselves so we can give to others.

We can then grow and contribute to our own team and organization. As our abilities and resilience increase, we can look outward even further and identify ways to contribute to the larger world.

The Great Use of Life

Far from being a mystery, meaning is something we can deliberately cultivate in our lives and our work. You now know the formula:

Recognition + Measurement + Relevancy = Meaning Quotient

If we apply that knowledge and continue to pursue meaning and excellence throughout our lives, we will eventually be able to look back and discover we’ve built a legacy. Others will learn from our journey—and be enriched by it as they travel their own paths.

And the good news is that we don’t have to achieve perfection to create a meaningful legacy.

Rather, our greatest achievements come when we lean into our humanness, allow ourselves to be vulnerable and open to growth and dedicate ourselves to contributing to a larger purpose and the larger world.

As the philosopher William James said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”

By celebrating each other, measuring our progress, and pursuing larger purposes together, we can create meaning and joy in our lives. Let’s commit to making that our shared legacy.

Thank you.

Personal, Professional or Principled: Which Type of Organization Are You?
Personal, Professional or Principled: Which Type of Organization Are You? 800 533 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Nancy Lublin has a secret power. A serial entrepreneur, she launched Dress for Success immediately after college. Today, the nonprofit operates in 25 countries, providing professional clothing, coaching and support to more than one million women.

Once that venture was flourishing, Lublin grew another nonprofit to 3.5 million members. And then she left to found a third social venture that is already gaining national attention.

Lublin’s secret power isn’t her organizational savvy or leadership skills, although she has both in spades. Her power is knowledge. She understands the kind of leader she is and the type of organization she’s best at developing. Her passion lies in building teams from the ground up and taking ideas to scale. Once she’s done that, she’s ready to hand over the reins and move on to her next start-up.

We can all learn from her understanding of what organizations need at different stages of maturation. That begins by identifying what type of organization you are and whether that fits what you’re trying to achieve.

Knowing Your Type

We’ve found organizations have essentially three different bases on which they operate. This framework for evaluating organizational decision-making and operations grew out of a conversation with our corporate attorney, Patrick Johnson. Viewed from our different vantage points, we agreed most organizations could be described as one of three types—Personal, Professional or Principled (PPP).

We’ll look at each type to assess what drives those organizations, what strengths they exhibit and when they might evolve to the next type to meet their goals.

It’s Personal. As the name implies, Personal organizations revolve around individual performance and relationships. Key people hold essential information, knowledge, expertise, and control. They are trusted to drive critical functions, service lines and decision-making. Outside their own domains, their processes and objectives may not be widely shared or understood, making it hard for others to provide input or fill in the gaps if they leave. As a result, decisions may be made without cross-functional collaboration or without an eye toward retaining key people.

Start-ups and smaller organizations often operate on a Personal basis. This model allows individuals to work independently and quickly during a high growth phase. As organizations become larger and more complex, they may need to move away from this model to create greater transparency, accountability, and decision making.

Professionally speaking. As organizations grow, they often need to create infrastructure that supports cross-functional collaboration toward common goals. Professionally-based organizations establish shared policies, processes and decision-making approaches then refine them over time. In these organizations, members know how key functions are performed and when to provide or obtain input. People share information, meet agreed-upon expectations, and understand the organizational strategy.

Professionally-based organizations focus on team performance and success. Because information and plans are shared, employees understand organizational priorities and contribute to broader organizational goals. As companies seek to strengthen their brands and grow their impact even further, they may move toward becoming Principled organizations.

We Do It on Principle. Principled organizations have done the hard work of defining their vision, mission, and values, engaging employees in strategy, and instilling professional practices. Along the way, these organizations gather input from partners, vendors, and customers to ensure buy-in and strategic alignment. You know what to expect from these companies because they deliver consistently, time after time.

In fact, Principled organizations don’t just have processes, frameworks, products and approaches. They have a “way” that is synonymous with their brand and aligned with organizational and stakeholder values. Customers return to them because they know they’ll receive the level of quality, service and innovation they expect. Job-seekers apply to them because they want to be part of their team. And investors support them because they deliver value.

Finding Your Place

Although most organizations start as Personal organizations and become Professionally-based or Principled as they grow, that isn’t always the case. Sometimes, organizations choose to operate on a Personal or Professional basis.

The key is to function in a way that supports your strategy.

At SageRiver, we help organizations to see themselves clearly and plot where key functions fall on the Personal-Professional-Principled spectrum. For example, we might ask:

  • What assumptions are used in developing your budget?
  • How do you establish success metrics for the year?
  • How do you identify your talent needs for the next five years?
  • How do you anticipate customer needs?

The language you use to answer those questions reveals where different functions within your organization fall on the spectrum. For example, Personal organizations often respond by referring to individual leaders and employees. Professionally-based organizations focus on processes, infrastructure and strategy. Principled organizations include those topics but widen the lens to encompass values, brand, culture, and stakeholder expectations as well.

Making the Shift

It’s not unusual for different organizational functions to fall in different parts of the spectrum. When that occurs, assess whether you need to shift the basis on which you’re operating to better support your strategy. If key functions are operating independently of one another and you need to innovate, you may move toward becoming a Professionally-based organization to create more opportunities for divergent thinking and collaboration. If your environment is changing rapidly, you may need to enhance your understanding of emerging customer expectations and values. That could require transformation from a Professionally-based to Principled organization to create better customer alignment.

Making these shifts starts with understanding who you are, what strategy you are pursuing and who you need to be to reach your goals. Take the first step by evaluating where you fall on the spectrum, and then identify a few changes you can make to ensure you’re operating on the right basis to execute your strategy.

Contact us today to learn more.

Becoming Mindful: Unlocking Innovation by Awakening to the Present
Becoming Mindful: Unlocking Innovation by Awakening to the Present 800 533 SageRiver Consulting LLC

During a yoga session one day, my instructor encouraged us to “take an inversion of your choice.” These upside-down poses increase flexibility and circulation and allow us to view the world from different angles. She returned to the idea with a parting question.

mindfulness-yoga

“Where do you have opportunities to welcome new perspectives?” she asked.

It’s a question I pose in my strategy work with clients. Some organizations struggle to execute their strategies because of embedded aspects of their cultures. They may focus on the “way things have been done,” think in top-down terms or instinctively move away from unfamiliar ideas.

Mindfulness can help us shift to generative ways of thinking and experiencing situations.

Stopwatch at 90 Seconds

Mindfulness is a tool I employ with clients at all levels. It’s especially important for leaders, as it supports their focus and stress management. Leaders live demanding lives, and they need tools to help them stay grounded and awake to new possibilities.

Mindfulness works by helping us create space between a stimulus and our response. Research shows that an initial feeling lasts for about 90 seconds. The impact depends on the meaning we assign to our feelings and the resulting decisions we make.

Through a daily mindfulness practice, we can learn to focus our attention on the thoughts, feelings and sensations we are experiencing in the present moment. As thoughts enter our minds, we simply observe them, allow them to move through our consciousness, consider them, honor them and let them go. As we detach and observe, we open ourselves to curiosity and learning, rather than judgment.

Positive Contagions

A mindfulness practice also helps leaders set a positive tone for their organizations. As researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California at San Diego have demonstrated, people “catch” positive or negative emotions from others. That means a reactive leader can produce anxious, rigid teams. Conversely, open leaders can help their teams interact in more inclusive, collaborative and creative ways.

work-mindfulness-leadershipAt SageRiver, we harness the power of mindfulness in team strategy, as well as executive coaching, sessions. We often begin our sessions with a mindfulness exercise to help participants let go of whatever stresses or demands they experienced that day. By grounding them in the moment and encouraging them to observe, welcome and honor thoughts and feelings, we set the tone for the work to come.

This simple practice pays dividends for the team. As we map their strategic landscapes and illuminate possibilities, we welcome divergent ideas without judgment. We listen with curiosity, seeking first to understand, and then consider what that contribution can add to our thinking.

This curiosity-driven approach creates space for everyone to contribute to and embrace the widest range of potential solutions. As we sift through ideas, we find new connections and possibilities, which create opportunities for innovation and break-through thinking.

Kiss the Earth

mindfulness-practices-walking

It takes practice to become mindful, and I consider myself a student learning alongside my clients. Day by day, however, I see the benefits in my own work and life and enjoy watching others experience greater focus, creativity and calm as they begin their own mindfulness practices.

You can start today by trying this mindfulness exercise:

  • Find a place where you can take a quiet walk (where you can also practice social distancing)
  • Take a moment to stand in place and focus on your breath
  • Notice the rise of your chest and expansion of your abdomen
  • Feel the passage of air as you inhale and exhale
  • Begin walking as though your feet are kissing the earth
  • Notice how the ground feels against your toes and heels
  • Describe the trees, grass, skies and birds (facts not judgment)
  • Connect with your senses and fully experience your surroundings
  • If thoughts intrude simply observe, allow, consider, honor and let them go

After you’ve spent a few minutes walking, stop and take note of how you feel. Repeat this practice every day for a week and notice the difference in your focus and ability to manage stress.

Then, contact us to take the next step in bringing the power of mindfulness to your team and your strategic planning process.

Adventuring Together: Life at Epic
Adventuring Together: Life at Epic 1052 789 SageRiver Consulting LLC

In our “Stories from the Field” series, SageRiver sits down with senior leaders who are transforming their organizations for tomorrow. Our latest conversation is with Mallory Heinzeroth, who leads the Asia Pacific region for Epic. A global leader in healthcare IT, Epic is known for its electronic medical records software and implementations. The company stays at the leading edge of healthcare technology by investing in a creative culture based on collective learning, adventure and fun.

The year was 1979. In a basement in Madison, Wisconsin, an unknown software engineer named Judith Faulkner decided to launch a business. She had a novel idea, but the road ahead was uncertain. Her goal was to develop software that would enable healthcare providers to improve patient care.

With 1-1/2 employees and a $70,000 investment, she established a company whose software now benefits 250 million people worldwide. She also helped create the electronic medical records industry, which revolutionized the way doctors and hospitals care for patients.

It’s the stuff of tech legends.

