
BusinessApproach
OnCourse corporate engagements begin with a consultation with the most senior executive. We learn about you, the company, and the interpersonal dynamics of your team, especially the tough issues and challenges that keep them stuck, blocked, or underperforming. As part of this consultation, we’ll share our insights into your corporate dynamic, along with our intuition on how to remove the obstacles – so you can get back on course.
We then decide if we want to work with one another. When a fit exists, we craft a proposal. You respond, we tune… and we’re off and running together.
BusinessClients
We work with the most senior executive (CEO, managing partner, divisional president, family patriarch/matriarch) in corporations, partnerships, and closely held businesses. Most of our clients are navigating a transition of leadership, organizational structure, strategy, or culture. They know that sustained success of their organizations demands healthy, authentic, drama-free interactions at all levels in the organization, starting at the top.
They strive to improve their day-to-day interactions with their associates, grounded in a deeper understanding of, and commitment to, the company’s values and vision. They are committed to forging an enduring corporate culture that will weather market fluctuations and internal conflicts. When problems inevitably arise, they seek clean, fast, and creative solutions. They accept their role as change agents, and are committed to timely decision making and implementation.
Our clients are committed to advancing their own maturity and span, both as seasoned and nimble executives, and as emotionally aware human beings with active, engaging lives beyond their workplace.
Typical Client Profile
- Diverse personalities and/or nationalities on the senior team
- Professional knowledge workers; the “best and brightest” people
- High pace, high growth, high pressure, and zero error tolerance
- Elite senior team; highly skilled as achievers and thinkers; often less skilled in management and interpersonal dynamics
- A senior leader committed to sustained, authentic interactions
Client Issues and Needs
- Organizational architecture; getting the right players on the bus
- Facing and resolving conflict; having crucial conversations
- Creative and collaborative problem solving
- Addressing and resolving emotion-laden dilemmas
- Clarity on decision rights
- Managing and motivating varied personalities and egos
- Making and monitoring clean agreements
- Inefficient meetings
- Energy-draining drama; typical symptoms include blaming and complaining, controlling, micromanagement, isolation, cynicism, unclear agreements, turf wars, and duplicity
- Succession planning at all levels, starting at the top
BusinessOfferings
Our corporate clients are committed to facing and navigating change with courage, candor, curiosity, and celebration. The corporate leader is the change agent; we are the change accelerators.
Our tailored services combine diagnostics, teaching, advisory services, and team facilitation. We emphasize ongoing performance measurement and coaching to ensure that the learning experiences are translated into concrete actions and results.
Our services include:
- CEO advisory services
- Organizational alignment
- Executive coaching
- Leadership team development
- Succession planning
- Family business programs
- Assessments
The actual engagement is customized to the profile, issues, and objectives of the company and its senior leader. This normally involves some combination of the following:
- A confidential meeting with the senior leader to get clear on your wants and to enlist your full commitment to the process. We need you as our ally in modeling mature business leadership and healthy, authentic interactions. Our work succeeds longer term only when it is modeled from the top.
- Confidential surveys and diagnostic assessments of the team members, including 360-degree assessments of their leadership and interaction skills
- Confidential interviews with each team member
- A focused retreat with the senior leader and senior team, to:
- Build team authenticity
- Deal cleanly and directly with any issues or tensions among team members
- Create a framework of respect and protocols for going-forward interactions
- Learn and practice tools for defusing drama and sustaining clean communications
- Enlist the senior team to model authentic relationship concepts to the rest of the organization
- Varying levels of ongoing advisory services to senior team members to sustain the progress from the off-site work. This ranges from occasional check-in calls to more structured leadership development mentoring
- Teaching the concepts of Authentic Leadership to next-level directors, managers, partners, or associates in the organization.
OnCourse Associates work with organizations whose leaders embrace courage, candor, curiosity, and celebration.