Driving Long Term Results

Whether it’s been through the customized approach to Developing Effective Trainers that I just explained or any of the other resources that Cindy and I have developed to helping leaders address the things that are killing profitability in their businesses or teams, we’ve always worked to help each participant identify the specific action steps they can apply to achieve results that move their respective teams forward. Since the very first lesson we wrote on our own, we’ve always wrapped up with a list of questions for them to answer on their own AND provide to whoever they report to with hopes of driving the kind of collaboration within their organization that produces increased performance for years to come. 

Quite honestly, I had seen so many charlatans calling themselves coaches, trainers, or consultants who worked harder at embedding themselves as a permanent fixture of their clients’ companies that my goal had been to provide the best tools possible then get out of the way. And in a perfect world, that would have been all it took to help the teams we serve realize ongoing return on investment - but I’ve learned that this most certainly is not a perfect world…

In tailoring the very first Developing Effective Trainers session we provided for a large organization, the plant manager we were working directly with specifically requested that we provide several of his key team members with some sort of ongoing support to be sure they actually implemented the tools we provided to them and had the support they needed to sustain their changed behaviors even when they encounters bumps along the way. He said that not only did he not have the time to do it himself, he felt like they may be more open about their concerns and issues with us since they didn’t have a reporting relationship with us. He was just as concerned about their immediate supervisors not having the time to help these trainers through the process and expressed some concern that their lack of time may result in them choosing the current state over the desired change. We had launched our Strategic Leadership Coaching model with a few other leaders in very specific situations but this was the first time we applied for a group of folks within the same company, acting as a designated extension of the local leadership team.

Since seeing what that group of trainers achieved, we’ve realized just how important it can be for any organization to have an additional set of hands to support achieving a change that produces results long term. This Strategic Leadership Coaching approach has become an integral part of how we help anyone participating in our Executive Leadership Elite Think Tank or IMPACT Leadership Academy fight through all their schedule demands to implement action steps that build stronger leadership cultures throughout their teams and we’ve also helped numerous students in our Emerging Leader Development and Recruitment, Retention, & Culture courses ensure the action steps they identify after each lesson becomes part of their daily routine and captures measurable profit for their organization! 

Let’s be honest with all of this though, we can’t truly consider an issue resolved unless we can track the results. The numbers won’t lie, but not nearly enough organizations track the impact any of these soft skills have on addressing the things killing their profitability - and that’s how we’ll close the loop on it all next!