“Our philosophy is very simple: Do Good, Have Fun, Make Money—in that order,” said Mallory Heinzeroth “Our work affects both individuals and our societies at large, so we have a huge responsibility to do the right thing and help shape systems to improve patient care.”

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Known for its unique culture, Epic takes a “learners welcome” approach that fosters innovation and continuous improvement. The company doesn’t require employees to have healthcare technology experience and commits to train and develop them throughout their careers. Epic’s growth mindset extends far beyond on-the-job training and tuition reimbursement, however, as even a quick trip to its headquarters shows.

Located in rural Verona, Wisconsin, the Epic campus is a galaxy unto itself. (In fact, Epic refers to it as the “Intergalactic Headquarters.”) Whimsical artwork dots the landscape, and a treehouse often serves as a meeting spot.

All photos courtesy of Mallory Heinzeroth

Ad hoc employee groups—known as “Motley Crews”—can be seen playing board games, competing in sports or exploring other shared interests after work. Participation is voluntary and employee-led, but it’s all part of Epic’s commitment to fostering an engaging workplace.

“We’ve done a lot of research about what it means to have an enriching, productive environment that inspires people,” Heinzeroth said. “We allow space for people to be creative, have fun and try something new.”

To that end, Epic organizes a “Shark Day” to give employees the opportunity to learn together about topics outside their work. The company also enlists speakers and professors from the University of Wisconsin – Madison to lead classes and workshops. Epic employees teach seminars as well.

The activities build camaraderie and create an expectation of continual growth, Heinzeroth said.
“There’s always a new learning adventure, so it feels like something people do every day rather than something that is a set requirement. That’s an aspect of our culture that is unique in the business world.”

Iliads, Odysseys, Sabbaticals

The fun continues off campus through Epic’s adventure and exploration programs, which support experiential learning inside and outside the United States.

Each year, Epic plans Odysseys to far-flung—and often difficult-to-reach—locations. Any employee can sign up for these opportunities to join colleagues on a vacation, and friends and family members are welcome.

After two years with the company, employees who travel for work can earn an Iliad adventure underwritten by Epic. Employees can choose where they go and how they spend their time. The goal is to give them an opportunity to recharge and have fun.

Employees are also eligible for a paid four-week sabbatical every five years, which they can spend in the place and manner of their choosing. Some enjoy time at home exploring outside interests, while others travel internationally to volunteer or experience different cultures. Epic pays a portion of the costs.

Although these adventures have no direct connection to Epic’s work, employees post pictures online and return to the office with renewed energy and fresh learnings.

Mallory Heinzeroth during a sabbatical in New Zealand.

Fuel for Success

After 40 years, Epic now numbers 10,000 strong. It continues to be an innovation leader and enjoys one of the highest employee retention rates in the industry.

Its learning-and-adventure-fueled culture may be a reason why.

“We invest in not-so-basic benefits because they help broaden the views and perspectives of people who work here, which, in turn, makes us better able to design and implement software for all people especially those who may be different from us,” Heinzeroth said.

The results have driven Epic’s success—and improved the lives of patients worldwide.

To learn more about building learning and adventure into your organizational culture, contact SageRiver at (720) 443-2551.

Smart Courage: What I Learned on Yosemite’s Half Dome
Smart Courage: What I Learned on Yosemite’s Half Dome 2560 1610 SageRiver Consulting LLC

The sheer face of Half Dome loomed over us. We’d arrived at Yosemite Park just a few weeks after a woman fell to her death summiting the peak. Already wary of heights, I wasn’t sure I should attempt the entire climb, but I decided I would go as far as I could, understanding my own limitations.

“Boldness has genius, power and magic in it,” I reminded myself.

The quotation—one of my favorites from German playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—reminds us to commit fully to our boldest ventures. I’d been talking about adventure all year long, and I was determined to push through my fears, join my friends and hike on an #ExcellentAdventure of our own.

Choose Your Own Adventure

We’d been planning the trip for almost a year, and I’d been inspired by photos taken from Half Dome’s summit. I’d also read about the final 500-foot ascent, which requires climbers to cling to steel cables as they scale the face. Almost 300 people have been injured on Half Dome in the past 15 years, and the National Park Service warns that only experienced hikers should climb it.

As I battled misgivings, I took long hikes in Colorado to prepare for Half Dome. Our team also researched what supplies and equipment to bring. Unlike some of my friends, however, I’m not an experienced climber. I also have a longstanding fear of heights, which several members of my family share for good reason, and I wondered if I’d hold the group back when we approached the summit.

Before I could say yes, I had to reclaim the power we all have, which is to choose our own adventures. I wanted to hike Half Dome, but I also wanted to honor my own needs and the concerns of my family. So, I scaled the adventure to my skill level and promised my family I’d bypass the final 500-foot climb to the summit. That felt like the smart approach for me, my family—and the team.

“Yes, You Can!”

Luckily for me, I’d chosen the best team imaginable. I’ve known some of them since childhood, and our trust level was high. I felt comfortable telling them my fears, as well as what I looked forward to most. The conversation encouraged everyone to share personal goals and say how we could coach and encourage each other.

And that’s exactly what happened.

When we got to a steep point in the hike, I felt my fears take hold. While the others continued, one friend stayed behind and coached me through it step-by-step. “Just look at where you’re putting your feet,” he told me. “Don’t look to the right. Don’t look to the left. One foot at a time. You can do this!”

When I reached “my” summit, which was the sub-dome plateau just before the final ascent, I was tempted to keep going. I discussed it with my friend, and he validated my concerns about potential hazards, listened carefully as I explained the commitment I made to my “closest team”—my family and asked me how I’d feel if I didn’t keep that commitment. My ultimate decision allowed me to celebrate my experience with my family later, knowing I had kept my promise to them.

In the end, I learned how wise this choice was. While I enjoyed the view from my summit, I cheered my friends as they climbed toward theirs. One of the most experienced climbers came down the incline on the outside of the cables on his return journey. I was blown away by his skill and nerve, but, to my surprise, he told me I’d been right not to climb higher. Everything my family feared and I observed during our earlier climb, he said, was exaggerated on the cables. He had experience to draw on having hiked Half Dome 20 years before. Even so, he felt fear and anxiety on the cables this time, and he commended me for my choice.

Climb Every Mountain

So often, we think of adventures as risky leaps into the unknown. What my trip reminded me was that adventures come in all shapes and sizes, and we can scale them to our needs, resources, skills and conditions. In the end, adventures require equal parts head and heart—what I call “smart courage”—to challenge us without harming us.

I hope this year of adventuring has inspired you to climb new heights and explore new vistas. And I hope it’s encouraged you to find co-adventurers who will help you stretch and learn with every step. That’s what reaching the summit truly looks like—and it’s that much more meaningful and fun when you arrive there with others!

Share your #ExcellentAdventures with us on Facebook and Twitter—and remember to keep adventuring in 2020 and beyond!

The Habit of Adventure: Five Steps Toward Rejuvenating Your Mind and Spirit
The Habit of Adventure: Five Steps Toward Rejuvenating Your Mind and Spirit 1989 1329 SageRiver Consulting LLC

As a team builder and executive coach, I know leaders worry about keeping their workforce motivated. Disengaged employees lower morale and cause productivity to plummet. If the problem persists, it can have serious consequences for the whole organization.

Why do employees lose their passion and purpose? One of the main culprits is boredom. According to the 2016 Udemy Workplace Boredom Study, employees who are bored at work are more than twice as likely to quit. When faced with stagnant workplaces or repetitive tasks, they look for new mountains to climb. They believe, as Helen Keller once said, that “life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

Smart leaders know this and offer engaging opportunities to fuel learning and collaboration among their team members. But here’s a question: Do you offer those same opportunities to yourself? Do you keep your own engine humming by incorporating adventure into your work and life?

If you don’t, then it’s time to start. By making adventure a habit, you’ll remain fresh and curious as you strive to become the best version of yourself. Here’s how: 

Mine Your Memories

Adventures are simply exciting or unusual experiences, and they can be challenging, pleasurable—or both! Often, the past offers clues about the adventures we’ll enjoy most. Think back to your childhood or other times when you felt loose, happy and free. Some of my best memories are exploring outside or playing sports with friends. Although I was building skills, those experiences felt nothing like school. I remember only friendship and fun. What about you? What were you doing in your happiest memories? Who were you with? What clues do those experiences offer about adventures you’d enjoy today?

Take Small Steps for Big Results

Often, the best way to build your “adventure muscle” is through small changes that take you into unexplored spaces. For example, you may want to invite another person to lunch, visit a local museum you’ve never tried, read a different type of book, vary your route home from work or enroll in a class. These “mini adventures” require little time or money; they just foster discovery and open you up to bigger adventures down the road. As B.J. Fogg noted in his book, “Tiny Habits,” small steps matter because they help us build momentum toward larger goals.

Plan Your Itinerary

Planning will help you keep the momentum going. Consider scheduling quarterly check-ins with yourself to decide what to explore next and plan bigger adventures that require more time, money or information. The point is not to turn adventures into a task, but rather to make space for novelty and the juicy anticipation of learning.

Bring Buddies

Including others in your adventures will increase your enjoyment. As a team-building facilitator, for example, I intentionally design experiential learning into our client engagements. We’ve asked teams to build and sail boats, oriented through wilderness areas and competed in indoor games. These shared experiences help team members see each other in new ways and deepen their relationships. Adventures also spur learning and retention, as our brains build neural pathways to remember new or unusual experiences.

Reward Yourself

The great thing about adventures is that they’re a reward in and of themselves. It’s just plain fun to experience different cultures, swing down a zip line or meet more people. Still, take a moment to congratulate yourself on having the courage to step out into the unknown. Celebrate your adventure and reflect on what you’ve learned and loved most. Above all, look for ways to bring that newfound fun into your daily life.

Just as ships weren’t built to stay in harbor, people aren’t meant to live without adventure. You were born for it. Get started today—and share your experiences with us on Twitter and Facebook. Or, contact SageRiver to learn more about bringing adventure to your workplace through team building and enhanced organizational design.

