Getting Settled into FIRST CHAIR

I had lunch the other day with Steven Smith, musical director of the Richmond Symphony. That’s organizational speak for conductor – or maestro.

Steven and I are partnering on a new Symphony/Floricane initiative called FIRST CHAIR. It essentially puts a team of people (anywhere from 40-80) on stage with the musicians from the Symphony for a two-hour exploration of leadership, culture and change. It is an intense and visceral experience for everyone involved, as Steven and I co-facilitate and conduct a three-way conversation between an organization, a group of musicians and Beethoven.

We did a session with a group of leaders from HCA’s Chippenham/Johnson-Willis campus earlier in the spring. Another half-dozen organizations are in active discussion to experience FIRST CHAIR themselves, which led to lunch.

In addition to continuing a debrief on our spring experience, we wanted to make sure we were on the same page going forward. Any lunch – especially at Perly’s – that includes passionate discussion about organizational democracy, the nature of music and the importance of authenticity and surprise is a good meal. That’s what we had at Perly’s last week.

It’s exciting enough to be inventing a new, game-changing series with the Symphony. It just gets better when I sit down with people like Steven who embrace the power of music and change, and discover that we’re singing the same tune.

It looks like we’ll be doing three offerings of FIRST CHAIR during the upcoming season for three extremely vibrant – and different – organizations. We’re going to have a blast.

A Little Health Care Innovation Goes A Long Way

My first honest strategic planning process happened at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1992 when I was working in the University Relations Office, and then-President Eugene Trani pulled together a disparate group of faculty and staff to explore the future of the scrappy, urban institution. Vague memories of that session filtered into my head as our team spent time with VCU’s new Office of Health Innovation this past summer, helping a fast-growing, broadly focused team of health professionals identify a set of shared deliverables for the growth.

The office has a unique position as a provider and coordinator of care, and the creator of new approaches to care delivery and population management strategies – for VCU, and for the broader community. It also has responsibility for helping the university and VCU medical community plan for and respond to the ever-evolving Affordable Care Act.

VCU’s Office of Health Innovation is just one of several organizations we’ve worked with this year that continues to keep a close eye on the Affordable Care Act. (There’s something reassuring about groups that strategically work to adapt and adjust to an unpredictable world.)

Over eight weeks, Sarah, Cara and I worked closely with Sheryl Garland and her team – including two “old friends” from other engagements, Tammi Slovinksy and Aileen Harris – to identify and shape a shared vision, and a set of key strategies.

Join Our Summer of Self-Discovery

In just a week, we’re giving the Dog Days of August a face-lift with our enervating new self-discovery series using our favorite self-awareness tool, Insights Discovery®.

Our Summer of Self-Discovery series is built around three sessions designed to build a real foundation of learning in three key areas – how we can manage our own development, how we can contribute to the effectiveness of our teams, and how we can leverage our leadership capacity at work. Participants must have an Insights Discovery personal profile (and can sign up to complete one online during the registration process for the series). You can register online here.

Floricane has used Insights with dozens of organizations, and our team has facilitated well over 3,000 participants through the self-awareness profile.

The sessions will be held the evenings of August 2, 9 and 16; each workshop will start promptly at 6:00 p.m. Facilitated by Debra Saneda, Jim Johns and John Sarvay, the sessions will last about two hours and will be held at the spacious community room on the first floor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The focus and outcomes of each session are unique, but the expectation is that participants will have a highly interactive experience and leave with a deeper understanding of specific ways they can increase their effectiveness across three developmental areas – self, team and leadership effectiveness.

Find out more about the workshops, or about Insights Discovery, at our website – or register for one or more of the sessions now.

Don’t forget that you’ll need an Insights Discovery personal profile/assessment to participate!

Playground Perspective: Teaching A Girl To Fish

You probably know by now that Thea is  fortunate enough to have 1) a great grandfather who 2) lives in a beachfront house at the mouth of the RappahanockRiver. Pop Pop turned 90 this year, and while Thea describes him as “the oldest person I love” he is still living in his own home on the water.

It is one of Thea’s favorite destinations, and not just because she gets to have a Slurpee on the drive back to Richmond at the e nd of a high-energy day or weekend trip.

Pop Pop bought his waterfront home (actually four lots anchored on three sides by a navigable creek, the Rappahanock and the Chesapeake Bay) in the 1950s for a song and a dance. It is where Thea’s Grandpa Jay and her MeMa spent many of their younger years, and where her Uncle BJ and her mamma grew up, learned to boat and swim, and played and whiled away their own summers.

