The Academy of random surprises

When the email arrived a few months ago, we almost ignored it. We had been recommended to a national organization to facilitate their strategic planning process, but it took us several email exchanges (and a bit of work on Google) to find out who the organization was. (And who referred us, and why!)

As with most of our out-of-left-field inquiries, this one has turned into a center field client.

We start our strategic planning work with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys – also known as The Academy, or Quad A – with a two day trip to Washington for a bit of project planning later in July. But the real work will come later in the summer as we move into our “discovery phase” of work and spend time talking to staff and attorney members of the Academy. We hope to cap off that phase of work by flying a large handful of Academy staff, board and other key stakeholders to Richmond for a strategic session – after the UCI bike races pedal out of town in September.

Having worked with attorney groups before once or twice, we’ve steeled ourselves for battles over punctuation, and maybe an over-the-top performance on my part. (“You’re the Bill of Rights organization! Your brand is the defenders of the Fifth Amendment!” I recall shouting at one meeting with a legal organization…)

Mostly, however, we’re excited to work with another organization interested in hammering out the most effective approach to serving its members – and the thousands of families seeking support as they seek to grow.

Getting lift with the Byrd

We recently finished a strategic planning process for the Byrd Theatre Foundation, and the entire journey was full of new learning and surprises.

I had no idea, for instance, that the Foundation does not actually operate the theater. Or why single screen theaters are so challenging to operate. Or who around the country operates them well.

And I certainly did not know, early on, how willing and ready the Foundation board would be to seize some significant strategic opportunities – and position the Byrd Theatre for greater success. (And, yes, better seats.)

A few weeks ago, the board met with me, and with Alan Hutson of the Monument Group, a fund development consulting business.

My job was to help the board focus in on a very ambitious set of short-term objectives – including some serious heavy lifting on the change front. Alan's work is to help the foundation look at their fundraising model, and built a sustainable focus in this area.

As Floricane’s work began to wind down, the work Alan and his team will do was just picking up steam.

What was most exciting was that the board does have the appetite for change. Lots of change.

You’ve probably read about that appetite in Style Weekly recently. For me, it’s evidence of an organization ready to get busy.

It’s going to be fun in the months ahead to watch the Byrd take flight.

Talking shop with Capital One

What’s in my wallet? Not what you think.

Earlier in the spring, I sat down with a few folks from Capital One. They are part of a team focused on developing new products for small businesses. They wanted to hear my story.

We spent far too much time trudging through the emotional minefield that is my small business narrative – or, how I learned to stop worrying and love cash flow.

I was surprised when they reached back out this summer to see if they could pick my brain some more. Our conversation this go around was largely focused on the types of help I would have valued way back when I started Floricane – if I knew then what I know now.

The list was pretty simple, though it took us a while to unpack it. A couple of items that surfaced for me included:

• Business tools that grew with my business, and business coaching/advice that helped me maximize those tools. An example I gave was a simple budget in Excel that could evolve into a cash flow forecast that could transform over time into a project capacity worksheet. As my business became more complex, it was hard for me to know what tools I needed – much less learn to use them well. Providing business tools that matched the maturity level of my business would be useful.

• A bank that was a partner on the journey. A bank that would provide reasonable access to financing, but not too much. A bank that would hold me accountable, but keep the reins loose. In other words, extend enough credit to be helpful, and give me more latitude on repayment. Help me be smarter than I would be on my own.

I talked about the difference between personal credit and business credit – American Express wouldn’t touch my personal credit with a Taser, but was eager to sign Floricane up for a Platinum Card. But Amex also provides me with some business tools and resources I’ve been able to leverage, and has helped me manage my debt more wisely than I might on my own.

A lot of our discussion was around the tipping point – that moment when a small business stabilizes, moves out of the start-up phase, and starts to consider (and have the capacity for) growth. It’s interesting to think about Floricane as stable, but seven years into this entrepreneur thing and it seems to be making sense.

It’s also interesting to have conversations around ways in which a data-rich organization like Capital One might develop a set of business tools and analysis that most large financial organizations would envy. And that would make smaller businesses like Floricane sit up and take notice.

It’s been interesting to be part of a conversation about ways a very large bank can be useful to a very small business.

Maybe it’s time to reconsider what’s in my wallet.

ACE and the integration of work

If the stars are aligned, by the time you read this our team will be on a train headed for Washington, DC. Or if you took too long, on our way home again!

The story of our latest client engagement is one that helped us see our value as consultants more clearly. That's never a bad thing.

I had a phone call about a month ago that helped solidify something we’ve known for a long time at Floricane. Our best work is at the intersection of our core practice areas – strategic planning, leadership development and organizational change.

The call since evolved into our first major, out-of-Richmond client – the American Council on Education’s leadership division.

It was clear when Nicole Woods, vice president and chief of staff at ACE, first called that she was looking for integrated consulting. ACE’s Leadership Programs team provides a broad range of leadership and professional development opportunities for college and university executives across the country. New competitors, a changing landscape in higher education, and the arrival of a new leader for the Leadership Programs’ group have set the stage for a conversation that is part strategy, part leadership, part culture.

As we wound down our call, I asked Nicole how she found Floricane.

“I Googled you,” she said. She went on to explain that when she did a Google search for firms that integrated strategic planning with organizational change, Floricane surfaced fairly quickly. A review of our website, and subsequent conversations with members of our team, did the rest.

Our new client reminded us that what sets Floricane apart from much of our competition is the integrated approach we bring. It also reminds us that strategic planning is culture change, that organizational change is strategic, and that all change requires new approaches to leadership.

Building a stronger team at URichmond

We just wrapped up a six-month journey with the team at the University of Richmond’s Office of Alumni and Career Services.