 

Your Excellent Adventures Start Now!
Your Excellent Adventures Start Now! 2753 1508 SageRiver Consulting LLC

I watch “The Wizard of Oz” now and again. Magical and wise, it always pulls me under its spell. I feel Dorothy’s yearning to fly over the rainbow, and when she opens the door from her black-and-white house to technicolor Oz, wonder ensues.

That’s the power of adventure. Its call is universal, beckoning us to test our abilities, experience joy and venture into worlds unknown.

So, perhaps, be bold like Dorothy this summer and take some excellent adventures of your own! Big rewards await you!

Technicolor Vision: Awaken to Our Colorful World

Stepping into Oz, Dorothy realizes she’s surrounded by a strange new world. The Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man can talk! The Lollipop Guild serenades her. Although she focuses at first on their “otherness,” she soon embraces these strangers as friends.

Dorothy adapts quickly because she has what Zen Buddhists refer to as “the beginner’s mind.” She lets go of opinions, judgments and expectations and simply looks with amazement at the world around her, accepting what it offers.

For many, the beginner’s mind is illusive, unless we intentionally cultivate it. Almost unconsciously, we search for patterns, apply our expertise and experience, and arrive at conclusions. Our minds work quickly and effectively, while we miss opportunities to be surprised by new possibilities and connections.

Dorothy truly sees the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow in Oz, and is surprised to find they’d been with her in Kansas all along. Her adventure in Oz opened her eyes.

Talk About Talented: Expand Your Talent Toolbox

Sometimes we choose our adventures—and sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of one wondering, “Gee! How did I get here?” Regardless of their origin, adventures sharpen our gifts and resourcefulness.

If we embrace the experiences as Dorothy did, we’ll find we already have what we need for the road ahead. Curiosity, for example, drives so much of SageRiver’s work as we journey with our clients. Connecting with people and ideas helps us toward our collective destination.

Interestingly enough, we often discover talents on our quest that we didn’t know we possessed. The Cowardly Lion didn’t realize he had courage until he helped rescue Dorothy from the Wicked Witch. Like him,  we may unlock hidden abilities or strengthen skills we already have as we test ourselves in new situations.

Joy and Treasure: Enrich Your Mind, Heart and Life

Dorothy experiences some terrifying moments, but her trip also looks like a lot of fun. After all, they were singing and dancing their way down the yellow brick road!

The joy Dorothy and her fellow travelers experienced is no accident. The desire for novel experiences is innate. When we encounter new situations and adventures, our brains produce dopamine, which stimulates memory, focus and learning. When we adventure with others, we also feel the effects of two other brain chemicals—oxytocin and serotonin—which increase our sense of belonging and well-being.

Often, our exposure to new cultures, activities, people and landscapes awakens enduring interests. An acquaintance of mine planned a yoga retreat in the Bahamas decades ago. Although she can’t practice yoga anymore, she still enjoys the vegetarian cooking and meditation practices she learned on that trip. She calls the retreat a “port of entry” into a fresh world, where she found treasures she’s enjoyed all her life. League of Heroes: Become Heroes Together

At the end of the film, the Wizard gives Dorothy and her traveling companions gifts. The Scarecrow gets a brain, the Cowardly Lion his courage and the Tin Man a heart. Of course, they’ve shown they possessed those gifts all along. The Wizard is only validating what is already true.

One of the most important gifts that adventures give us is vulnerability. When you’re in a completely new situation, it’s natural to feel anxious, excited, unprotected, wondrous and more. That vulnerability prompts us to turn to others, share our hopes and fears and learn and grow together. We draw strength from what is best in others, while offering what is best in us in return, allowing us to become heroes together.

Step by Step

Dorothy’s journey through Oz began with her first step down the yellow brick road. If she hadn’t set her feet along the path, she would have missed an adventure that forever changed how she saw herself, her home and her world.

Are you ready to plan a few excellent adventures? Let’s get started!

Beliefs→ Behaviors→ Results: Engaging Teams in Defining Values-Based Behaviors
Beliefs→ Behaviors→ Results: Engaging Teams in Defining Values-Based Behaviors 1630 1223 SageRiver Consulting LLC

The excitement grew as employees flipped the posters to reveal six winning words and then placed them in a new order. When the audience realized the words formed the acronym “WE CARE,” they rose for a thunderous ovation.

The enthusiastic crowd wasn’t a group of fans cheering a rock star. They were DaVita employees—better known as “teammates”—applauding DaVita’s new descriptors of how they would translate their patient care beliefs into everyday behaviors.

The descriptors were unveiled at a 2018 DaVita Academy in Denver. The two-day event is held to nurture the culture of DaVita, which is known as a village because DaVita places community at its center. The unveiling capped a highly democratic process that involved hundreds of teams and thousands of voters worldwide.

Giving Life to Guiding Principles

As part of SageRiver’s “Workplace of the Future” e-newsletter series, we’ve been exploring how leading companies are bringing their guiding principles to life and sharing those insights with clients. After contacting DaVita to learn more about its intentional culture, I was invited to attend a 2018 DaVita Academy. The experience gave me a unique opportunity to see how DaVita was translating its vision, mission and values into behaviors that would guide day-to-day interactions within a specific organizational context.

Why does defining behaviors matter? Because the workplace today includes five generations working across time zones and cultures at a faster pace than ever. Given those factors, employees may understand company values differently without even realizing it. By tying values to specific actions, companies like DaVita help develop a shared understanding that allows teammates to better accomplish their purpose.

Respecting the Commitment

A Fortune 500 company and a leading provider of kidney care, DaVita is known for its human-centered, democratic culture. In fact, DaVita was literally named by its teammates, and its team values were defined almost 20 years ago through a democratic process. That same community spirit guides all aspects of DaVita’s village life today.

A core tenet of DaVita’s culture is that “beliefs drive behaviors, which drive our results.” Village values—or beliefs—are reflected in every aspect of DaVita’s workplaces, events, communications and more. DaVita determined it was time to turn its beliefs around caring for patients into specific, tangible behaviors.

Given its culture, DaVita knew what launching a democratic process to define those behaviors would entail.

“If you truly engage your people, it can make your culture much stronger,” said Dave Hoerman, chief wisdom officer of DaVita Inc. “You have to be ready to listen to what your teammates say, however, and decide to live in integrity and accept the answer, even if it wasn’t what you expected to hear.”

Before engaging teammates, DaVita thinks carefully about the type and level of input they’re seeking and how it will be used. They also consider whether they can commit enough time, money and energy to engage the village in effective ways. As a result, when teammates are asked to provide input, they know their voices will be heard and valued, which helps build trust throughout the village.

Deciding What Caring Looks Like

For this effort, DaVita underwent a global, iterative process to determine which behaviors were critical to making patients feel cared for. The process involved:

  • Facilitating multiple rounds of input to collect top behavior ideas from more than 500 teams across the village
  • Democratically voting to winnow the list of behaviors from 14 to six
  • Engaging more than 11,000 voters from 13 countries (Voters included clinical and corporate office teammates, as well as physicians.)
  • Reviewing the list with all top executives to ensure the behaviors were actionable, not duplicative, and aligned with the mission and values.
  • Organizing the final behaviors into an easy-to-remember acronym

Rather than simply announce the final result, DaVita engaged teammates in an exciting interactive event. The unveiling included more than 2,000 teammates attending the Academy and thousands of others streaming in live from across the globe. Three teammates came on stage to engage this world-wide audience in guessing which six of the final 14 behaviors had been voted the winners.

DaVita defines itself as a community whose teammates “care for each other with the same intensity with which we care for our patients.” Appropriately enough, when the winning behaviors were revealed the next day, their first letters spelled “WE CARE.”

Continuing the Journey

While the Academy reveal generated excitement, DaVita was just beginning its journey toward understanding and living the WE CARE behaviors.

“Relentless reinforcement is absolutely critical to making the behaviors sticky,” Hoerman says, noting that he’s changed his email sign-off to “Every interaction matters!” as a reminder about the importance of WE CARE actions.

As an organization, DaVita will integrate WE CARE behaviors into the culture in several ways, such as:

  • Leaders will share WE CARE stories during village meetings and events to reinforce the meaning, purpose and impact of the behaviors.
  • Team activities will be suggested to help teams learn about and practice the behaviors during regular meetings.
  • Leaders will observe their teams as they interact with patients to identify opportunities for recognition and coaching.
  • The teammate onboarding process will include education around what the behaviors are, how to live them and why they’re critical to DaVita’s culture of caring.
  • WE CARE will become a part of DaVita’s visual imagery and will be represented in its centers, offices, and major events to keep the behaviors top of mind.

Renewing and Strengthening Your Culture

As DaVita’s experience shows, engaging your team in defining behaviors can help renew and strengthen your culture. Behaviors must be embraced by everyone, and teammates are more likely to enthusiastically “own” new behaviors if they create and celebrate them together. Once that initial work is done, the behaviors must then be integrated into HR practices, training, branding and meetings so the culture change takes hold.

The process takes effort, but it’s an investment worth making if you want to breathe new life and power into your vision, mission and values. To discover more about how DaVita built its “radically human” culture, click here.

 

Eating the Elephant: A Bite-by-Bite Approach to Evolving Your Organizational Design
Eating the Elephant: A Bite-by-Bite Approach to Evolving Your Organizational Design 622 415 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Your board of directors has selected a new leader for your organization. Smart and dynamic, the leader sends a jolt of energy through the company.

A few months later, a memo arrives announcing an organizational redesign.

The goals aren’t well defined, but you’re determined to support the change. Your employees, customers and vendors express frustration and ask why the change is happening. You aren’t sure, but you respond as well as you can to move everyone forward in an uncertain direction.

If this scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone. More than 75 percent of organizational redesigns fail to deliver the intended results, a 2015 McKinsey report showed. Redesigns can lift performance, but they require time, energy and collective will to succeed. When organizations beat the odds, it’s usually because they’ve thought holistically and engaged their team through a full change management process. In short, successful organizations embrace the adage, “You have to go slow to go fast.”

