Interview with Ellyn
- How long have you been doing what you do?
I have been doing organizational development, team building and leadership development for approximately 25 years. I have worked with many nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurs and corporations – the majority of my clients have been women leaders.
- You offer three distinct services. Can I purchase a single service? How do they work together?
Yes, you are able to purchase each service (Leadership Development; Team Development; Strategy) individually and each is powerful in its own right. That said, experience has shown that the “three-legged stool” approach to strengthening an organization works best. When taken together, these three components create a formidable framework for an organization’s sustained success.
- What do you know about/what is your background in taking nonprofit organizations to the next level?
I have worked with or in nonprofits for 25+ years and was the Executive Director of the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO) for 5 years. While at WPEO, the organization grew significantly – we tripled the number of corporate sponsors and doubled the number of certified women business owners. In addition, we established ourselves as a pre-eminent women’s business organization in DC.
How did we do this? We created a shared vision, a clear and specific roadmap/plan and built a remarkable team that was fully committed to our vision and goals.
- What is your background in developing business strategy?
For the past 25 years, I have worked with countless organizations determined to get from “here” to “there.” Our strategic planning model begins by uncovering your vision and mission – a compass to the future. From there, the team collaborates to identify 3-year “aspirational goals” and one-year strategic initiatives. Finally, we create a practical work plan where we see the mission “come to life” at the operational level.
5. What is the greatest success you have seen in a client as a result of using your services?
A successful woman leader in a prominent national nonprofit inherited a 50-person team that, while smart and capable, were – for a number of reasons – underperforming and demoralized. She initially hired CEO Vision for a 6-month engagement and we are still there to support the process. We have assisted her with:
- Leadership: We helped her uncover and articulate her vision for herself as a leader as well as for her team. Three years later, she still relentlessly communicates that same vision and it has become a part of the “language” her team uses. It has truly become “baked in.”
- Team: We developed and delivered a comprehensive team assessment. Our findings revealed what the team thought was working well and where they saw opportunities. The “gap” between the leader’s vision and its actual “current state” allowed us to craft meaningful and practical recommendations around which we aligned the team. Over the past three years, we have helped them design and deliver numerous team-building activities and retreats.
- Strategy and Execution: This leader and her team continue to work diligently to implement virtually every recommendation we made. The results are real: she is a stronger and more visionary leader; her team is inspired and driven toward becoming and remaining high performing, and their employee engagement survey results have increased by double digits.
6. Is there personal benefit to the client in addition to the benefit to their business? A very wonderful thing seems to happen consistently. As the leader becomes increasingly clear about her vision for herself as a leader…as she builds on her leadership strengths and tackles her leadership challenges…as she envisions her “ideal” team and earns their respect, buy-in and commitment and gets the results she wants…her confidence increases proportionately and she carries this increased confidence wherever she goes.
7. How has your work made a difference for your clients?
Here’s what they have told me:
- They gain increased clarity about their “imagined future” – for themselves as a leader and for their team. And, because we develop an actionable plan, they are able to see how they’re going to get to their imagined future.
- They generally see significant differences in the way their team is working — everyone begins to row in the same direction…and become intolerant of those who aren’t.
- That they have significantly more confidence in their leadership abilities, resulting in a stronger team, stronger results and a stronger organization.
- That they love our tools and processes; they are gifts that “keep on giving” long after we are gone.
8. How do your services differ from, say, having a coach?
We are the intersection of leadership development, team development, and strategy. So, while we focus on the leader first, we have also found that the “three-legged stool” approach to strengthening an organization is the most effective. We have consistently seen that, as the leader gets stronger, so does the team. As the team gets stronger, they are more capable of contributing to and successfully executing a strategy. It works!
9. Who do you work with, exactly?
Women leaders who want better results from their team and understand that this process begins with them. We offer a deliberate, proven process that does just that.
10. How do you price your services?
As mentioned above, clients may individually purchase each of the three components (Leadership Development, Team Development, Strategy). That said, we generally recommend embracing all three components since together, they provide a formidable framework for an organization’s sustained success.
11. What can I expect if we work together?
Here’s are a few things you can expect:
- I will meet you exactly where you are as a leader – judgment-free. We will clarify your natural leadership strengths and build on them throughout the process.
- I am fully committed to your success, the success of your team and the success of your organization.
- Expect exceptional “listening to understand:” I get below the tip of the iceberg to determine what’s really going on for you and your organization. That’s where we begin.
- Your goals and priorities (not mine) will drive the process.
- Insight: we are able to “connect the dots” in meaningful ways.
- A proven process/methodology that will engage, enlighten and help you to get from “here” to “there.”
- We will work hard and have fun!
12. How do we get started?
In order to figure out whether it makes sense to work together, please fill out a short questionnaire; this will help me to understand some of your goals and the goals you envision for a potential consulting engagement. Alternatively, you can send an email so we can schedule a 30-minute get-acquainted call, during which time we can go over your answer to each question.
Monthly articles for women leaders will arrive in your email box every month!
Ready to be at the top of your leadership game?