We work with clients one on one, in teams, and in organizational initiatives. Sometimes coaching commences with one leader who then brings us in to do positive impact work with their leadership team, and then with their larger organizational team. The following is an example of this positive impact journey in action as well as the results.
In early 2017, the Founder of an organization hired Spark Success as their Coach. We worked together on many things, one of which was to understand how to implement a values-based, solutions-oriented organizational culture. Previously, there had been organizational values developed, but which had not been formally rolled out to the team. Where to begin? We began by coaching and working through some of the difficulties they were having in the organization and, then, when those were handled, there was space to focus on values. We started with the Founder and then reviewed previously developed shared values to the leadership team and explored ways to roll these out to the rest of the team. We worked on clarifying their own values and values alignment. We then led a day-long session with the entire organization, rolling out the organizational values, having leadership share the meaning of the values, and facilitating their collective organizational brainstorming around ideas to practice these values. We took the ideas for practice of each of the shared values, and prioritized action steps by vote. The ideas were then implemented over time – some by the senior team, some by staff, and some by volunteer committees.
Because the leadership team is aware of the importance of values, they watch for values alignment when recruiting. Consequently, most people hired have a high level of alignment between personal and organizational values. When this is the case, engagement and productivity are higher.
In addition, the organization has Spark Success conduct values onboarding workshops with new team members so that they are aware of the organizational values, their own values, the alignment between the two and what they can do to create even more alignment.
Further, at a minimum, we review and fine tune organizational values annually to keep them at the forefront and to collectively find ways to amplify them moving forward. This year, we did a formal Barrett Cultural Values Assessment for the first time. It involved inviting all organizational members and key stakeholders to participate in the online survey. The survey resulted in a report that showed strong alignment between current and desired culture values, far above industry standard. Where new values showed up in the desired values, we went back to each of the sub-groups to explore what these new values meant to them and what ideas they had of practicing them in the organizational context that impacted that group. Themes showed up across the sub-groups for which we then made an action plan for implementation.
Following are the results shared recently by the Founder:
“We hired Spark Success because we were experiencing some challenges due to a negative work culture and were desiring to establish a values based culture where everyone could thrive. We were experiencing challenges such as reduced productivity due to time and energy consumed in dealing with difficult situations, disengagement, and lack of cohesiveness and collaboration. Our intention was to achieve increased productivity, space and energy for forward-moving initiatives, and alignment of people for better teamwork.
What we enjoyed/valued most about working with Spark Success was that Jamie, our coach and consultant, was so insightful, knowledgeable, organized, and positive in her approach.
The results have been transformational. We now have a thriving, solutions-oriented community that is highly aligned with our organizational values. Some of the positive changes include increased innovation with multiple new initiatives generated through increased time and energy and improved collaboration/teamwork, productivity due to collaboration/teamwork, increase in client volume and satisfaction, and a culture score of 81 in an industry where the average is 51, to name a few.”
This case study demonstrates how Positive Impact Leadership coaching and consulting supports leaders and organizations to find clarity, alignment, productivity, solutions-oriented collaboration, and innovation. It also amplifies what the team is capable of doing together for themselves, each other, customers/clients, and additional organizational stakeholders.
How could you, your team, and your organization benefit from this positive impact approach? I invite you to reach out and have a conversation with me so we can create a positive work environment for you and your team.
Yours in making a Positive Impact,
Jamie
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