We would like to share with you a couple of
things, what some of our clients have been saying about our work
and specific examples of the benefit clients have received from
their relationship with us. We hope these will inspire you to contact
us to discuss how we can help you tackle the tough issues facing
your organization.
Below are links to some projects that illustrate
the value clients have received from the products and services we
offer.
Sandia
National Laboratories
At
one of our country's most highly regarded national laboratories,
leadership development is reaching new heights. Through commitment,
dedication and a lot of hard work, a very devoted group of people
created a landmark process for developing more leaders. The Leadership
Academy, as it is called, is an integrated, interactive, behavioral-based
management development program designed to develop and enhance a
manager's leadership capabilities. The 18-day program, spread over
six months, consists of five key elements: leadership, self-awareness,
business of the Laboratories, leaders developing leaders, and fostering
a learning and teaching organization.
The
heart of the program is designed around the Five Practices of Exemplary
Leadership®, outlined in the award winning book, The Leadership
Challenge. Selected managers begin their development process by
examining deeply and receiving feedback on the Five Practices, which
sets the foundation for the entire program.
Strong
ties and deeper working relationships are created with fellow participants,
through a variety of work group and business simulation activities.
Notable results of the program are reflected in the personal, professional,
and organizational changes and improvements that, participants report,
have made a difference in their work groups and with the people
they lead.
It
has been our privilege at ILA to partner with Sandia, in helping
them craft and offer this valuable leadership development program.
AT&T
Mountain States Branch
The
struggles of AT&T during the 1990's was well documented. The
company was facing unprecedented levels of new competition, pricing
in the industry had dropped through the floor, and massive, gut-wrenching
business unit wide re-organizations had occurred almost every year.
In spite of all of this, there was a team that continued to put
up astonishing results throughout the decade. What made them different?
In
the fall of 1991, Jack Schiefer brought his senior leadership team
to The Leadership Challenge® Workshop. During their time together,
they began the work that would forever change the future of their
sales center. On a Friday morning in a small conference room, they
shared with each other the heartfelt desires they each had for their
sales center and for the kind of leaders they wanted to become.
From that initial groundbreaking, the vision of a world-class sales
organization, rooted in quality and reflecting a renewed commitment
to their customers, their families and each other, was born.
This
was not just a one-time exercise to craft a slick sounding statement;
it was the creation of a new culture of success. Did their work
pay off? You be the judge, based on the following results.
- Jack's Sales Center was number one or in the top 3 in the country
for the 10 consecutive years.
- They delivered consistent year over year growth, averaging 17% per
year, when most of the business unit averaged single digit.
- The Sales Center had a consistently strong promotion rate averaging
36% per year.
- Jack's leadership was consistently recognized at the highest levels
of the AT&T Senior Leadership Team. Jack was awarded AT&T's
Leaders' Council 7 times in the past 10 years. (AT&T's Leaders'
Council is awarded annually to the top 1% of the sales force.) To
date, no other AT&T employee has ever achieved this level of
consistent recognition and honor in AT&T's history. And of course,
there were always members of Jack's team earning this award as well.
It
is also interesting to note that Jack's market area was the Rocky
Mountain states, not the hotbeds of growth like Silicon Valley,
the Northeast, or the Sunbelt .
In
achieving those results,
- They were frequent innovators of important processes adopted throughout
their business unit.
- They built an organization that attracted top talent.
- They consistently did extraordinary things on a regular basis for
their customers
Following
are some of the specific things Jack and his people did to make
the vision real and bring life to their dreams:
- Jack got almost everyone in the sales center immediately involved
to review, clarify and strengthen the direction they were headed.
- They created a symbol, the Rocky Mountains surrounded by a "Q" (for
quality).
- They developed and participated in "Personal Development Fairs,
where associates learned about development opportunities from a
variety of personal and professional sources.
- Members were presented the "Q" pins, which symbolized individual
commitment to the branch vision and personal development. This vision
pin was later enhanced - associates were awarded jewels for their
pins, when they were nominated for dramatically and visibly demonstrating
the ideals of the vision. These pins still today are proudly worn
to demonstrate the ongoing commitment to the sales center.
- They updated their performance plans to include the categories of
support of the branch vision and commitment to the welfare of the
branch associates.
- They developed more symbols and rituals to constantly bring life
to the vision. Examples included: the "special plate" - a commemorative
plate recognizing personal and professional accomplishments; the
"high tea" - a special ceremony welcoming new members into the branch;
and an associate calendar - highlighting an attribute of the vision
and values each month, along with associate birthdays and other
important branch events;
- They created a branch mascot, the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep,
an animal able to survive and grow in spite of very perilous circumstances.
The story of how this animal truly reflected the strengths and desires
of the branch was widely shared. "Rocky" as it became known, adorned
the calendars, letterhead, note pads, etc. as a constant reminder
of the commitment to becoming the best in the business.
- Jack's center was a leader in instituting a different kind of orientation
process for new employees. Reaching beyond the usual topics of structure
and operating procedures, people were provided a two-day introduction
to the culture of the branch, - its vision, values, philosophies
of leadership and participation, commitment to quality and a review
of the Branch Journey. New people were asked to buy in - and they
willing did so.
- Jack involved sales center members in the development of the core
values, forming the soul of their values-based leadership approach.
