"Sikre rejser" to Floricane's latest intern

We're saying goodbye to our intern, Kayla Maxey, this week as she prepares for her senior year at Boston University. She'll spend the fall in Denmark studying sustainability and strategy, and we're only a little jealous. Kayla spent 10 weeks with us interviewing almost a dozen of our past strategic planning clients, and taking hundreds (literally, hundreds) of pages of notes from focus group sessions for two of our current clients -- the University of Richmond and the National Association of Residential Property Managers. We asked Kayla to capture her personal Top 5 from her summer with Floricane.

• The importance of inclusion in strategy: This was reinforced through both my conversations with Floricane's past clients and my experience in the room with current clients. The inclusion of employees and stakeholders allows the people who are affected by the work -- who are often the people who do the work -- to have a voice and help shape an organization’s strategy.

• The University of Richmond Project: Being able to support the facilitation process on a current project with the University of Richmond’s Business Affairs division was really enjoyable. It’s great to see people progressively open up in conversation and to hear their observations about their work culture.  

• Understanding the team through Insights: Reviewing our Insights profiles with the Floricane team gave me a clearer understanding of other’s work preferences and personalities. This allowed me to align with their needs while also discussing how we can collaborate more effectively as a team, taking each other's preferences into account. 

• Insights reflections with John: Having a discussion with John after the Insights workshop provided me with a deeper understanding of my own work style and tendencies. It also helped me identify how those preferences show up for me, and allowed me to set some personal goals for the summer.

• A more human approach to consulting: Floricane’s approach to consulting is one I find to be very human-centric, focusing on developing a deep understanding of the organizations it supports and respecting that the people who do the work are often the ones who know the most about it.

Letter From John: Not What, But Why

In August of 2008, I was a husband and new father who had inadvertently found a home at what was once a small, family-owned stone quarry out in Goochland County. I liked my coworkers, and the work I did. I had good mentors, and meaningful friendships at Luck Stone. The economy was a bit wobbly, but in the grand scheme of things life was pointed in the right direction. Until it wasn’t.

I’ve been thinking lately about the birth of Floricane 15 years ago (this November). A recent Washington Post opinion piece by cognitive scientist (and violinist) Maya Shankarframed that abrupt life transition in a new way for me. Shankar writes about imaginative courage, but she also shares her personal experience with unwanted change— in her case, when a popped tendon in her hand ended her career as a violinist.

“The violin had defined me for so long, and without it, I felt stuck. I would later learn that this experience is known as identity paralysis — and it happens to a lot of us when we experience unexpected, unwanted change: Who we think we are and what we’re about is suddenly called into question.”

I came home from Luck Stone for the last time the morning of November 12. I was still a husband and a new father, but all of the other elements of my life had, unexpectantly, changed.

But this missive is not about what I lost, or thought I lost, in that unwanted transition. It’s about what I gained.

Shankar continues in her piece:

“I realized that what I missed most about playing the violin was that it had given me a vehicle for connecting emotionally with others. It turned out that this was at the root of my passion for music. And a hopeful message emerged from this insight: Although I had lost the ability to play the violin, I could still find this underlying love of human connection in other pursuits.”

At Luck, I had found a home, a community, work that I was becoming good at doing. But I also had found the beginnings of a purpose, one that surfaced in a more expansive and meaningful way when I started Floricane. 

At our best, Shankar suggests, we are not what, but why. Centering your life around what drives you, what lights you up, that’s the discovery Shankar unpacks in her second career as a cognitive scientist.

Reflecting on these past 15 years, it’s amazing and uplifting to see – and have experienced — the myriad of ways an unexpected change in the fall of 2008 catalyzed the passions I was just discovering and allowed them to deepen and flourish.

Today, I have so many ways to connect with new people and new communities, to uncover perspectives and ideas with organizations, to surface new ways to think about and act on the future. Every single day holds new conversations filled with possibility.

Shankar’s invitation: Look for opportunities to practice imaginative courage, remember that why you do something is more important than what you do and, whenever possible, try and seek out awe.

I’m pretty clear on my why. Perhaps it’s time to explore imaginative courage, and to bring awe back into my life.

-       John

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND: Strengthening the roots of belonging for all

BELONGING AND THE UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND: A key strategic priority of the University -- and one the new President mentions often -- is Belonging and Community. The priority is centered around the idea that every person on campus matters, and "every Spider feels and is seen, heard, valued, and has someone they can look to for support." The students are an obvious focus here, but this priority matters to students, faculty and staff.