And it’s not far from the riverfront shacks on the Rappahanock and Piankatank rivers where I spent most of my childhood summers.

A typical day at the river for Thea – now that she’s four, and moving toward some fashion of independence – consists of sunrises on the beach with mom or dad; a drive into Deltaville for coffee with a visit to the boat museum and nature garden/trail; the constant acquisition of “beautiful” and “interesting” shells, pebbles, bits of sea glass and sun-bleached crab claws; minnow chasing with nets; fishing from the pier; collecting flowers; snuggling on the hammock; and, when Uncle BJ and his family are there, boat rides and nonstop action with her cousins Baker and Caroline.

Did I mention the incessant lure of the water? Yes, she is now at the age where frequent immersion in the water is a requirement. Swimming is now an essential element of a visit to Pop Pop’s.

All the activity aside, I think Thea loves Pop Pop’s for all of the right reasons – it is different, it is more outdoors than indoors, there is more freedom, and she feels more of our love. That’s right. All of us slow down when we’re at the river, and there are more cuddles, more hand-in-hand walks and more hammock time than Richmond tends to afford. Or, than we afford when we’re in Richmond, I should say.

The change of pace is subtle, and it comes at an investment of time, attention and energy. But what change doesn’t?

How do you slow down – at work, and at home – so the people who look to you for leadership and support can feel more of your love?

Letter from John: Fables of the Reconstruction

I’ve come to respect the difficult work of Floricane’s clients – most of them are actively engaged in changing their organization’s trajectory, or some act of strategic reinvention designed to bear new fruit. I’ve been fortunate to play a small role in these efforts, and I’ve been smart enough to pay attention.

I often find myself telling our clients how important it is to have someone outside of your organization – a board member, a close friend, even a consultant – ride shotgun, whispering truths in your ear. I experienced my own advice recently (though it came in the form of a shout, not a whisper).

Actually, it came in the form of a lunchtime conversation at Dot’s Back Inn – followed by a six-page list of complicated financial questions from Jim Parker, the retired chief financial officer of Luck Stone Corporation. Jim had agreed to spend some of his summer helping me restart Floricane and position it for long-term growth and success.

Before asking Jim for his help, I mentally combed through a list of people who I thought could help me focus on the business side of Floricane. The criteria were simple – I was looking for someone with strong business finance competencies, someone I trusted, and someone who knew me well enough to call me on my ability to talk circles around myself. Enter Jim Parker.

I’ve known Jim for 15 years, which is about when he sat me down in a vain attempt to teach me about profit-and-loss statements, and how to teach groups of quarry workers how they impacted cash return on capital employed and revenue. My initial financial training efforts were a clear case of the blind (me) leading the blind (hourly quarry workers). Over the years, Jim diligently helped me understand business financials and contributed a great deal to Luck Stone’s organizational transformation.

My work with Jim on financials is just one important cornerstone of Floricane’s reconstruction. Over the next several months, our team will be hard at work in key areas, such as:

• Continued focus on major client engagements, including ongoing work with the Library of Virginia, Bon Secours Virginia, ChildFund International, VCU’s Center for Health Innovation, the Richmond Symphony and a slate of new clients.

• Swapping services with PUNCH marketing – our strategic planning support in exchange for their creative talent. A revamped website, branded business templates and a snappy piece of creative collateral are all in the mix.

• Refining two major leadership initiatives – the Greater Richmond Chamber’s #RVA Leadership Lab and the Richmond Symphony’s live action offering focused on creativity and organizational change.

• Deploying our new business development initiative focused on marketing our broad suite of services for individuals, teams and organizations looking for support with strategic transformation and organizational change.

• Moving to an amazing new space.

We don’t expect this reinvention to be easy. Tinkering with the engine of a fast-moving car is dicey stuff! But it’s time.

Floricane’s first year was all about survival – getting through the worst year of the recession in one piece. Year two was spent learning that I couldn’t do it alone, and experiencing relative success. Year three was living into that initial success, building a solid team and realizing I had no idea how to run a business.

Which makes year four all about getting it right. Together.

Alignment in Powhatan

Within the rooms of Belmead Mansion on their historic grounds in Powhatan recently, the Board of the Free Clinic of Powhatan gathered for a quarterly meeting focused on their future strategic direction. The three-year old nonprofit is one of 62 free clinics serving underserved populations around the state, and we were pleased to help them reframe their strategic opportunities.

