Solutions for Startups

 

By working with The Leadership Team, you can invest in your team at a fraction of the cost of traditional corporate learning and development programs, and gain the benefit of personalized, relevant content.

You’re small and scrappy, but your vision is big. You’ve assembled a team of stars and you’re growing quickly. It’s exciting and also challenging. You’re all in, but sometimes it feels like the rest of the team isn’t. Some members of your team don’t get along, and maybe you have one or two Glassdoor reviews that worry you. You’re pressured to find the best hires, and then have to compete with much larger, more established companies on benefits. People already at your company want to grow. If they’re not managers, they want to know when they will be. If they are, they want to know when they’ll be at the next level. You need to solve these problems, and you need an affordable, lean way to do so. 

I know what it’s like at a start-up because I’ve led them.

Most recently, I was COO of Quill.org. My 10+ years of experience managing people also includes roles as Chief Product Officer for Climb Credit and Director of Legal Analytics for Lex Machina.During that time I’ve faced many situations unique to executives, such as interfacing with board members, preparing quarterly reports for investors, pitching potential investors, leading several company-wide sessions on strategic planning and values development, and identifying and mitigating organizational friction.

I also draw on my 3 years at Facebook, where I worked on a cross-functional team tasked with bringing together people from functions including product, finance, marketing, legal, policy and communications. In that role I product managed an internal tool and also regularly presented to C-level and senior executives.

As a coach, I’ll act as a sounding board as you gain more understanding of your unique strengths and your company’s dynamics. Through this process you’ll discover solutions that work for you.

Coaching can help executives be better, but it’s not limited to executives. It’s useful for anyone trying to grow or facing work challenges, including first-time managers, aspiring managers, and even teams learning to work together. I will work with you 1:1 or in small groups (e.g. you and one or two members of your leadership team). I’ll use proven coaching methods such as GROW to help you develop your strengths and find solutions to any issues you’re facing. I’ll act as a mirror and ask questions as I guide you and/or your leadership team.

As a manager, I used coaching questions to help individual team members solve problems and develop their skills. As a mentor, I’ll do the same for your team.

By understanding your business and team, I can conduct 1:1s with individual employees that focus on the employee’s challenges and their career growth. This way even if you or your managers only have time for tactical meetings, your employees still have a resource. This lets you increase retention, as employees are much more likely to stay at a company when they have a way to voice concerns and feel supported.

Coaching & Mentoring

Coaching circles are group coaching sessions focused on specific topics, and are a cross between peer group facilitation and education.

Exact topics can be tailored to your company and team. Previous topics have included: 

  • Delivering and Receiving Clear Feedback

  • Career Conversations

  • Introduction to Management

  • Managing Up

  • Conducting Effective 1:1s

  • Coaching & Active Listening

  • Goal-Setting

  • Improving Your Meetings With Design Thinking

  • Organizational Culture 

  • Defining Your Organization’s Values

Custom workshops are one-time sessions designed for your organization.

These can focus on the topics listed under coaching circle, or can be tailored to a specific need. Workshops can help with challenging issues, allow you to offer more content to your employees, and allow more people to access that information.

Coaching Circles & Workshops

Consulting

One constant throughout my career has been creating scalable systems. If your team is growing and you need more hands-on help, I can work with you as a consultant.

I’ll work closely with team members in the relevant area to develop scalable processes and procedures and teach these to your team. Or if you’re struggling to take off and not sure why, I can speak to your team and provide an outsider’s perspective on company strengths and weaknesses, as well as recommendations for what to do next.

Here are some example systems I’ve created/improved for organizations:

  • Implementing data-driven decision-making via company analytics

  • Developing efficient team meetings, starting at the leadership level

  • Goal-setting and OKRs

  • Product roadmap, product backlog, and related Kanban boards

  • Sales lead qualification

  • Audit preparation

  • HR policies

  • Customer support procedures

  • Hiring and interview process