ASKING THE QUESTION: John Sarvay, Ebony Walden, Julia D'Agostino and Kayla Maxey have spent the past several weeks asking questions, and listening. At the heart of our discussion with staff? How can the Business Affairs division create a stronger culture of belonging for every employee?

THE ANSWERS ARE IN THE ROOM: There's something truly inspiring and uplifting about being in room after room after room with a diverse group of people who care about what they do, value the people they work with, and have clarity about what they need to be more effective, engaged and satisfied in their work. The fact that we will end this first round of engagement having been in the room with more than 85% of the ~550 employees from Business Affairs feels really, really good.

WHAT'S NEXT: Transforming a few hundred pages of notes -- thanks, Kayla! -- into a set of themes to shape new Mission, Vision and Values statements for the division, and then developing clear guidance and recommendations to bring those statements to life in the culture will be our next round of heavy lifting. And once again we'll turn to the people who do the work to make that happen.

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond

THE BACKGROUND: Erin and John are halfway through our second year of supporting leadership development at Richmond Ronald McDonald House Charities. This year, our focus is on four managers who lead the work that keeps the organization humming, and families supported and cared for. We couldn’t have picked a more intense year, as the organization prepares to open an expanded family hospitality space in the new Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.

WHAT WE'RE DOING: Erin’s doing the coaching, and John’s doing the monthly training. Our skills focus so far has been on Situational Leadership (SLII), specifically the importance of regular alignment conversations. We recently pivoted to discuss the teams of each manager from the Insights® Team Effectiveness perspective. In addition to monthly coaching sessions with each manager, we have a monthly group coaching session where we check in on the overall organizational climate and discuss application of what the group is learning. Erin and John also meet each month with senior RMHC Richmond leadership.

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: University of Richmond

OUR CLIENT: One of our new University of Richmond clients described the Business Affairs Division as “the spine of the university.” With almost 500 employees, the division’s staff is the largest and most diverse group of employees at the university. And those employees literally keep the lights on, the students fed, and the campus safe. From dining services to custodial services, groundskeeping to landscaping, maintenance to finance, this large team really does touch every aspect of campus life.

THE WORK: The division is on a mission to redefine its Mission, Vision and Values with an emphasis on inclusion and belonging – creating a work environment where employees feel seen, heard and valued every day. Ebony,John, Julia and our intern, Kayla, are working to engage almost 500 employees – a quarter of the university’s workforce – in a series of small group dialogues to gather input about the division’s culture (and microcultures). As we move into the fall, we’ll work with representative groups of employees to prioritize key aspects of their desired culture, and develop the language, expectations and process recommendations to give it shape.

THE CENTER OF GRAVITY: Amplifying the perspective of all Business Affairs employees – through focus groups, surveys, team discussions, and a campuswide charrette – will anchor the process in an equitable and inclusive way. The opportunity to listen to 500 people over the summer, and to weave their unique perspectives together in way that respects individual voices; the division’s many different work groups and commitment to equity, inclusion and belonging; and the university’s values.

Letter From John: The Power of Nonprofits

A few months after I started Floricane, I formed a small advisory council to help me make good business decisions and bolster my mercurial self-confidence.

At the time, we were midway through the Great Recession (circa 2009) and the bulk of Floricane’s clients –- The James House, the Valentine, the Virginia Society of CPAs, Richmond Region Tourism, Leadership Metro Richmond –- were nonprofit and community centered organizations.

Early in one of our first sessions, someone questioned the wisdom of focusing Floricane’s time and energy in the nonprofit sector. Surely, the argument went, there’s not a lot of money to be made supporting nonprofits.

My friend Stephanie stepped to the plate and quickly made three succinct points: 1) There is plenty of money in the nonprofit sector. 2) Supporting Richmond’s nonprofits is good, meaningful work. 3) John (that’s me) has a lot of passion for nonprofits and community organizations.

Fast forward almost 15 years. The passion hasn't faded, and the sector has grown. While the nonprofit sector may have been somewhat invisible to most folks way back in 2008, a recent article in the Washington Post reports that nonprofits have never been a bigger part of the U.S. economy.

"Over the past 15 years, nonprofit employment has grown 33 percent, dwarfing the 9 percent job growth enjoyed by the for-profit private sector over that time. Nonprofits have passed local government to become the second-largest source of employment in the country, behind the for-profit sector."