The goals for the day included discussion on the current strategic plan’s wins & opportunities, structural alignment of the Board and setting future direction for the Clinic. With an organization that’s only been around for a few years, it was fitting that the historic mansion served as our home for the day. I can only imagine the stories the walls of the mansion could tell, but they may not rival the stories we heard from board members about the importance of the work of the clinic and the impact to their patients who have nowhere else to turn for care.

We then reviewed the current strategic plan highlighting the successes achieved and the challenges that remained. It became evident, there were many areas that belonged in the success column and given the limited resources the challenges were well understood. One of the highlights that stood out to me was the strong sentiment from the Board about the volunteer base at the clinic. In so many organizations, it seems that volunteers are either hard to come by or that the work of many seems to fall on the shoulders of the few, at the Clinic it is just not that way. The core group is dedicated and flexible to meet the demands of working in health care these days.

Shifting into the afternoon, the Board agreed the two most important pieces of work were financial support and long range planning. While these two topics are intertwined, the group was undeterred to create specific, detailed plans to address them head on. And, most importantly, to address them in alignment.

Throughout the day, the group used the home to its fullest – the ceiling height was just high enough to allow the group to reach for new heights; the expansive, bay windows allowed a look beyond the current horizon to what the future may hold; everywhere we turned memories of Powhatan’s past were present.

There were many soft reminders that this group holds the keys to a future that doesn’t forget about the past but uses it as a springboard to continue their good work in the community.

ChildFund Retreat

In February, we were lucky enough to spend a week with the global sponsorship team at ChildFund International, a diverse group of kid-centered professionals representing more than 20 countries on five continents.

During our week-long engagement, we helped the group build alignment around a shared vision for their work for children around the globe. It was first time this global team had ever been in the room together, and it was a powerful week.

We recently returned to ChildFund. Our work in February was focused on their overseas sponsorship team, but the organization also maintains a significant sponsorship team here in Richmond. A small group of managers – with new leadership, new initiatives and significant visibility in ChildFund’s long-term strategic plan – came together with us at the Roslyn Conference and Retreat Center to do a little planning.

As always, I leave my engagements with the ChildFund team inspired by their commitment to two primary groups – the children they serve, and the sponsors who provide the support.

It’s always inspiring to hang out with people who want to change the world.

Creating Breakthroughs for Collaboration

John and I recently facilitated a staff retreat for the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) team. While the relationship between Floricane and VPLC has been on-going for several years, it was my first opportunity to interact with the whole team. I had met everyone in smaller groups as participants in our Insights Discovery public workshops – so the next logical step was to take them through Insights for Team Effectiveness.

As w e arrived at the Roslyn Conference Center, a light mist fell outside. We started the morning, a bit in the space of, “Well, we don’t really work as a team…..our roles and specialty areas don’t really cross over…..we are a highly, self-reliant group of folks….that’s what makes it work so well…..I like the people I work with, but I don’t really need them to do good work.” I wasn’t quite sure where it was going to go from there, but as the day went on, the mist gave way to sunshine. Clarity about how team members could better connect and collaborate with each other broke through, too.

There were many breakthrough moments that happened during the day. I think the first breakthrough came during the Colorful Queues activity. In the coaching world, we often use the mind, body and spirit model to fully engage clients’ gifts to reach their goals. During Colorful Queues, the body is engaged by having participants organize themselves in their perceived order of intensity of each of the Insights Discovery color energies, one at a time. The reaction of the team as they observed themselves both during the activity and at the end was pretty cool to watch. For a team that thought they knew each other pretty well, their take-aways were all about seeing each other in new ways through the lens of each of the color energies.

Later in the day, another key moment happened during the goal setting segment. There is a fact we like to repeat that the chance for success of accomplishing a goal goes from 13% to something like 77% when you think of a goal, write it down AND share it with those who can support your achieving it.

Most of us, at one time or another have been in a workshop or a training session that, at the time, seemed life changing. Then, we leave and go back to our worlds only to find the momentum gets lost. By having a goal that is shared with others, we now have a more powerful form of accountability to use toward accomplishing that goal.

What I saw over the course of the day was a team that started the day thinking they didn’t have many ways to really engage and support each other. They ended the day by created goals that engaged and supported each other. Some examples included: using each other as resources on projects or setting goals that meant spending time and learning about each other’s worlds or considering new ways to engage with each other. The transformation of how they see themselves as a team was pretty inspiring.

As Floricane continues to grow and mature as a business, with newish team members, new roles, and new challenges before us, I can’t help but wonder what we can apply from the learning that took place with the VPLC team that day. What can we apply to ourselves as a team of people who may describe our team in a similar way? I don’t have the answer(s) yet, but I bet my teammates could help me figure it out.