Our Approach
A Three-Phase Approach for Real & Sustainable Change
Phase 1
Timeline: ~3 months
Phase 1 involves 1:1 executive coaching with the CEO and potentially 1 or 2 other senior influential leaders. Phase 1 may include small group facilitation between the CEO and senior leader(s).
Phase 2
Timeline: 3-6 Months+
Phase 2 involves transformative workshops, facilitated conversations of candor and assessments among the next tier of company leadership. Phase 2 also includes ongoing 1:1 executive coaching with the CEO and may include additional 1:1 coaching with senior leaders.
Phase 3
Timeline: TBD
Phase 3 focuses on deepening the development of the company leadership as well as cascading these changes through the larger culture. The timeline and implementation structure for this phase is dependent upon each unique organization.*
*Phase 3 may either include our direct support working with your larger organization through collective training and facilitated conversations OR we will help the senior leaders facilitate this training and conversations themselves that will support new structures, values and practices to be implemented into the larger culture. An off-site immersive training for key leaders may be indicated during this phase. Phase 3 is influenced by the clear progression through Phases 1 & 2 and is highly individualized based on the organization’s context, needs and readiness.
“A path cannot be taught, it can only be taken.”
– Ancient Zen Saying
Candor & Coherence provides guidance, context and clear pathways for you to significantly grow in your capacity as a leader to be able to catalyze a coherent culture of candor. We cannot walk the path for you. To transform, you must be willing to invest in yourself, make internal and external changes and step into your true potential for leadership.
Our Philosophy of Change
The CEO Plays a Foundational Role in Cultural Transformation
The CEO of an organization is the single most influential domino that sets the norms for the entire culture. This person and senior leaders, sets the tone both in their outward conduct and more importantly (but often unaddressed), in their interior thoughts, emotions and energy.
The more coherent the CEO and senior leaders are between their interior and exterior, the more trustable they are and the more their conscious vision is enacted effectively. The more incoherent those leaders are, the less trustable they are and the more their subconscious patterns and weaknesses inadvertently sabotage and derail forward progress of what they consciously desire to create.
Therefore, at Candor & Coherence, we call forward the CEO and senior leaders to become deeply committed to their own evolution and willingness to be vulnerable about where they need to grow as well as when they make mistakes. This type of vulnerability and authenticity of the senior leaders in an organization is the starting point and foundation for our work with companies.
Since the patterns within the senior leaders that corrode trust are subconscious, they cannot be remediated simply by receiving feedback. The blindspots of the leader as well as the roots of those subconscious patterns are addressed and integrated through the transformative journey of 1:1 coaching. As the leader is courageously willing to model this universally human process of making the subconscious conscious, it opens the way for the rest of the company to become coherent as well. This slowly transforms the culture from perfectionistic and idealistic to realistic and progress-oriented. As your organization becomes psychologically safer and relationally skillful, anyone can be an agent of constructive feedback and catalyst for growth and accountability.
Cascading Culture from the Top Down
When the CEO and senior leaders become more coherent, this moves organizationally downstream and positively influences the level of honesty within the next tiers of company leadership. This now expanded culture of leadership becomes the energetic blueprint for how the rest of the departments within the company operate.
As you can see, we focus on the CEO and senior leader’s embodiment of psychological safety, emotional intelligence and coherence as the foundation of culture building. This creates a “don’t tell me, show me” approach to how the company is led. From a more stabilized embodiment of these principles within the senior leaders, changes to structures, values, and processes become tangible expressions of the shift. This approach is in contrast to consultants offering conceptual-only training models and strategic direction that does not translate to substantial and sustainable change.
“Working with Michael has been a transformational experience. He has empowered me to be a better human and a better leader at work and at home. I’ve learned how to connect my head and heart, enabling me to navigate current life and work challenges by seeing how they are linked to experiences in my past. By processing those experiences, I’ve gained a deeper connection to myself, which has strengthened my relationships with my team, family, and friends.”
– Joey Rault, Chief Revenue Officer at Codat
Key Definitions
candor
/kan-der/
1. The state or quality of being frank, open and sincere in speech or expression.
2. To speak to the “elephant in the room” while having a constructive dialogue to come to greater clarity, intimacy and coherence through conversation.
coherence
/koh-heer-uhns/
1. Individually: to act in energetic alignment between one’s conduct and behavior and one’s interior thoughts, emotions and beliefs (both conscious and subconscious).
2. Collectively: for a group or team of individuals to be working interdependently via ideas and behavior to efficiently achieve a collective aim; collective coherence does not require consensus, it requires respect and hearing all perspectives before a direction is mutually agreed upon.
psychological safety
/sahy-kuh-log-i-kuhl seyf-tee/
1. The felt permission of candor that each individual feels within a team or group; a culture of rewarded vulnerability.
2. A feeling that pervades a group or team that welcomes constructive dissent, creative risks and is still able to maintain a sense of respect and connection between its members.
Integrating Research and Best Practices
We weave the robust industry research on psychological safety and its impact on company performance, Patrick Lencioni’s Overcoming the 5 Dysfunctions of a team model and various depth psychology models. Our approach also integrates countless other resources focused on new paradigm business practices and leadership development and exploring the unseen power and dynamics within human relationships. Candor & Coherence brings together a fresh, dynamic and fully customized approach to your leaders and organization’s growth.
Ready to take the first step?
Tell us with candor about your vision and we’ll reach out to schedule a conversation.