How We Work

The STRIVE! team partners with clients who are taking their next step to a healthy board by:

• inspiring leadership teams to see their potential for a bright future
• developing small group activities that ensure everyone participates in a logical development process
• challenging the organization’s leaders to confront business problems
• assisting organizations to identify the risks that must be managed

The first step in serving you is to understand your organization & your business, your culture, your dreams, and your challenges. Once we have heard what you want to achieve, we can develop an approach to address your specific reality. As we develop solutions appropriate for your situation, STRIVE! offers guidance that draws out smart ideas from board and senior staff members.

STRIVE! engages the full board in smart behaviours such as strategic planning, clarifying responsibilities, and monitoring outcomes. Our diverse team offers a unique blend of expertise that is continuously impacted by what we learn and share with each other. The STRIVE! team assists leaders as they make important and tough decisions.

We serve the leaders of organizations, particularly board members and senior management staff, in several aspects of their leadership work:

• understanding and fulfilling their respective roles
• strategic planning
• developing an operating plan to implement the strategic plan
• developing foundational governing policies
• selecting and assessing the performance of key leaders
• monitoring the organization’s performance
• implementing business practices that will enhance goal achievement

In addition, we care about the health of your business, association, or not-for-profit. We care about the people that are involved with your organization – and their relationships and life balance. Owners and board members continue to invest when they are satisfied with the return on their investment of money, time, and energy. Staff work effectively when they see positive results and are appreciated. Customers and stakeholders become raving fans when they are well served. Happy, satisfied people are an essential component of healthy organizations.

While facilitating your leadership decision-making meetings, we also observe and address dysfunctions that may exist within your team. The factors that limit group cohesion are quite varied.

• Board members being cautious about what they share with each other
• There is not a high degree of trust within the group
• The diversity of opinion heard during small coffee break conversations isn't being shared during the formal meeting
• Individuals are reluctant to face conflict and thus the organization does not benefit from constructive conflict
• Some board members slouching back in their seats when the board chair points out the need to model a new communications policy
• Not everyone is committed to the decision the group just made
• Side conversations complaining about the governance committee’s plan to evaluate each board member’s effectiveness in fulfilling the board job description
• Some team members don't want to be held accountable

Each of these team dysfunctions reduces the leadership's focus on organizational results. Pat Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team is the foundation for much of our team development work. We also use tools such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^®, Situational Leadership II™, and In Search of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine.

STRIVE! specializes in meeting your needs by developing and delivering customized services that assist leaders in building and maintaining excellent organizations that are both smart and healthy. We look forward to the opportunity to be part of your next step to a healthy board.