Executive Board Retreat Five-Year Planning & Team Building

A CEO had two failed Board Retreats from previous companies. The first one he was fired and the second one he fired his team. When I was called, he was just appointed as CEO to lead this new organization and wanted to align his executive-level Board together around a five-year plan. He and his Chief Operating Officer, understandingly so, were nervous about conducting their first retreat together.

I asked the questions to determine what they hoped to accomplish. I guided them through the process to put their minds at ease. I kept them focused on the goals we had discussed. And, I facilitated the two-day retreat with great success.

RESULT: The Board was thrilled with the outcome and convinced the CEO that ‘we need to do this every year, so we are all aligned around our key objectives and our vision.’ The vision and strategy they set that day continue to be the focus. They continue to use my services each year to facilitate their executive retreat.

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Non-Profit Three-Year Strategy Planning

A non-profit community sports organization needed to align their volunteer board around some key priorities. They were seeing the demographics of the community changing which would potentially impacting enrollment and revenue. I was asked to guide the organization through a strategic planning process, so everyone was focused around a few themes.

RESULT: I worked with the senior executive team to identify their goals, so they could have a productive board meeting with the larger group. During this meeting, we identified three main pillars that would drive all major projects. Two years later and major headway on two of the pillars, the team is still focused on those themes and makes sure all major initiatives link to one of them.

A Vice President of Finance wanted to improve his confidence and ability to present a more powerful story during All Hands Meetings and company events. This was one area that was holding him back from future promotions. No matter how old or successful we get, we all have insecurities and this executive was no different. He knew that to improve his chances of becoming CFO, he had to focus his development in a few areas.

Over the next six months we worked on those areas including his confidence, his ability to present in large group settings, and several other development goals he had set.

RESULT: Over the next two years he received accolades from his boss and eventually became a CFO. I continue to stay in touch and recently worked with one of his referrals.

A multinational manufacturing firm was combining its two major companies into one organization and needed to set a structure that brought everyone together. As they moved the headquarters of both companies into a new geography, they needed to prepare for higher-than-normal attrition, new roles, a revised org structure, and changing leadership to meet the business’ long-term needs.

RESULT: I worked with five of the major functions (HR, Finance, Legal, Risk Mgt, & Purchasing) to guide them through defining their value proposition, success measures and core products & services in order to assess their staffing needs and set the appropriate organizational structure.

A team and their manager were having a difficult time communicating and understanding each other. Some of the team members were confused as they felt the bosses’ priorities were constantly changing and the boss was frustrated that some team members weren’t reacting fast enough.

I conducted DiSC Communication Styles to help each person better understand both their preferred method of communicating as well as their colleagues’ preferences.

RESULT: Tensions decreased as everyone became more effective working with each other.

A technology company knew that several executives may leave and were having challenges keeping their top engineering talent. They wanted to have a plan in place to mitigate certain senior talent from leaving to minimize disruption to the business.

I worked with the Cx0 level to evaluate the existing staff based on their current performance in the company and their future potential. We evaluated the risk of someone leaving and the impact to the business. Then, I guided the leaders to put in targeted development plans for key personnel.

RESULT: The turnover of key engineering talent decreased. And, when two C-level executives gave notice, the company was able to quickly replace those positions with existing talent who were being groomed for the higher-level positions.