In fact, nonprofits have grown far faster than any other segment of the economy. Almost 40,000 people in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield are employed by nonprofits. (That number swells above 100,000 people when I glance at Floricane’s primary service area of Central Virginia and the Virginia Peninsula.)

As the nonprofit sector has grown as an employer, it has also grown as an influencer. One example: There are 11 nonprofits and foundations represented on the Chamber RVA Board.

And the increased attention to, commitment to, and investment in organizations centered around issues of equity and inclusion, and social good, continues to influence the ways in which the for-profit sector thinks about its role in the community.

One of the most meaningful decisions I made early on was to maintain Floricane’s consulting focus on the nonprofit sector. Today, nonprofit and community organizations are about 40% of Floricane’s core focus – balanced by a surprisingly equal balance of business, government and educational clients.

More important – to me, and our team – is the fact that most of our work (regardless of sector) is geared toward helping individuals, teams and organizations do more good for the people and communities they serve.

-       John

P.S. Belated thanks to Donald Jones, Joe Ruiz, Stephanie Kirksey, Greg Moyer, and Nikole Sarvay for leaning into that frenetic first year – and all the support since. And special thanks to Tom Herr, Floricane’s former accountant. Tom died late in 2018, and took his good business sense and a sense of humor with him.

Our newest intern is getting an immersion in strategy and culture

We've had almost two dozen interns spend time with us at Floricane over the years. Many of them come to us by way of Randolph-Macon College's psychology department. But sometimes our best interns just come out of nowhere. Kayla Maxey, a rising senior at Boston University, knocked at our door at just the right moment this spring. She's spending the summer interviewing our past strategic planning clients, and supporting our organizational culture work with the University of Richmond.

Can you share a bit about yourself — your life in Richmond, and your journey to Boston University?

I was born and raised in the Richmond area and attended high school at Patrick Henry in Ashland. I grew up an avid swimmer, so a good chunk of my time growing up was spent in pools around the Richmond area. I continued the sport competitively throughout middle and high school, and was our Varsity captain my junior and senior year. In addition to swimming, I was also involved in a number of extracurriculars including DECA, Key Club, and even our cheese club. Though participating in DECA and competing at their conferences is really what made me realize I wanted to pursue a major in business.

As much as I loved Richmond, I was ready and eager to try out somewhere new for college. I was drawn to Boston University for a number of reasons. For one, I knew for sure that I wanted to be in a big city for college. They also had the academic reputation and proximity to opportunities that I was looking for in a school and the rest is history. Currently, I’m a rising senior studying business administration with concentrations in strategy and operations and supply chain management. At school I’m involved in the BU Consulting Group, where I have been able to prepare and develop skills needed to be successful in the field of consulting. I am also on our club snowboarding team, which is what you’ll probably find me doing most weekends during the season. As different as it is from Richmond, it’s been a really good experience and I've grown quite fond of the city, its New England architecture, and its seemingly endless amount of college students. 

Why Floricane? What did you decide to intern at Floricane initially, and what have you experienced in your first four weeks that validated your decision?

What initially drew me to Floricane was a connection with their values and approach to consulting. It seemed to me that they held a stakeholder view that focused on bringing everyone’s voices together to create organizational change. As someone who feels strongly about the importance of listening to stakeholders, that view really resonated with me. That focus on people and building strong relationships really emanates from Floricane and it’s something that I've heard across the board in my conversations with past clients. 

I’ve seen that there’s a high level of trust between Floricane and its clients and I think that speaks to their emphasis on building relationships, as well as allowing them to be able to engage people in an authentic way. Change is hard, and organizational change is no different, and it really takes the people in an organization to care about those changes to make a plan successful. Bringing that diversity of voices to the table allows employees to see themselves and their experiences reflected in the strategy of an organization, instead of a siloed process that ignores the full scope of an organization's work. Creating that sense of ownership of the strategy is really important, since at the end of the day those are the same people responsible for carrying out that plan, and I think Floricane does a great job of creating that in its strategic planning.

You’re working at Floricane for 10 weeks this summer. Can you briefly describe the main areas of work or projects that are consuming your time and energy?

