Dear Non-Profit Group Leader:

The Executive Director/CEO of a non-profit well-known in its field experienced the truth of what Jim Collins in his best-selling book Good to Great stated: the need to get ‘the right people on the bus.’ One person he hired was Nancy. The CEO brought her on as the second in command knowing she had to the potential to realize needed results for the greater good of the organization.

Nancy retained LTR to assist in improving her leadership skills with one-on-one coaching sessions. This "C to Be" knew that it wasn’t just her success that mattered and brought up ideas for improving the skills of all the staff members.

Members of the executive management team met at Nancy’s suggestion. During these meetings facilitated by LTR, the executive team agreed to:

• Be deliberate and considerate when inviting staff to engage in shifting from negative to more positive behaviors.
• Commit as a group to changing behavior to be more open and communicative, to speak in terms of “us/our” and to be intentional in valuing the work of their colleagues.

LTR then developed and facilitated a series of customized staff development workshops that met the specific needs of the organization. During the process of the year long initiative, the orientation of the company shifted from a hierarchical system to a team-centered model.

The result of this team development initiative is a more cohesive staff with a high morale, one that could weather the storms of personnel downsizing for economic reasons and stepping up to fill in the gaps on company projects. Nancy became a stronger leader and the CEO saw his company’s transition from ‘good to great.’

A national corporation was establishing a branch office in New York City. Before officially opening its doors to their public, the parent company identified two perceived needs: team development and executive coaching for two leaders. The goals of engagement with LTR were to support the national company; develop a cohesive, collaborative, high-functioning team; and provide skills and tools for individual and organizational growth.

To start the process, a series of assessments were administered to all staff:

• Customized Workplace Pulse Survey.
• Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Inventory.
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
• Myers-Briggs Type Team Report.

A series of company-specific team development seminars were offered and, by agreement of the participants, all staff attended or there was no program. The sessions focused on:

• Discovering How We Work.
• Vision, Mission, and Values.
• Resolving Workplace Conflict.

Concurrently, each of the two top leaders worked with a LTR coach individually. Since the leaders were part of the team development initiative sponsored by their company, coaches were able to reinforce and maximize information gathered from assessment tools and the series of seminars. During individual and ‘four-person’ sessions, differences could be aired and blocked lines of communications opened to allow a freer flow of meaningful dialogues.

As the weeks progressed, meetings between the two leaders created less friction and generated more camaraderie. It wasn’t easy to break through communications barriers; yet by putting their issues on the table and directly confronting each other, significant progress was made. The two leaders became allies leading members of a now more well-functioning team and worked together to present a unified presence when dealing with the national office.

After a disaster, it’s hard to figure out what is meaningful to do. There is a check you can write, clothing or food to send, organizing a fund raising event to benefit the people living in the devastated area. It wasn’t until seven months after Hurricane Katrina brought death and devastation to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in August 2005 that Leigh Henderson found a way to help. Actually, the opportunity found Leigh.

In April 2006, Leigh received an email outlining areas that Community Church-Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans (CCUU-NOLA) sought assistance with organizational development. She deleted the email; telling herself, “I’m too busy.” She had second thoughts. She knew that what was contained in the email was a call for help. It was a call that she realized she had to answer.

Collaborating with members of the congregation, Leigh developed and presented, “Inside the Walls: A Weekend of Workshops to Envision our Future, Improve Skills, Identify Gifts, and Plan Actions” in early June 2006. The work was difficult especially as deeply emotional issues were discussed. Leaders and members agreed not to dwell on looking back or the uncertainties ahead. Instead, they worked — and laughed — together to find creative ways to maximize their resources while planning for a bright future.

The words of gratitude for Leigh’s donation of services were many including, “We were disillusioned. We didn’t know what to do. You got us moving. Your work is allowing us to do our ministry.”

In December 2006, Leigh returned for another long weekend, this time the theme was, “The 3 R’s of Rebuilding the Walls: Resiliency, Resourcefulness, Responsiveness.” In addition to a program and consultations, she facilitated the first meeting of the newly formed Greater New Orleans Unitarian-Universalists, a collaborative effort of three churches to support each other in fundraising for rebuilding and furthering awareness of the work still to be done in New Orleans and the Gulf Region.

Faith organizations are an integral thread of the web of life in New Orleans. As the letter in the Client Comments below demonstrates, skills and problem solving approaches learned in one setting radiate out to other individuals and organizations.

New Orleans and the Gulf Region are still in the process of recovering. To donate your time and services, type in “Gulf Coast Recovery” in your Internet search engine to find your meaningful organization.

Dear Leigh,
At a recent meeting of a special committee of the Louisiana Breast Cancer Task Force (LBCTF), I had another reason to thank you for coming to New Orleans to conduct the CCUU Within the Walls workshop. (The other reasons are what we in CCUU learned about CCUU and ourselves and how to carry out our mission in the aftermath of Katrina, and also to learn from watching you in action, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.)

In the Breast Cancer Task Force, we had formed a special committee to assess the strengths of LBCTF in the aftermath of Katrina, (sound familiar?) to determine what community resources are available, the needs of the community, and how we can carry out our mission and goals in the brave new world of post-Katrina. We knew we had to streamline the organization, making it leaner and trimmer. We feared it could mean dissolving the organization. At the last meeting, I asked each member to describe what she likes about LBCTF in one or two short sentences and then to write a headline for the Newsletter describing what we are doing post-Katrina. The meeting was the best, the most productive meeting we have had. That exercise that I shamelessly plagiarized from you was the catalyst for great distillation of thoughts, saying the unsayable, and forging the way to a new LBCTF. I will be forever grateful to you.

Thank you again, especially for the serendipitous help. — Helen Malin

You’re a wise, caring, and committed advisor…you’ve skillfully challenged us to grow as individuals and as a team…your creative flair and organizational skills make the process productive, focused, and fun. — “C to Be™”

You’re awesome. I thought the conflict with my colleague was insurmountable. You’ve helped both of us learn that it’s not a competition or a fight; we’re on the same side and can collaborate. — Regional director, non-profit agency

I can’t thank you enough. You were very effective; you have the ability to be concrete and conceptual at the same time. You didn’t allow us to get sidetracked. You kept control of the process so that I could relax. — Chair-Board of Directors, non-profit institute