Begin with the End in Mind

As the rate of change accelerates, many organizations are rethinking their designs to help them move faster. One size doesn’t fit all, but the trend is toward flatter, more decentralized organizations that adopt a “team of teams” approach. This type of design can deliver greater speed, innovation and agility by allowing interdisciplinary teams to form and reform in response to organizational needs.

If speed is the desired outcome, then why approach organizational redesigns at a more deliberate pace? Because a redesign involves more than just moving boxes on an organizational chart. In fact, changing your structure may be the final step you take after you assess how the building blocks of your company, which include your people, systems, processes, technology and more, help you execute your strategy. The way you fit those components together is what we mean by organizational design.

Time in the Trenches

At SageRiver, we review your design as one factor in the strategy process. Before recommending changes, we collaborate with you to explore points of light and pain within the organization. For example, we look for efficiency gains, innovation centers and leadership approaches that improve performance. We also consider resource constraints, process gaps and misalignments that hamper your team.

By digging deep and listening carefully, we discover whether evolving your organizational design will help you to realize your strategic vision.

This process involves engaging leaders, employees and stakeholders from all facets of your organization. In addition to asking for their insights, we’re gauging how ready they are for change, using the ADKAR model developed by Jeff Hiatt at Prosci. In the early stages, we assess whether your team sees the need for change. Later, we evaluate what information, tools, training and reinforcement they need to make the desired changes.

Bite by Bite

Although organizations are often tempted to jump right into restructuring their organizations, redesigns work best if you tackle other elements first. For example, if you plan to transition to a flexible team-based structure, it’s important to ask questions such as:

  • Have your employees fully understood and embraced your vision, mission and values?
  • What steps could you take to help your leaders be effective guides, facilitators and coaches, rather than top-down managers?
  • How would you describe your culture in terms of your approach to developing employees? Is feedback offered continually at all levels of your organization and welcomed as an opportunity for growth?
  • What internal tools, structures and coaching resources can you offer to facilitate effective collaboration?
  • How do you share individual and team goals and track progress in achieving them? (Transparent accountability is key to helping teams understand how responsibilities and activities align.)
  • What mechanisms do you have in place to evaluate, reward and advance employees within a flexible team(s) environment?

As you consider those questions and more, you’ll understand how much foundational work a successful redesign requires.

It’s the rare organization that can “eat the elephant” all at once. Successful organizations eat the elephant bite by bite through a series of small snacks.

Welcome Back, Kotter

If this process rings a bell, it’s because it draws on the stages outlined in John Kotter’s change model. One of his key insights was that change must be approached as a shared journey toward a compelling future.

As you begin your journey, it’s important to start with manageable pilot efforts, which you can test, refine and retest before implementing them across the organization. The reason for this is simple: Broadscale change involves big risks and can spark mistrust and resistance if it fails. By focusing first on smaller changes that deliver value, you can invite input from your team as you go and engage them in creating an organization that works for everyone. As you celebrate wins along the way and work together to make improvements, you’ll build trust and ownership and create an accelerating snowball of change. (Kotter’s See-Feel-Change framework, which he outlines with co-author Dan Cohen in their book, “The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations,” describes why this approach is so effective.)

Evolution Revolution

This approach to organizational redesign is a far cry from the old way, in which leaders huddled with a few people and then imposed a new structure on the organization. That top-down approach matched the top-down structures that characterized an earlier economy.

In the workplace of the future, which demands greater speed, agility, engagement and innovation, the process must fit the type of organization you hope to create. If your vision is of an organization that evolves constantly to meet the changing demands of the marketplace, then you must take a revolutionary approach to change by inviting your team to help design your future.

To find out more about SageRiver’s strategy development and organizational design services, contact us today.

Beyond Open Offices: The Workspace of the Future Is Here
Beyond Open Offices: The Workspace of the Future Is Here 622 622 SageRiver Consulting LLC

A conversation with Layer 10 Consulting

In our latest interview with business thought leaders, SageRiver sits down with Ken Wilkinson, chief enablement officer of Layer 10 Consulting. His firm has pioneered a new service called digital workspace enablement, which looks holistically at how technology can be leveraged to foster more collaborative, creative workplaces that lift team performance. We asked him how leaders should think about workspace technologies, how technology can support culture change and what the workplace of the future may hold.

SageRiver (SR): Your company has created a new service. How would you describe digital workspace enablement?

Ken Wilkinson (KW): We help clients to design technology into their workspace, so they can foster the culture they want and lift team performance.

We’re at the table before a new build or renovation begins to provide a holistic overview. We help clients define what they want to achieve, identify opportunities for technology to enhance their space and then select the right partners to support those technologies based on their goals and budget. Once those decisions are made, we collaborate with architects, engineers, IT staff and interior designers to produce the results our clients want.

SR: What’s driving the need for digital workspace enablement?

KW: The drivers are different for every client, but we see some overarching trends.

First, technology is no longer an add-on to the way we work. In the past, businesses designed their workspaces and then retrofitted them with technology. That approach cost more, and their employees were less productive because the technology didn’t work well. Organizations simply can’t afford to operate that way anymore.

Second, we have an extraordinarily tight labor market, and organizations are fighting to attract and retain talent. Millennials, in particular, want flexible, collaborative and fun workplaces. Having the right technologies in place helps companies create attractive cultures.

“The best solution is to encourage people to come to the office by creating an experience they can’t duplicate from home.”

And, third, many companies have a love-hate relationship with the work-from-home trend. On the one hand, it may help them shrink their office footprint and cut real-estate costs. They also know that many employees want—or need—to work at home at least some of the time. On the other hand, companies know that collaboration and creativity happen when people are together in a space. The best solution is to encourage people to come to the office by creating an experience they can’t duplicate at home. If companies do that while also making it possible for employees to work at home successfully when appropriate, then everyone wins.

SR: You mentioned that employees want flexible, collaborative and fun workplaces. What does that look like?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. The design depends on who you are, how you work and who you want to be in the future.”

KW: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Every organization wants a “wow” space or a fun space, but there’s a balance to be struck. Some companies attract employees through open offices with spectacular amenities and recreational areas. If you’re a publicly traded company, you also want to show that you’re spending money wisely on what makes employees productive. The design depends on who you are, how you work and who you want to be in the future.

SR: What are the most important questions for leaders to ask before making workspace technology investments?

KW: We ask our clients to think big and then smart.

“Thinking big” starts with asking who they are today and who they want to be. What kind of work do they do, and how do they work together now? Are they all on site, or do some work from home? Once we know that, we ask how they’d like their culture to evolve and what they’d like to be able to do that they can’t do now.

Once we know their aspirations, we “think smart.” That involves prioritizing goals and options to fit their budget and looking at both technology solutions and other approaches that might fit the need at a lower cost.

SR: How do you design a workspace technology solution for a client?

KW: We take a multilayered approach (see diagram) to designing the right solution for each client, and we always begin with the end in mind.

Our goal is to help our clients achieve their vision in a way that optimizes the experience of individual employees and teams. For example, we often use technology to create privacy in largely open office environments through sound masking, glass masking overlays or other strategies. We’re also incorporating more sophisticated collaborative tools into conference areas to support geographically dispersed teams, or boosting wireless capabilities inside and outside buildings so employees can work anywhere.

Another goal is to help our clients get the best long-term return on their investment. Technology changes by the minute, and no one can guarantee what the future holds. We can be sure of what will stay the same, however: There will be more people with more devices needing more connectivity and mobility. We prioritize those capabilities for our clients to support their future growth and productivity.

SR: Based on your experience, do you believe technology drives culture change?

KW: We’re technology enthusiasts, and we firmly believe that people, partnered with the right technology, can work more effectively and productively. That being said, we think technology can “nudge” an organization towards culture change, but it can’t shove a workforce in a particular direction.

For example, if you have a geographically dispersed team, you may want to use videoconferencing to strengthen team relationships and improve collaboration. To get value from the investment, however, people must use the tools. You have to set expectations about how you work together, and leaders must model that behavior.

Organizations also need to acknowledge that people have different preferences and decide how much variation they’ll allow within their team. When it comes to technology, we tend to think about generational differences. We also find that where people fall on the introversion / extroversion spectrum can make a difference. Not everyone is comfortable being on view or in open spaces all the time, and those employees will be more productive if they can occasionally work in quieter, more private settings.

At the end of the day, technology is a tool that supports culture change. Leaders will get the best results if they model the behaviors they want to see and work with their teams to define group norms while respecting individual differences.

SR: As you look into the future, what are the most important trends or developments you’re noticing in workspace technologies?

KW: Near term, there are four we’re seeing.

First, companies overall are taking advantage of the reliability, functionality and ease of use of cloud-based services and storage. That means they’re spending less for IT infrastructure.

Second, organizations are investing significantly more in wireless capabilities and connection points throughout their buildings and grounds. The investments make it easier for employees to move and work in different areas throughout the day. Even more importantly, companies can now capture real-time information about where people are located and what devices they’re using. The data can help them improve security or quickly evacuate buildings during an emergency. Organizations can also see how work areas are being used and adjust to ensure they’re getting the best return on their real-estate dollars.

Third, companies are increasingly offering personalization, flexibility and choice to employees and teams. For example, in many companies, an employee will check in for a work area assignment for the day. The employee’s badge indicates the employee’s preferences about location, type of work area, temperature, desk height and more. From a team perspective, companies are using structural approaches, such as architectural walls, that enable teams to reconfigure their space as needed to fit their needs.

And, finally, there’s a trend toward detaching from things and spaces. Rather than sit in the same space every day, people are more willing to get up, move to different work areas to collaborate and shift to open or private workspaces as needed. There’s a wellness component to this as well, as many employers are thinking about how to create workspaces that promote walking, standing, interacting and other healthy behaviors.

SR: And what about trends that are further out on the horizon?

KW: Many technologies that once seemed on the distant horizon are already here in some form. Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are already being incorporated into our projects, and their role will continue to increase. Robotics are here as well, although many of the applications are too costly to be practical for most companies.

The technology that’s available today is extraordinary. Who knows what the workplace will look like in 10 to 20 years?