The team came to us initially looking for a couple of hours of team engagement at a winter retreat. The focus was on communication and collaboration.

They invited us back in March, and we introduced the 24 team members to Insights® Discovery and started them on an eight week journey of self-awareness. We sent the team weekly “homework” assignments to help each person dig deeper into their personality profile. The primary goals were to drive conversation within the team, and to increase each person’s understanding of how they were perceived by others.

Our journey ended in June at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as we explore team effectiveness, and worked with the group on ways they could continue to engage with each other going forward. Progress!

Playground Perspective (July 2014)

A few weeks ago -- in the late morning heat of an already too busy Saturday -- I intercepted Thea as she lugged a table to the sidewalk in front of our house.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I'm setting up a lemonade stand," she replied, matter-of-factly.

I was torn between our packed weekend agenda and my desire to encourage Thea's explorations. I figured a few questions could steer things in the right direction. The conversation, which became increasingly heated as both of us became exasperated with the other's intransigence, went something like this:

"What are you going to sell?"

"Lemonade."

"We don't have any." (Which prompted an examination of the contents of the refrigerator.)

"Well, then, water. And almond milk."

"Do you have cups?"

"My birthday party cups."

"We used those. At your birthday party."

"Oh."

Moments later, she emerged from our utility room with an armful of black bean cans from the recycling bin.

"What are those for?" I asked.

"Cups," she replied.

"You're going to sell tap water in metal bean cans?" I asked.

"Yes, for one dollar a can," she sniffed, walking out of the kitchen.

If she were three, I would have chalked it up as cute and let it roll. (Actually, I probably would have been both a bigger jerk, and helped her more proactively.) But since Thea is seven -- and not a big fan of things not going exactly as planned (No, I don't know where she gets that.) -- I interceded.

"I'm going to the grocery store," I told her on the sidewalk, surveying her stand. "Can I pick up some lemonade, lemons, cups?"

We agreed that I would buy supplies, and that she would work on a sign and some flyers to circulate around the neighborhood while I was gone. And that once the flyers were out, we would not talk about the lemonade stand until 30 minutes before the advertised sale time.

At 4:00, she was sitting at her small table ready to go. At 4:05, she was dejected. And then our neighbor walked by with her daughter. Moments later, a Twitter follower pulled to the curb and ordered a cup. By 5:00, she was out of her lemonade. It was time to count the coins.

"Twenty seven dollars!" she exclaimed. "That's a lot!"

I pulled $10 out for the change I spotted her when she started, and then another $5 for supplies.

"But now I barely have any money!" she said. "I was going to send it to pay for a cure for cystic fibrosis!"

Thea's five-year-old cousin, Caroline, lives with CF. It's a cause close to home for all of us.

We agreed that $12 was a solid amount to send to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and that the next time she holds a lemonade sale she should let people know in advance, and that she is raising money for a cause.

Fast forward to this weekend. Thea is holding another lemonade sale to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She'll also be selling slices of watermelon. Stop by...

#WotWW Recap: I get it already!

Clients, I finally get it. It is hard to facilitate your own team!

The Floricane team just spent the better part of four days locked in various rooms focused on big strategic business goals. Despite a periodically bumpy ride, we landed some very solid outcomes.

Our Work on the Work Week, or #WotWW as we have somehow hashtagged it, started two years ago as a way for our team to dig into some serious planning work for our own business. No clients, just Floricane.

To keep it interesting this year, Julie organized a series of six meeting locations over the four day stretch – the Gather coworking space; the Robins Foundation’s relaxed meeting room; the Valentine museum; VCU’s renovated trolley Depot; One South Realty; and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. We finished it off with lunch at The Daily, and three hours of relaxed cocktails and conversation at Amuse in the VMFA.

To keep it focused, we had each member of the team facilitate sections of the week – financials, business development, our team culture, Floricane’s brand, our client engagement model, and refining a half-dozens tools and processes.

It was the worst of times. It was the best of times.

But mostly it was needed time. By the end of the week, our team felt more aligned and better prepared to increasingly deliver a consistently strong Floricane experience for our growing roster of great clients.

As we look ahead to our next #WotWW (typically scheduled after Christmas) we're already thinking of ways to make it more fun and more effective. We'll probably start by hiring a facilitator...

Being A Better Boss: Do the Work. Care for the People.

I like the way Wally Bock describes the work of every manager in his blog:

“Accomplish the mission

Your team has to get the job done. Your part of that is to do everything you can to make it possible. Remove obstacles and don’t be one yourself. Facilitate good work.

Care for the people

You’re the one responsible for keeping your people safe. It’s your job to help them succeed today and also tomorrow.”

That's how Floricane's new Manager Development Program sees things. Our new six week program for managers and supervisors is designed specifically to help "bosses" coach, develop and engage the people they support.

Over the past seven years, we've seen countless organizations -- from small nonprofits to large corporations -- under-invest in their managers and supervisors. Initially, the recession limited the capacity to invest in people development. But as managers aged in place, and younger people gravitated into roles with supervisory responsibility, it is as if organizations simply forgot that people are their most valuable asset.

Bock continues in his blog post to describe the three kinds of work every manager should do all of the time:

1. Leadership work, which is about modeling the right behaviors and setting direction.
2. Management work, which is about process and priorities.
3. Supervision work, which is ensuring your people are capable of doing good work -- and supporting them.

Is your manager engaging in all three levels of work? If you manage people, are you? Being responsible for the work of an organization, and the health and welfare of a team of people, is not easy stuff. Join us in September as we help a cohort of managers and supervisors map their way through a set of personal solutions.