One of the projects that has been taking up most of my time this first half of summer is a review of Floricane’s strategic planning process. I’ve been speaking with past clients about their experience with the company and using that feedback to develop some insights around the strategic planning process. With the interviews I’ve had so far, I’ve been able to synthesize those ideas to come up with some high-level takeaways to enhance Floricane’s strategic planning process and understand how they can leverage what differentiates them as a consulting firm. At the end of the summer, I’ll be translating this into a presentation that will be part of an event hosted by Floricane. The other project I’ll be working on this summer is for the University of Richmond’s Business Affairs, where I’ll be helping out in the facilitation of employee conversations. I’m looking forward to that project ramping up and to learning from those conversations. 

Absolute favorite class you’ve taken at Boston University?

My favorite class I’ve taken at Boston University has been Sustainable Energy, which I took this past semester. It was a really interesting look at the history and progression of energy systems, with a focus on renewable energy. One of the things I really enjoyed about the class was that it was taught from the intersectional lens of science, economics, and social and political. Since energy touches all parts of our lives, it was really helpful to contextualize it in that way to see how those different aspects play a role in both the history and future of energy. It was a class that felt very relevant and I walked away from it feeling like I had learned a lot.

Why in the world do you think you want to work in consulting? What resonates with you about consulting work?

It sounds a bit cliche, but I’m drawn to the problem-solving aspect of consulting. I enjoy being challenged to think outside of the box and consulting exposes me to a wide range of problems that require innovative solutions. Like I mentioned before, competing through DECA is what initially inspired me to consider a career in business. In hindsight, the competitions operated much like a case interview for consulting does, and it’s that same sense of working through challenges to solve a problem that still draws me to it. I also appreciate the fact that each client engagement presents a unique set of issues, whether it's streamlining operations, optimizing strategies, or addressing organizational challenges. The dynamic nature of consulting and the diversity of work is something that excites me with its learning opportunities along the way. 

You’ve been talking to some of Floricane’s clients this summer. What are three words they’ve used to describe Floricane that feel really on-target to you? Can you give an example, or a brief story, that illuminates or provides some context for one of those words?

The three words that come to mind for me are personable, inclusive, and storytellers. The process by which Floricane goes about strategic planning really speaks to each of those words. A recurring idea that was expressed to me was Floricane’s ability to engage various stakeholders in each company in a way that was inclusive and reflective of all areas of the organization. In a lot of cases this input was important in discovering and understanding strategic priorities that might not have even been on the radar before that discussion. That’s where I feel the “storyteller” description really comes into play, in how they’re able to take this amalgamation of ideas and weave them into a story that guides the strategy for each organization. 

What are you most excited about for your fall semester in Denmark?

I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in a new culture and getting to know Copenhagen. I’d consider myself quite the foodie so I’m also eager to explore the food offerings in what I've heard is quite a culinary city. Though, as excited as I am to explore Copenhagen, I’m probably most excited about the opportunity to travel around Europe while I’m there. There’s so many places that I’d like to make it to, and my goal is to see how much of that list I can get to. Coincidentally, my best friend is studying abroad in Rome at the same time as I will be, which is already my excuse to visit Italy while I’m there. 

I’m also quite excited to be attending Copenhagen Business School while I’m there. I'm particularly looking forward to my corporate sustainability classes, which is what initially drew me to Copenhagen in the first place. Denmark's strong commitment to sustainability and innovation is something that really inspires me. The country is a global leader in renewable energy, urban planning, and environmental initiatives. I'm eager to witness firsthand how Denmark incorporates sustainability into its daily life, and I hope to gain some valuable insights to bring back home with me.

What are you going to do next May when you graduate!?

Ideally by May of next year I will have a job offer that’s in the field of consulting and will be preparing to start that next chapter of my life. I’m both excited and nervous to look further into those opportunities, but am certainly looking forward to whatever the future holds for me. I also think it might be nice to do a little bit of traveling before I dive into the next phase of my career, so that’s definitely a possibility too.

Gelati Celesti Ice Cream

new client

Supporting a Fast Growing Team of Managers

We’re excited to re-engage with the team at Gelati Celesti Ice Cream, arguably Virginia’s favorite ice cream shop with locations throughout Central Virginia and Hampton Roads.

This spring, as the management team gears up for warmer weather and some relief from COVID-19, we’ll be providing ongoing coaching support for store and regional managers. The primary goal is simple: Provide managers and supervisors with a coaching resource to help them bring their “best game” to their important mission — providing a few moments of pure joy to each customer.