Leadership & Team Development
Team Development
Whit Raymond, one of my partners, tells a story about growing up as one of eight children on a working farm in New Jersey. His recollection is rich with the boisterous nature of siblings bound together by farm chores, including the frequent “outrunning Mother Nature”, when everyone worked in unison, gathering hay before darkening skies broke into a storm. Later in life, Whit realized that this early experience led him toward the study of teams and effective collaborative behavior. Today he is one of the best team development facilitators in the country.
A business team is not unlike a family. There’s typically a hierarchy and always a goal or task to be realized. Like Whit’s experience on the farm, often those tasks require completion under great pressure. Our ability to successfully navigate both the advantages of team work and its complexity require a deep understanding of self and of those with whom we work.
Our team development offerings are unique to each situation and crafted around the needs of the client. An engagement will often include individual assessments and coaching, along with team meetings that are specific to the business. We believe in working with real-time issues, observing existing mindsets and behaviors - and then optimizing strengths and minimizing the roadblocks to successful collaboration.
Team Development work is useful at various predictable moments in the lifecycle of a team:
- When one or more new members join the group
- A new product launch or strategic initiative
- New leadership
- Personality conflicts
- Performance issues
To effectively guide a team, we will use several well known modalities:
- Emotional Intelligence
- Neuroscience of empathy, communication and reward
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Wisdom Leadership
- Coaching through Engagement
If you have a team that might benefit from this type of work, please call us. We are happy to explore your situation and make a recommendation as to best practice solutions.