Radically Human: The DaVita Way
Radically Human: The DaVita Way 977 652 SageRiver Consulting LLC

In our “Stories from the Field” series, SageRiver sits down with senior leaders who are transforming their organizations for tomorrow. Our latest conversation is with Dave Hoerman, chief wisdom officer of DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500 company and a leading provider of kidney care in the United States. DaVita’s human-centered, democratic culture has caused executives nationwide to rethink why companies exist and how they should be led.

“Sitting outside his home on a Nigerian mountainside, Modupe looked out over the farmlands below. As always, his fellow villagers were tending the fields and caring for their children. But on that day, Modupe watched in fear as a river overflowed its banks and rushed toward his village.

Knowing he couldn’t warn everyone in time, Modupe set fire to his home. When the villagers saw the flames consuming his house, he knew they would come to his aid. Better to lose a home, he thought, then the villagers he loved.

Just as he expected, the villagers saw the flames and abandoned their crops to help him. As they ran up the mountainside, the river flooded their fields. Although their harvest was lost, the villagers all lived to plant again in another valley.”

Leaders tell this story, whose original author is unknown1, at many meetings at DaVita Inc. “What lesson does the story teach?” a leader will ask. “One for all, and all for one,” the DaVita team will often answer. (Taken from the book “The Three Musketeers,” the expression is used as a reminder of their mission and commitment to each other.) In the story, the villagers are not defined by their roles as home owners or farmers. They are part of a community, and community members care for each other. That is what why the village exists and why the villagers thrive.

What We Do Is Not Who We Are

At DaVita, Modupe’s story has special resonance because it speaks to the core purpose of the company, which is to nurture the well-being of the community. This belief is so central that employees, who call themselves “teammates,” refer to their company as a village.

Although many companies describe their culture as a blend of how people think, relate and carry out their work, DaVita distinguishes between what the community is and what the company does.

“When people ask us who we are, we say we’re a community first, and we care for each other,” says Dave Hoerman, chief wisdom officer for DaVita Inc. “What we do is provide healthcare. That fuels the economy of the village. Community first, company second—that’s the shorthand description of our culture.”

Keepers of the Flame

Hoerman should know, as his team focuses full time on tending the flame of DaVita’s culture. Hoerman’s group developed the village credibility book and welcomes new teammates to the village during a two-day experience called the DaVita Academy. They also ensure DaVita’s language, symbols and traditions reflect the community’s values and spirit.

“We’ll often say, `in the spirit of our values’,” Hoerman says. “We believe we have a spirit. We believe love and caring are at our core. We don’t shy away from those ideas and that language because we want this place to feel soulful.”

Under the careful eye of Hoerman’s team, every communication, meeting, event and workspace is designed to reflect DaVita’s spirit. Village leaders’ quotations are painted on office walls, and caring stories are shared with teammates. Storytelling, in fact, is a central component of life at DaVita, as stories open conversations, illuminate meaning and connect to people’s emotions and beliefs.

Voice of the Village

From the beginning, DaVita has taken a radically democratic approach to creating its culture and co-leading the company.

That commitment began in 1999, when Kent Thiry became CEO of a company called Total Renal Care. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and its employees were demoralized from working long hours for a failing organization. Although the financial pressures were intense, Thiry decided his first priority was to create a purpose-filled and caring workplace. Accordingly, he invited employees to help transform their company into a place they wanted to be.

Working together, thousands of employees developed and selected a new name, DaVita, which means “he/she gives life.” They also defined seven core values they wanted to live by as a community and held each other accountable for living out those beliefs. Over time, their shared language evolved, and they moved from being employees to teammates who care for each other as a village.

One of the core tenets of DaVita’s culture is that people’s beliefs drive their behaviors, which drive their results, and that quickly proved true. Caring for each other translated into providing extraordinary care to patients, too. That, in turn, fueled DaVita’s turnaround and growth into one of the leading providers of kidney care in the United States.

Today, DaVita teammates are still co-leading the company, and hierarchical titles are rarely used. Even a C-suite executive like Hoerman introduces himself as “a teammate with the wisdom team” to help level the playing field and invite everyone to share their best ideas as equals.

Hoerman’s group also checks in with teammates regularly to ensure the culture is working well and invite input and ideas. Teammates selected the name for the new coffee shop, for example (the winner was “Village Grounds”), and they’re naming a new office tower as well. In addition, DaVita leaders conduct regular “Voice of the Village” calls and drop in on meetings or classes to lead “Town Halls” to solicit instant feedback.

“We gather data and feedback in a lot of different ways, and when we get enough, we adjust,” Hoerman says. “You can stay nimble if you don’t overcomplicate things.”

Deposits in the Village Bank

Instead of prizing status and issuing directives, DaVita’s leaders focus on modeling village values. If the purpose of the company is to nurture the community, Hoerman says, then a leader’s first priority is to know and care about community members.

Hoerman puts this into practice by making what he calls “village deposits.” Each month, he sets a goal for saying hello, introducing himself to teammates he hasn’t met and talking with others about how they’re caring for each other. His assistant holds him accountable by asking questions and noting his progress on a “humanity scorecard.”

The goal is to create a place where people feel welcomed, cared for and known, Hoerman says, and that only happens when people open the door to conversation. Each interaction is like making a deposit in DaVita’s culture bank.

Those caring interactions are bolstered by village programs. One example is a trust fund called the DaVita Village Network, which helps teammates pay for unexpected expenses due to natural disasters or personal or family tragedies. The contributions, which are matched by DaVita, come from other teammates wanting to help their fellow villagers.

DaVita also offers educational programs through DaVita University for teammates with different needs. For example, one course called “Camp Courage” serves teammates battling cancer, while another assists teammates who are military veterans assimilating into life after service.

Mind, Body and Spirit

DaVita promotes other practices to strengthen DaVita’s culture as well. Those include breathing exercises, meditations, yoga poses, stretching breaks and more. Although the techniques are atypical for a Fortune 500 company, DaVita has seen results from acknowledging that people bring all of themselves—mind, body and spirit—to work.

“A community shows up with emotion,” Hoerman says. “We talk about spirit and soul and give people an opening to set their intentions, reflect on an experience or share a story. Initially, people think it’s strange and ask why we’re doing it, but the results are very real.”

The practices help community members care for themselves and each other, as well as perform at their best. One example is starting meetings with a “check-in” to allow teammates to share what is on their minds and in their hearts. As each person talks, the group listens without judgment and asks what the person needs to feel supported. The answer may be as simple as celebrating a success, acknowledging a struggle or letting someone step out of a meeting to take a call.

“What we’ve found is that this process helps people release the worries, stresses, fears and anxieties they’ve brought into the meeting or the class,” Hoerman says. “Once they’ve expressed those feelings, they’re better able to focus on the decisions at hand.”

School for Life

Because DaVita prioritizes community first, company second, learning opportunities are offered continuously and encompass personal transformation as well as professional development.

“We live in a community, and that means we care about the personal beliefs of people,” Hoerman says. “Sometimes those beliefs are self-limiting, and sometimes they’re helpful. We want to give people a chance to examine their beliefs and identify where they can take a step forward to create healthier lives.”

The wisdom team develops and sponsors these human transformation opportunities as part of nurturing the community and its members, Hoerman says. Unlike typical training programs, these programs aren’t tied to job responsibilities or performance measures. Instead, the goal is to care for teammates as whole people and help them grow. That, in turn, strengthens the culture and naturally leads to better patient care.

“Our beliefs drive our behaviors, which in turn drive the results we get in our lives,” Hoerman says. “We want to raise the consciousness of every person in our community because that is what a caring community would do.”

If your organization is interested in transforming its culture, contact SageRiver to learn more.

1 Although the original author of Modupe’s story is unknown, it is included in James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner’s classic book, “Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It.”

It’s Time to Ditch the Employee Handbook
It’s Time to Ditch the Employee Handbook 622 415 SageRiver Consulting LLC

I approach each new consulting engagement with the eye of an anthropologist. I’m listening for business needs, but I’m also looking for signs about the beliefs, values, norms and traditions of the company. I want to understand the company culture, so I can engage and contribute effectively.

New employees feel the same way, which is why leading companies are moving away from policy-filled employee handbooks toward more creative culture books that illuminate their unique “civilization.” This culture investment pays off because culture has become a critical differentiator in attracting and retaining talent, while elevating organizational performance. A vibrant culture is imperative because it provides the “soil” in which employees flourish, which then enables them to embrace and implement a strategic vision. For that reason, smart companies view their cultures as strategic assets and cultivate them accordingly.

What do great culture books look like? They’re as varied as the organizations that produce them. Some are elaborate storybooks; others are simply a series of slides with culture pointers. It really isn’t about the budget or production approach. It’s about painting a picture of life at your company. We’ve summarized key elements from the best culture books to help you inspire, guide and invite new employees into your unique world.

It All Began When…

Your origin story is a powerful way to illustrate the values and purpose that drive you. New employees want to know how your company began, who your founders were and what inspired them to start a company. It’s equally important to show through concrete anecdotes and examples how your mission, vision and values shape your work today. Your culture is an unfolding story that your team is writing together. (IDEO’s culture book is arranged in chapters with just this idea in mind.) Give your new employees a clear picture of how their everyday behaviors will help contribute to your culture.

Many Characters, One Story

A great culture book includes more than a letter from the CEO and a description of what already exists. Great culture books reflect the perspectives of employees, who co-own and shape your evolving culture.

Before you start writing, gather a cross-section of employees and ask them these questions: What do you know today that you wish you’d known on Day One? What makes you stay at this company? What stories or quotations can you share that exemplify this culture? Your new employees will enjoy hearing from the resident experts in their own words, which is why companies like Zappos and Sterling Mining have incorporated employee text messages, photos, video clips and stories directly into their culture books.

Home Away from Home

Help new employees feel at home by explaining the practical dos and don’ts of your workplace, just as New York ad agency Big Spaceship did in its culture book. How do you dress? What communications systems and methods do you use? Where do people congregate or go for breaks? Do you have team activities or recreational events they can join? Are there definite “don’ts,” such as taking calls on speaker in an open office area?

Each company is unique, so identify the tips that will best equip employees to engage in your workplace. Alongside the guidance, try to explain why you live together as you do, so employees can better understand how your daily practices relate back to your values and purpose.

