Leadership Training

IGNITING LEADERSHIP
IN MISSION-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONS

BUILDING ON SUCCESS

Our Building On Success (BOS) leadership training and coaching initiative is designed to help the key leaders and teams of businesses and organizations establish the strongest possible personal foundation for effective leadership, so they can perform at the highest possible level, not only succeeding but flourishing.


“The “Building On Success” training and coaching work you did with us has been life-changing for many of our key leaders and transformative for our organization. For one quarter the price of what we have paid others for supposedly similar trainings, you created results that were four times as significant. You did it much more quickly and effectively – and it was fun and inspiring. We cannot thank you enough.”

– Senior Leader, Vermont State Government


 

BOS is ideally suited to emerging and existing leaders who are, have been, or seem like they could be, high performers. This includes people who are just coming into their own as a leader, seeking support in a transition, or open to getting the enthusiasm back for their work that they once had. We prefer to work with individuals who have a genuine spark and an ability to inspire, even if they are feeling burned out now. This work is aimed at helping people get clearer, more energized and more adept at making decisions consistent with their top work priorities and personal commitments.

Here are the fifty most recent answers we have received to our question “If you could share one to three words that describe your experience participating in “Building On Success”what would they be?”

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94 out of the most recent 100 participants in our “Building On Success” sessions wrote “Strongly Agree” in answer to ALL three of the questions on our evaluation:

“Building On Success helped me clarify my vision of success for my life and work.”

“I learned practical tools that I believe can help me in my life.”

“I learned practical tools that I believe can help me in my work.”

How It Works

BOS is a multi-day session, carried out over two months, tailored to the needs of each client, with extensive coaching and peer support in between the sessions. We work with 10-14 leaders at a time.

The BOS initiative includes:

  • Three day-long retreats
  • Skill-building, particularly around time/energy management, goal-setting and prioritization (see content details in “Session Descriptions” below)
  • Both one-on-one and group leadership coaching
  • A facilitated weekly writing forum
  • Facilitated peer support processes within the full cohort and with a partner
  • Follow up coaching support for participants 

The three sessions — “Feed Your Spark,” “Think Big, Start Small,” and “Moving Effectively From Vision to Action” – are typically spaced four weeks apart to give participants the opportunity to reflect and apply what they have learned in a real world setting, so we can discuss what comes up for them and how to meet those challenges.

Building On Success involves identifying what is already working and then supporting participants to get clear about:

  • What they are really aiming at in their work life for themselves.
  • Their notion of personal success in their life outside of work and how they would answer the questions “what is truly important and what is enough?” in order to develop a healthy work-life balance, making their work as productive and satisfying as possible for the long haul.
  • What they regard as their top work priority for the coming three months and for the year and how they will know success when they see it.
  • Which activities and conditions energizes them most, what drains them and how they might make changes in their work accordingly to make sure that within six months they will be able to spend most of their time focused on their greatest priorities and the activities that bring them the most joy, meaning and sense of impact.
  • Which attribute they want to aim at practicing more consistently over the coming two months as the focus for their leadership growth.
  • What changes to the organizational culture they are most keen to see come to fruition and what steps they will take to help bring about such change.
  • What the “Islands Of Success” are on which they can build.

We help all participants identify real world challenges they face and we support them to craft an action plan that brings together the core pieces of content from all three “Building On Success” sessions.

Investing in Effective Leadership

All of us who have been involved with foundations and not for profits know that you can provide significant financial support to an organization, yet if the top management of the organization is not energized and working effectively, you will not likely see the impact you might have hoped for and your money might not be getting well spent. For a relatively modest amount of money, we can work with a dozen or so of your grantees at a time and help them go from “promising” or “strong” to “outstanding” and be able to increase their impact and the sustainability of their efforts.

LEARN MORE AND PREVIEW THE SESSION DETAILS

Click Here

 

WORDS OF APPRECIATION FROM PARTICIPANTS IN “BUILDING ON SUCCESS”

I want to say that you really are an inspiring soul.

You are one of less than a handful of people I have met in all of the interactions and personal audiences I have had with a variety of stellar folks, that I have sincerely been inspired and energized by.  It is so easy to be jaded, intimidated and therefore negative about all that is challenging about progressive and justice work. To be positive and more importantly to have the gift to instill that positivity, energy, passion & guts into others, is truly fabulous. Thank you for what you do.  And how you do it. Thank you for the incredible change you create, through getting others to get excited about what they do. As a community organizer, activist and socially conscious person, it is refreshing to have someone like you sharing this world.

Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak, Community Organizer 
Outright Vermont

2018-03-14T14:21:42+00:00

Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak, Community Organizer 
Outright Vermont

You are one of less than a handful of people I have met in all of the interactions and personal audiences I have had with a variety of stellar folks, that I have sincerely been inspired and energized by.  It is so easy to be jaded, intimidated and therefore negative about all that is challenging about progressive and justice work. To be positive and more importantly to have the gift to instill that positivity, energy, passion & guts into others, is truly fabulous. Thank you for what you do.  And how you do it. Thank you for the incredible change you create, through getting others to get excited about what they do. As a community organizer, activist and socially conscious person, it is refreshing to have someone like you sharing this world.

This has really been life-changing. It really is that simple.

It has been an amazing experience to work on myself both personally and professionally and gain the skills to make real changes. I’m not sure that my evaluation was really able to convey how truly appreciative I am to have had the opportunity to work with you and to participate in Building On Success. I cannot express enough how valuable it was for me to work with you. It gave me renewed strength. You helped me figure out precisely what I needed to do and how to get there. This was the best training I have participated in -- by far -- in my career.

Ann Ruggles, State of Vermont

2018-03-16T15:23:18+00:00

Ann Ruggles, State of Vermont

It has been an amazing experience to work on myself both personally and professionally and gain the skills to make real changes. I’m not sure that my evaluation was really able to convey how truly appreciative I am to have had the opportunity to work with you and to participate in Building On Success. I cannot express enough how valuable it was for me to work with you. It gave me renewed strength. You helped me figure out precisely what I needed to do and how to get there. This was the best training I have participated in -- by far -- in my career.

Building On Success made me look at myself—really look at myself—in a new and important way. Quite honestly (no BS) this was one of the most beneficial experiences of my adult life.”

Kim Marie Moore, Tompkins County, New York

2018-03-14T14:34:56+00:00

Kim Marie Moore, Tompkins County, New York

This has been an amazing experience in every way. I gained deep insights not only into myself but about others in the organization in a way that will enable me to work more effectively with them”

Chris Agan, Vermont Department For Children and Families

2018-03-14T14:37:09+00:00

Chris Agan, Vermont Department For Children and Families

My experience working with Jeff has been life-changing. The B.O.S. program truly helped me understand myself and my work in a whole new way.”

Jon Kennedy, Vermont Department For Children and Families

2018-03-14T14:37:53+00:00

Jon Kennedy, Vermont Department For Children and Families

It was a GREAT experience and unlike any other training I have been a part of – it was also deeply motivational so I not only learned a lot but got a powerful boost.”

Ashley Lowe, Vermont Department For Children and Families

2018-03-14T14:38:24+00:00

Ashley Lowe, Vermont Department For Children and Families

You have challenged me and helped me focus on my life in a way that I never have before.”

Cyndee Pelkey, Vermont Department for Children and Families

2018-03-14T14:38:40+00:00

Cyndee Pelkey, Vermont Department for Children and Families