- They completed a very extensive benchmarking study on "world class," involving customers, members throughout the sales center, and other
internal company participants so they could walk their talk.
- They continued to provide ongoing learning opportunities, including
dealing with change, leadership development, quality, and personal
and professional development.
The results of
Jack's team took a lot of hard work and deep commitment to success.
It also took staying the course. As his own organization went through
changes, Jack continued to bring his new teams together every couple
of years to again participate in "The Challenge" to re-look their
vision of world class performance and values-based leadership, reaffirm
their commitment toward it, and develop the actions necessary to carry
it out. Over they years, they were able
to produced some very remarkable, sustainable bottom-line results.
Fifth
Third Bank
Fifth Third Bank, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is one of the country's most highly regarded banks, with an enviable record of 29 consecutive years of earnings growth. About six years ago, Fifth Third was on the front of a series of acquisitions that would result in their employee base growing from 5,000 to 19,000. Lauris Woolford, VP of Executive Development, came to Fifth Third understanding what that growth was going to mean for leadership development within her new company. "We knew from past experience that management was simply not enough." Such quick and tremendous growth would call for a larger group of high potential employees and greater bench strength; requiring the need for a new set of leadership competencies. The program adopted by the Bancorp was The Leadership Challenge® Workshop, based on the book written by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner.
The three-day workshops were rolled out to senior level managers throughout the organization. The "top-down" approach appeared to be very effective. As the program began to pick up momentum, The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® discussed in the book and the program were integrated into their orientation, evaluation process, and annual goals for all senior managers. This helped to establish a common language and set of common expectations.
As part of their development, managers were assessed using the Leadership Practices Inventory, the 360° feedback tool based on the principles of The Leadership Challenge®, which delivers practical feedback on specific behaviors. This feedback allowed Fifth Third managers to focus on areas tailored to their individual leadership development. Every participant of the program—over 1,500 in the past five years—completed and received the feedback while attending the Leadership Challenge® Workshop. The participants were then invited back twelve months later to attend a one-day follow-up program and receive another LPI report.
Fifth Third tracked the performance of five randomly selected individuals who attended The Leadership Challenge® Workshop and follow-up program, and found that they had improved their LPI scores in each of The Five Practices. They then compared the data back to these individual's financial results for the same time period. The results were astonishing! Profits generated by the five individuals and the groups they were leading significantly increased from before attending the workshop to after the workshop. Four individuals contributed a 31 % profit increase of $8.8 million over the previous year. The overall Bancorp turned in a 15% increase during the same year. The fifth individual implemented process improvements resulting in $385,110 to the bottom line.
In addition to the obvious financial growth contributed by these individuals and the teams they were leading, participants reported improvements in the way they acted as leaders on a daily basis. The five reported noticeable differences in the following areas: more innovation, greater initiative, the initiation and ownership of calculated risk, collaboration, self-confidence, and clarified shared values.
Not all of the $8.8 million in bottom line growth generated by these five individuals can be attributed to attending The Leadership Challenge® Workshop. However, these individuals believe that attending the workshop and implementing The Five Practices directly translated into higher employee performance and a greater sense of ownership that is required to continually grow profits for the bank's shareholders.
The Leadership Challenge® continues to be a strong cornerstone for Fifth Third. They know that to grow and prosper over time in the difficult industry of banking, the winners will find ways to make themselves distinctive in meeting customer needs and profitable in operations. They also know that success in those endeavors will only be achieved as more and more associates become better able and more willing to step up and provide leadership.
Luxottica
Retail
Being
the Best at Helping the World See is more than a glitzy slogan at
LensCrafters. It is the cornerstone of a meaningful vision that
has propelled this remarkable company to over $1 billion in annual
sales and an annual ranking on the list of Most Admired Companies.
The vision (along with their core values) is a source of pride,
heart and guidance – not just words on a wallet card. They
talk about it, teach it, and use it for key decisions. The power
of their vision has enabled them to;
- Attract and retain great people
- Be a consistent innovator in their industry
- Smoothly integrate and prosperously work with their European
owners, Luxottica
- Become a worldwide leader in helping less privileged people
around the planet through the Gift of Sight Foundation
For
over 12 years, ILA has worked with LensCrafters helping them develop
more visionary, productive leaders throughout their business. We
salute their grand achievements and thank them for their continuing
partnership with us.
Fulton
County School System
There
is nothing more important than improving our children's education
experiences. A few years ago, The Fulton County School System in
Atlanta made the decision to attack that overwhelming goal - and
they are succeeding. The school system, which served over 65,000
students in 66 schools, made some remarkable progress in becoming
a "Model for Excellence" using the Baldrige Criteria.
Superintendent Steve Dolinger clearly demonstrated "Modeling
the Way" by taking to heart the Five Practices of Exemplary
Leadership® from The Leadership Challenge®, and acting on
his beliefs about continual improvement and learning. With an encouraging
senior leader like Steve, people at all levels were able to provide
the kind of leadership needed to face the enormous challenge of
systemically changing an entire organization.
As
Mary Hooper, an internal leadership and organizational development
consultant, remarked at the time, "I knew this program could
be impactful. I never imagined that it could actually be a catalyst
for our culture to evolve in such a way, that people really believe
we can change in ways that will lead to breakthrough performance."
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