Growth Happens Here

Top performers care about growing throughout their careers. Top companies nurture that desire by providing clear avenues for learning and advancement. Netflix provided a roadmap for its new employees by answering questions, such as: What does top performance looks like, regardless of the individual role? What do teammates expect of each other? What behaviors get rewarded or discouraged? What are some proven avenues for learning and growth? If you answer those questions, you can amplify and direct the enthusiasm new employees feel.

The Best Workplace on Earth

Most workplaces have surprising or “cool” features that make them unique. Epic Systems Corp., a healthcare software company, invites employees to enjoy its beautiful Wisconsin surroundings by climbing up to a treehouse or riding cowhide-painted bikes around campus. True to its outdoor ethos, apparel and gear designer Patagonia lets employees take work-day breaks to go surfing at peak tide. Your surprising workplace benefits will be unique to your company and location. Whatever they are, include them in your culture book so your new employees will know they’ve arrived at the best workplace on Earth.

As your culture book starts to take shape, you’ll identify additional elements that are particular to your workplace and team. You may wonder if you should include policies and procedures, too, as those are critical tools for setting expectations and mitigating risk. We agree that employees need to know the rules that govern them; we’d simply suggest including your policies and procedures as an appendix or directing your employees to your Intranet for the most current and complete listing. Whatever you choose, keep revisiting and evolving your culture book over time. It’s a valuable way to engage your team in strengthening your culture year after year.

Contact us to find out how SageRiver can support your culture book development.

The Learning Organization: Farm Credit Services of America
The Learning Organization: Farm Credit Services of America 884 545 SageRiver Consulting LLC

In this new series, titled “Stories from the Field,” SageRiver sits down with senior leaders who are transforming their organizations for tomorrow. Their inspiring stories illustrate how leaders and employees are co-creating the organization of the future to achieve greater agility, engagement, innovation and performance. Our first conversation is with Ann Finkner, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA), a customer-owned financial cooperative serving farmers and ranchers in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. FCSA’s holistic approach to becoming a learning organization makes it a national leader in employee engagement.

You Say You Want a Revolution

Founded in 1916, FCSA has a rich tradition of providing credit services to those who feed the world. Known for its honesty and integrity, the organization serves its members proudly and helps strengthen their farming and ranching operations through good times and bad.

In the late 1990s, FCSA welcomed a new CEO with a passion for organizational development and culture change. His arrival kicked off what Finkner calls a decades-long “cultural revolution” that transformed FCSA from a traditional top-down organization into one that engages all team members in imagining and creating the future. Over the same period, FCSA has more than quadrupled its annual income, which it then reinvests back into serving customers and shares with its customers/stockholders through cash patronage.

Mind Shifts

In those early days, FCSA knew it needed to reconceptualize leaders and teams to become the organization it wanted to be, Finkner says.

Accordingly, FCSA developed a new leadership framework based on the concepts of James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. The goal was to shift expectations and thinking, so leaders would understand their roles as facilitators, coaches and guides. Rather than manage through top-down directives, leaders were primarily responsible for inspiring a common vision, developing talent and fostering relationships with and among team members. For their part, employees were no longer individual contributors. They were teammates, collaborators and grass-roots leaders focused on shared growth and achievement.

FCSA offered training around these principles, refocused its annual leader meeting around leadership and leadership development, and empowered team members to collaborate in new ways.

“Leaders now had permission to do things differently,” Finkner recalls. “Instead of leading every meeting themselves, for example, they were encouraged to rotate the leadership and develop team ground rules and accountabilities.”

FCSA also retooled some programs to put leaders and team members on more equal footing. Leadership was not about elevated status; it was about accountability and responsibility, Finkner says.

Space Matters

Knowing that the physical environment influences how people think and act, FCSA transformed its workspaces into open settings with casual areas to encourage collaboration and conversation. Leaders work in open offices alongside their team members whenever possible, Finkner says, to strengthen relationships and understand how team members work together. Team members can also gather in conference areas or use enclosed phone booths for private or extended conversations.

FCSA discusses open workspaces in candidate interviews as well, letting applicants know that teamwork is an essential component of FCSA’s culture. That principle is being applied to a new building project at FCSA’s headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, as well. A cross-functional team of leaders and employees guided the effort to ensure the design supports collaboration and meets essential team needs.

Winning Together

Aligning the compensation structure to team success was another important element of FCSA’s transformation, Finkner says. Annual incentive plans are now entirely team based, with support teams participating with the customer-facing teams they assist. (Individual performance is factored into merit pay.)

“We are a team, not competitors, and we share the same goals,” Finkner says. “We wanted to encourage employees to partner in serving customers and to help everyone win.”

FCSA also eliminated annual performance reviews in favor of more frequent coaching discussions. Leaders facilitate monthly check-ins with team members, as well as more formal semi-annual conversations. Rather than review past performance, however, leaders use inside-out coaching to help employees identify how they can achieve their individual and team goals. Younger employees, who value ongoing feedback and growth, have especially appreciated the stepped-up coaching rhythm.

Teachers Are Everywhere

As FCSA’s evolution continued, a second CEO challenged the organization to think bigger. In addition to being great team members, he wanted FCSA employees to be better people because they worked there.

At FCSA, employee development is driven by experience, exposure and education, at both the individual and team levels. Each team member creates an annual personal development plan as part of annual goal setting. Goals are aligned to each person’s career stage and personal and professional objectives. FCSA also gives employees eight hours of paid volunteer time each year. In addition, employees can take occasional paid personal time to meet family commitments, serve in the community and pursue personal goals.

To support ongoing learning, Finkner’s team also expanded internal training and development opportunities. Employees can now access self-directed learning programs to explore long-term career goals, including future leadership roles. Facilitated trainings are also offered to team members at all levels to support their development. In addition, leaders and employees are encouraged to pursue more coaching, feedback and exposure to other teams and leaders as part of their personal development plans.

True to its team focus, FCSA convenes cross-functional teams to accomplish key objectives. Some of the teams, such as the women and young professionals teams, are standing groups. Others, such as the building design team, have time-limited missions. In addition to driving initiatives forward, the teams give employees the opportunity to learn more about FCSA’s business, build skills through new projects and forge relationships with team members across the organization.

Regular work teams learn and serve together as well. They are asked to complete quarterly activities, including volunteer projects, training sessions, teambuilding activities and celebration events. Employees also connect via online blogs and forums to share interests and ideas and explore mutual learning.

FCSA tracks the impact of these activities via IBM Kenexa, a talent management system that includes employee engagement surveys and analytics. Along with their annual survey results, teams receive a guide that helps them use their information to develop team engagement and business plans to drive continuous improvement. As an enterprise, FCSA consistently achieves among the highest employee engagement scores of all IBM Kenexa customers.

The Story of Us

Over the past 20 years, FCSA employees transformed their organizational culture, which they collaboratively defined in what they call their “We Are” statements. The statements are illustrated on posters throughout FCSA work areas and shared with new employees. In addition, employees develop an annual online publication that showcases what being an FCSA team member looked like during the past year.

New team members receive what Finkner calls “culture in a box”—literally a box including items that represent aspects of FCSA’s culture. In addition, new hires attend executive-led sessions that explore FCSA values and programs, such as new employee orientation, well-being and leadership development.

The culture is strengthened by connecting employees with FCSA members. Each year, employees visit member farming and ranching operations to further connect with the people they serve. FCSA is also involving employees and members in a “Shark Tank”-inspired initiative to create innovative ways to support farmers and ranchers.

Because leaders and employees own the culture together, Finkner says, there is a high degree of trust and transparency. In many ways, she says, the culture evolves organically and fosters mutual accountability based on shared values and expectations.

“New employees will say that our culture just feels different in a good way,” Finkner says. “That type of culture doesn’t just happen, though. You have to work at it and know how to be a team member and lead in that environment.”

Climbing Higher and Higher

As Finkner reflects on FCSA’s journey as a learning organization, she says some lessons are clear.

Employees are more likely to embrace change when they know the business case for new initiatives and can help solve potential challenges. FCSA has also created an expectation of continual learning, and employees know they have a vital voice in FCSA’s evolution.

“It takes time, and you can’t eat the elephant,” Finkner says. “You must decide where the greatest value is and start there. And then, you must continue to push forward, rather than being satisfied with where you are.”

Finkner also stresses the need to rethink leadership. As she has grown as a leader, she spends less and less time on functional responsibilities. Instead, her days are spent listening to stories, facilitating conversations and asking questions to guide development.

“Leadership is less about completing tasks than it is about creating value,” she says. “I’m here to be in service. That is how we add value as leaders.”

If your organization is interested in transforming into a learning organization, contact SageRiver to learn more.

 

Change Your Mindset to Prosper
Change Your Mindset to Prosper 400 296 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Returning after a week-long professional development experience, I felt energized. I’d deepened my knowledge, enjoyed rich conversations with colleagues and felt that familiar surge of excitement about applying new insights to our work with SageRiver clients.

I wasn’t surprised by the jolt of enthusiasm. Exploring new ideas with others is a favorite pursuit, and I’m not alone in feeling that way. Most organizations offer similar experiences for employees, knowing they view them as “perks” with true business value.

If you check back in a few months, however, those same employees often report that their excitement has faded. Once they returned to work, they had no way to apply and extend their learning in community with others. As one client observed, “We aren’t taught how to evolve, or to keep evolving together.”

His observation gets at the heart of two challenges facing businesses today—innovation and employee engagement. Both jump dramatically when companies transform into true learning organizations.

Alive Through Learning

As any parent will witness, humans thrive on learning. Observe the excitement a toddler shows after mastering a new skill. Listen to kids cheer after executing a new play against an opposing team. Despite the work that goes into it, learning is fun! It’s rewarding. It makes us feel engaged and alive.

Learning also helps us move from what Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck calls a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. In her groundbreaking book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” Dweck asserts that how we think about ourselves influences almost every aspect of our lives. Those who live with a fixed mindset think they have an unchangeable set of talents and attributes. They are resistant to criticism and avoid challenges because they don’t believe they can get better. In contrast, those with a growth mindset believe they can improve through feedback and hard work. When we learn, we prove the growth mindset is correct and become confident of our ability to overcome challenges and initiate change.

Dweck’s insights apply to organizations as well as individuals. In fact, I believe they are even more important for companies because a growth mindset produces innovation and prosperity. The fixed mindset is where the status quo lives, and we no longer have time for the status quo.

Steps Toward Transformation

Transforming to a learning organization requires a holistic approach because learning is an attitude, value, action and community all rolled into one. Here are some strategies and tactics we recommend to help you make the shift:

Offer Creative Spaces and Experiences

In a famous business lecture, British comedian John Cleese recommended play and stimulating environments to foster team creativity. We agree. Simple changes, such as striking artwork and engaging meeting spaces, can change the mood of a team and spark new ways of thinking. Trying new activities can also prompt creativity. One marketing agency, for example, tried improvisational comedy together. The goal wasn’t to find new careers; it was to relax the mind and signal that new ideas and approaches were welcome.

Invest in Learning Journeys

One way organizations inspire learning is through their unique employee benefits. Some companies provide extended paid sabbaticals. Others offer a paid week off to try a new experience or study a subject of the employee’s choosing. Still others provide weekly time dedicated to the employee’s choice of investigation. Invariably, employees come back to work re-energized and ready to share insights from their learning journeys.

Foster Curiosity

Curiosity is one of SageRiver’s organizational values, and there’s a reason why. Information alone has little value. When we dig deeper to understand causes, connections and implications, we translate information into knowledge, which can then be acted upon to add value. As Bernard Baruch once noted, “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.”

Learning organizations put this principle to work by making curiosity a formal part of team agendas. They dedicate staff time to exploring topics of interest, and they reflect upon their learning. They discuss how concepts apply to their work and then implement, prototype and test their ideas. Not all subjects will be aligned to business priorities, however. In learning organizations, learning is valued for its own sake and can flow from individual interests.

Develop Storytellers

At SageRiver, we believe that most of what we know is learned through story. To reap the benefits of learning, teams need time to internalize their discoveries and tell stories about how those insights relate to their lives and work experiences. Storytelling deepens learning and helps listeners connect with new ideas. It’s a powerful tool for organizational growth.

Engage with the Community

Learning takes place outside, as well as inside, the organization. Engaging with your community can be an important source of insight. Learning organizations encourage employees to serve on nonprofit boards, take service learning trips and volunteer for different causes. They dedicate time for team members to discuss their experiences, so they can reflect upon them and grow together.

Embrace Failure

People with a growth mindset know that learning is a journey, and failure is a natural part of it. The key is to evaluate, adjust and keep at it until you achieve your goals. As hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

Business leaders are taught that organizations must grow or die. Learning is the attribute that powers organizational growth and innovation. As you transform into a learning organization, you’ll see benefits everywhere. Ideas come from all corners of the organization. Engagement rises. Relationships deepen, and synergies abound. If you’d like help making this shift within your organization, contact SageRiver Consulting.

SageRiver Welcomes Research Consultant
SageRiver Welcomes Research Consultant 622 415 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Alexandra (Ally) Williams joined SageRiver this summer as a research consultant. Her passion for mining data, evaluating industry trends and best practices and synthesizing findings into actionable insights make her a great fit for SageRiver’s clients. We sat down with Ally this month to talk about her professional journey and what a great day looks like, both on and off the job.

SageRiver (SR): Why did you decide to join the SageRiver team?

Ally Williams (AW): I met with Susan this summer to learn more about SageRiver. I majored in psychology in college with an emphasis in research, and I’ve been looking for a way to apply those skills in a business setting. When Susan and I talked, it just clicked. The opportunity to do strategic work for different companies and clients appealed to me. It’s right up my alley. I love doing background research, sifting through data and digging into companies and finding out what’s working and what isn’t. I was inspired to jump into the opportunity and get more into the business world.

SR: What is your role at SageRiver?

AW: My title is research consultant, and I help Susan in all facets of our client work. She’s been a great mentor who shares the overall strategy so I understand how my work connects to the bigger picture. I focus primarily on research, which includes conducting background research for proposals and environmental scans and assessing business strategies, trends and best practices. For example, I’ve been researching different aspects of e-commerce strategies and reviewing studies and statistics to determine what companies are doing well and what isn’t working. That assessment will be used to help a SageRiver client develop an effective e-commerce approach. I also manage the new SageRiver Facebook page.

SR: Describe your work experiences prior to joining SageRiver.

AW: As I mentioned, I have a degree in psychology with an emphasis in research. I didn’t intend to build a career in clinical psychology, but I worked for the Mental Health Center of Denver in an administrative role. I took phone calls, set appointments and interacted with clients at the front desk. It was a good experience because it gave me insight into the actual practice of psychology.

My other work experience has been in fashion retail, at a retail boutique in the Denver Pavilions called Francesca’s and at a designer resale boutique in Denver named Styletribe Underground. That second experience was especially fun because we started a mobile fashion bus during my time there. The bus included clothing racks as well as a dressing room in the back. We had very high-end customers who expected quality customer service. I had primary responsibility for that part of the business, and I enjoyed it.

Working in retail is an experience everyone should have. It teaches you how to talk to anyone, listen well and adapt to each person you serve.  I’ve learned to be patient, get outside my comfort zone and go with the flow. Each customer is unique.

 SR: What does a great day at work look like to you?

AW: An exciting day involves qualitative or quantitative research, meeting with clients and interacting with Susan’s graduate students. I attend her Business Strategy class at the University of Colorado at Denver Business School to support a project they’re completing for Similasan Corp. We’re doing a deep dive into mobile commerce, e-commerce, spending via those channels and overall trends in consumer behavior. I’m learning so much, and I love it.

SR: Why does research interest you so much?

AW: I do both quantitative and qualitative research, but quantitative research appeals to me most. It’s always come naturally to me. I understand statistical language and methodologies, and find it exciting to dive into the data and determine what they mean. I love finding new insights and avenues to explore.

SR: You studied art history in Florence as well. How has that shaped the way you view work and the world in general?

AW: That was a terrific experience. Florence is beautiful. I studied art history and Florentine architecture. I think that experience broadened my view of the world. Seeing different countries and cultures and traveling on my own also taught me to be more independent and confident in my ability to adapt, learn new systems and solve problems.

 SR: What’s a favorite way to spend free time?

AW: I’m a very outgoing person, and I love playing tennis and hanging out with friends and family. I just enjoy being in the company of others.

I’ve also been very involved with my sorority, Delta Delta Delta, in hosting events to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Collectively, we’ve raised so much money that we’ve had a wing of the hospital named after our sorority.

And I also enjoy reading. I’ve enjoyed all the works of Gillian Flynn, which are dark but have intricate plots that pull you quickly from beginning to end.

 

Building Authentic, Whole-Life Leaders the ICAN Way
Building Authentic, Whole-Life Leaders the ICAN Way 622 415 SageRiver Consulting LLC

The Institute for Career Advancement Needs (ICAN) has been building authentic, whole-life leaders for more than 35 years. SageRiver sat down with Julie Burrell Lillig, director of strategic partnerships at ICAN, to learn about ICAN’s unique philosophy and approach to supporting leaders at each stage of the development journey.

SageRiver (SR): How did ICAN get started? What need was it intended to fill?

Julie Burrell Lillig (JBL): It started in 1981 with several female friends having a conversation in their backyard. They were all successful, but they weren’t seeing many leadership development programs open to women in those days. They decided to do something about it, and that’s how ICAN began. It was a grassroots effort to create more opportunities for women leaders and advance women in business. Interestingly, because they took a unique approach, men started asking for similar leadership experiences.

SR: For those who aren’t familiar with ICAN programs, how are they unique?

JBL: What underlies all our work is a focus on developing authentic and intentional leaders. We take a holistic approach that engages the heart and mind of a leader. We want leaders to know their values, be comfortable in their own skin and, perhaps, lead in a different way than they have been led because it reflects who they are and their maximized potential. Each program is distinct and innovative, but those core principles flow through all our work.

SR: Today ICAN offers programs for women and men, both separately and together. Why do you sponsor both gender-specific and co-mingled programs?

JBL: When the focus is on the individual leader’s self-learning and development, we’ve found that many leaders are more comfortable in same-gendered peer mentoring groups. They are less self-conscious and less likely to filter their comments, which creates an open and unique relationship-building experience. That openness and honesty are essential for growth. When we focus on team building and organizational development, it’s important to involve both genders.

SR: If I wanted to get a sense of whether ICAN’s approach works for me, where would you recommend I start?

JBL: We offer one of the largest annual leadership conferences for women in the world, and that’s frequently how people first become involved with ICAN. We’re actually celebrating our 25th anniversary conference in 2018!

We also offer Women’s Leadership Circles. These are five-week programs that engage women at different stages of the leadership journey. This program gives leaders time to reflect and share within the circles, which is where much of the learning takes place. It’s a shorter time commitment than our full Defining Leadership program, and it gives participants a good feel for our unique approach.

Lastly, we offer a program targeted for individuals who lead teams called IMPACT – which is tailored to leaders at a mid-senior level who want to grow their influence and strategic impact for their team.

SR: Let’s talk about the Defining Leadership program, since Susan Heinzeroth is co-leading two sessions this fall. What makes Defining Leadership unique?

We call it our flagship program because it’s become so well-known and respected. We offer gender-specific programs for men and women and concentrate on three content themes: Stepping into Your Power, Creating Vision and Achieving Vibrancy. The program builds self-awareness, emotional intelligence, communications skills, whole-brain thinking and leadership agility for participants and is designed to be truly transformational.

Although the program achieves a number of learning objectives, our primary purpose is to help participants dig deep to better understand their own values, passions and personal strengths and weaknesses. We believe in helping leaders develop a vision and approach to leadership that is authentic to who they are and what they believe.

We integrate a number of tools and learning experiences to help participants achieve that goal. The program includes peer-to-peer learning, one-on-one coaching, individual assessments, experiential learning, self-reflection and journaling and more.

SR: Right now, ICAN programs are hosted at your headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. Do you plan to offer programs in Colorado at some point?

JBL: We’re exploring that possibility, yes. Our programs and conferences have been very popular with Colorado leaders, and we may offer local programming in your state in the next few years.

SR: Can people register for ICAN programs now?

JBL: Absolutely! You can register online at www.icanglobal.net.

Fostering a Healthy Team Ecosystem
Fostering a Healthy Team Ecosystem 2560 1707 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Early in my career, I developed an outsourcing consulting practice for Coopers & Lybrand, which later merged with another firm to become PwC. The practice grew quickly, as clients discovered the strategic advantages that outsourcing could offer.

Over time, however, I noticed a pattern. While managers adapted to new operational realities, few invested sufficiently in onboarding contractors and building integrated employee-contractor teams. As a result, their groups met basic business goals but failed to innovate and achieve optimal performance.

Similarly, companies today are adopting matrix organizational structures to achieve key strategic objectives. Pulled from different parts of the company—and often including contractors—these cross-functional “flash teams” need help developing a common purpose, language and operating structure. When leaders neglect those needs, their teams produce predictably mediocre results.

In today’s ever-changing competitive environment, companies need teams to operate at the highest level to ensure organizational success. That makes fostering an ecosystem for optimal team performance Job No. 1 for every leader.

Teams in Flux

Consider a few statistics that illuminate the challenge.

More than 40 percent of the U.S. workforce is employed in contingent roles, according to the General Accounting Office. The agency defines contingent roles as contractors, temps and on-call and part-time employees. At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employee tenures are shrinking, with the median tenure currently at only 4.2 years on a job. (That number is even lower for millennial employees.)

With more roles being filled by contractors and employees moving in and out, teams are in constant flux. Is it possible to create cohesive teams in this environment? And, if so, can optimal team performance persist over time?

At SageRiver Consulting, we believe the answer is a resounding “yes,” but teambuilding can’t be left to chance while leaders focus on other tasks. Effective teams are characterized by high levels of trust, commitment, accountability, open dialogue, and results-focused recognition.* No group of employees—let alone of contractors and employees—will develop those traits without sustained effort.

Steps to Success

That is why leaders must focus tirelessly on nurturing a healthy team ecosystem. Here are five steps you can take to build a cohesive, motivated and high-performing team:

Step 1: Engage your team in developing your vision, mission, values and charter.

Commitment comes from understanding your purpose and uniting with others to achieve a worthwhile goal. Begin by defining your vision, mission and values and codifying those in your team charter. This document will also outline your operating principles and define “mission success.” Once the initial work is done, revisit the discussion regularly and bring your mission and values to life with storytelling and story listening. Through this process, you will engage new team members and reaffirm your shared commitment.

Step 2: Invest in individual and team assessments.

At SageRiver, we employ research-based diagnostic tools to support team performance and individual development. The assessments help diagnose challenges and create a common language for problem-solving and cooperation. Armed with these insights, teams can move beyond misunderstandings and labels and find more effective ways of collaborating.

Step 3: Recruit for attitude and aptitude in all roles.

Smart companies know that hiring for culture fit and talent beats hiring for skills alone. But do you select and orient your contractors in the same way? If key functions are filled by contractors, they’re an important part of your team ecosystem. Make sure they support your culture and values, rather than undermine them.

Step 4: Embrace open dialogue and mutual accountability.

Many teams struggle with honest feedback and mutual accountability because the discussions feel too emotionally charged. You may need to invest in training to help team members overcome their fears and build new skills. Ultimately, your goal is to shift the focus from blaming and shaming to mutually supporting team performance and individual growth.

Step 5: Empower peers and reward results.

In effective teams, members cheer for each other and recognize each other’s achievements. To build mutual accountability and commitment, empower team members to reward each other for their contributions to team goals. Ask them to give specific feedback about how and why a peer excelled and to offer that recognition in public.

Legacies That Endure

Although it takes an investment of time, money and energy to foster a healthy team ecosystem, the rewards are enormous. High-performing teams create a culture of their own that persists even after individual members (or leaders) leave. As Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Creating an optimal team culture may be the most enduring legacy you leave your organization—and perhaps the most valuable one as well.

*Traits based on the research and writings of Patrick Lencioni, author of “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” and Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, authors of “The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization.”

The Essential Skill Great Leaders Share
The Essential Skill Great Leaders Share 500 334 SageRiver Consulting LLC

It happens every time.

He stood in front of the room, remembering the moment he uncovered a family secret. Everything he had known about himself and his place in the world was wrong. As he grappled with new truths, he was forced to decide what he truly believed about trust, family, identity and life purpose.

The room was still as he told his story. His listeners weren’t checking their phones or letting their minds drift elsewhere. Instead, they were leaning forward, taking in each word and remembering moments when they, too, had been at a crossroads.

Although his story was especially dramatic, the effect he created was familiar. I facilitate storytelling workshops with diverse groups—corporations, nonprofit organizations, graduate classes and more—and the same dynamics occur. When people tell their stories, they engage the hearts and minds of their listeners and break through apathy and resistance. Their listeners stop judging and realize the universal truth that behind every person there is a story waiting to be told, heard and embraced. Attitudes soften, conversations begin and minds open to new possibilities and ways of thinking.

Storytelling is, quite simply, transformative.

Crafting Your StoryHere are a few simple steps to discover and hone your story:

  • Identify your purpose and audience. Are you trying to reinforce values, develop leaders or achieve a different goal? Who will your audience be?
  • Unblock your memories. Pick a word related to your purpose. Then, spend 15 minutes writing whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about grammar, logic or staying on topic. Just write.
  • Select your story. You’ll now have memories that can be developed into stories. Pick the one that best matches experiences your audience will share.
  • Activate their senses. Draw your listeners in by including a few sensory details. Paint a scene and add a sound or smell you remember.
  • Simplify your language. Use everyday language, not business jargon, and pare your story down to the essentials. That way, your listeners can reflect on how the story relates to them.

How Great Leaders Use Storytelling

I began incorporating storytelling into leadership development and teambuilding workshops 15 years ago. I had been invited to teach graduate classes in critical leadership, and I reflected on how best to distill the topic into one semester. In addition to sifting through my own experiences and reading, I intensively studied some of the most effective leaders across sectors and industries. What set them apart from other competent leaders was their ability to employ storytelling to lead organizations and teams.

Storytelling is obviously not the only leadership skill, but it is an essential one. The best leaders understand the power of a well-selected tale and craft their own set of crucial stories. They think of their stories as quivers in their bows, which they can strategically unleash to accomplish their goals. They also understand that their stories, rather than the tales of famous athletes or historical figures, are the most potent because personal stories demonstrate our willingness to share ourselves and invite others to share in return.

As I studied these great leaders, I observed how they used stories to reinforce values, prepare their organizations for change, develop emerging leaders, strengthen teams and engage employees to achieve higher levels of productivity and innovation. I have also trained sales forces and professional services teams to employ storytelling to create stronger client relationships. As one financial advisor told me after using his new storytelling skills, “When I share my story, I become human to them.”

How to Become a Storyteller

If you need to engage, motivate and lead people, storytelling is an essential skill to master. It doesn’t take the skills of Homer or a commitment to reveal uncomfortably personal information to business associates. Start by uncovering just one simple story that will help you open conversations and engage hearts and minds.

Remember: You have a life rich with stories that only you can tell, and your stories have the power to connect people in deeper ways. Begin with one story, and then contact SageRiver Consulting to discover how we can help you and your team unlock the transformative power of storytelling.

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3
Testing, Testing, 1-2-3 622 415 SageRiver Consulting LLC

By the time I met them, they were ready for change. They were locked into old patterns and conflicted about their direction. Work had become an exercise in frustration, and their stress levels were rising.

This healthcare organization faced real challenges so their team dynamics mattered. Seismic shifts in the marketplace required them to redesign their structures, processes and delivery approaches. And just over the horizon was a wave of likely retirements that would rob them of critical expertise.

Their organization cried out for effective leadership at all levels. Could this team lead the charge?

Opening the “Insights” Box

The answer was a resounding yes, and that shift began with individual and team assessments.

At SageRiver, we use diagnostic tools to open conversations, facilitate growth and unblock teams. In essence, an assessment gives us the keys to a box that contains insights about ourselves and our colleagues—about how we think, behave and interact. We don’t put people in boxes, rather, we take those insights out and use them to help people connect and function more effectively in the workplace.

Our healthcare client, for example, had leaders with conflicting thinking and behavioral styles. Meetings were geared toward the dominant approach, which left others without the information and interactions they needed. The result? Frustration and impasse.

After administering individual and team assessments, we diagnosed the problem and opened a conversation about retooling their meetings and communication approaches to address all participants’ needs. Armed with a common language, they were able to depersonalize the issue and agree on a solution.

That simple change unblocked their decision-making process and allowed them to move forward on other enterprise shifts.

Matching the Tools to the Task

Getting the right results starts with using the right tools. There are dozens of individual, team and organizational diagnostics available today. They fall into different categories to help identify personality traits, behavioral and thinking preferences, emotional intelligence, team dynamics, developmental progress and more.

SageRiver administers a range of the most rigorously validated instruments. Some of the newer assessments—most notably Emergenetics—include integrated tools that provide insights at the individual, team and organizational levels. These assessments look at both behavioral and thinking attributes, which make them a powerful tool for finding the unique “genius” in each person.

Assessments work best when they fit a client’s context. In selecting which diagnostics to use, we consider three questions: What goals do clients have? What obstacles are they encountering? And what level of self-awareness do they possess?

Unblocking Teams, Unlocking Value

Our healthcare client realized value from the assessments because we linked the findings directly to their daily work and long-term goals. They regularly discussed and applied what they had learned, which allowed them to adopt new approaches and measure their progress toward larger objectives.

Ultimately, the leadership team elected to deploy the assessments throughout the enterprise. It was an important first step in enabling essential cultural and behavioral shifts that have taken hold at all levels of the organization.

If you’d like to learn more about how individual, team or organizational assessments could benefit you, contact SageRiver Consulting at (720) 443-2551.

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