Committing
Barriers
Actions
Critical Topics
FAQS

OUR SERVICES

#1 – Support for Groups

#2 – Support for Organizations & Communities

#1 – Support for Groups

We can provide support for groups and/or group leaders in several ways.  All groups are different, so there is no “canned” or “one-size-fits-all” approach. We simply have an introductory conversation to see if there is a good fit and what support might be most useful.

There are three basic ways we can provide support.  As usual, “the devil is in the details.” 

1.  Conversations with group leaders to design how the group can use the site and pursue its mission – for example:

  • Find discussion topics or FAQs
  • Identify benefits and create a vision of the desired future
  • Manage the journey of being an anti-racist, etc.
  • Identify specific actions tom take
  • Get past the barriers to action
  • Support each other in using the action templates
  • Add value to an advocacy process 
  • Be effective allies  
  • Find more resources for information or connections

2.  Conversations with the group as a whole about specific topics or projects – similar topics as above, but addressed by the group

3.  Conversations with group leaders or the group as a whole regarding group development and performance – for example:

  • Starting a group
  • Developing and maintaining a group
  • Managing group projects 
  • Effective meetings
  • Decision-making and conflict resolution
  • Etc.

How to Begin - It’s Simple

Email Us ([email protected])

  1. Your name and role in the group
  2. Your group and its purpose/mission
  3. Any initial thoughts about support that might be helpful

“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” 

–  Thomas Jefferson

#2 Support for Organizations and Communities – DEI Initiatives

The services we provide are focused on helping organizations and communities lead the change required to counter racism in their particular setting.

Note.  Our services are complementary to services that educate and raise awareness.  We focus on helping you develop the leadership roles and core strategies required to lead the organizational or community change required for sustained success.

Who We Work With – Organizations or Communities

Organizations.  For organizations an effective engagement will almost always require effective working relationships with many or all of the following.

  1. C-Suite
  2. Executive Sponsors
  3. Boards of Directors (for alignment)
  4. DEI Execs and/or DEI Boards
  5. Change Teams
  6. Other organizations providing DEI programming

Communities.  Communities have different structures, and the variety precludes being very specific here.  However, it will always be a matter of working with the governance structure, the individuals and groups that lead implementation, and the variety of community stakeholders that need to be engaged in various ways.

“The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Our Approach is Based on 4 Principles

Although every consultation is customized, there are four principles that always provide direction.

  1. We build on vision and strength.  
  2. We match the DEI initiative with the business mission.  
  3. We focus on organization design and change leadership.  
  4. We focus on leadership leverage on individual, group/team, and systemic levels.  

“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius and power, and magic in it.”

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

There are Two Different High Leverage Scenarios

Complex or large-scale change, such as DEI, presents leadership with two distinct challenges. The first is in the beginning of the journey. The second is at multiple points on the path as the journey unfolds. There are specific leadership roles and strategies that offer leverage in the beginning. There are specific roles and strategies that offer leverage as the change journey unfolds. There is not a hard boundary between “beginnings” and “on the path”, but they are different.

Scenario #1  In the Beginning – “Beginnings matter – a lot”

There are ten key questions that can guide leadership in the beginning of a DEI journey.  A good start is critical for both direction and momentum.  It is extraordinarily difficult to recover from a poor start. 

Scenario #2  On the Path – “We always ‘learn the way’ in major change journeys

There are eight key questions that can guide leadership at different points on the path.  The critical success factor is aways finding the leadership leverage as the reality of the journey unfolds.

Adapting the Six Change Leadership Roles and Their Core Strategies “Being worthy of followers”

Every consultation is customized but based on solid models. There is no effective  “cookie-cutter” approach to leading change. Success is always found in adapting a change model to (a) the specific nature of the change and (b) the organization or community. Our model uses six leadership roles, each with three cores strategies.

  • The leadership roles are not people – they are roles that will be played by different people at different levels of the organization.  
  • Different strategies will provide different leverage in different changes, but all of them are important and any that are missed will undermine success.  
  • The model is oriented toward corporate and organizational change, but is equally adaptable to community change.

We can also work with other change models to ensure continuity if another model is already used by the organization –  as long as it is compatible with our model (most are). 

Roles & Strategies “In the Beginning”

The Visionary

  • Establish the “business and moral cases”
  • Create the vision of the desired state we are pursuing
  • Make a clear, credible, and compelling leadership commitment

The Architect

  • Define the required organization or community design
  • Establish a core leadership team that is – and is perceived to be – an “A” team
  • Create the required change plan(s)

Roles & Strategies “On the Path”

The Catalyst

  • Expand the “leadership web” begun by the Architect
  • Prepare and engage the people
  • “Operationalize” the vision and organization or community design – what it looks like “on the ground” and day-to-day

The Guide

  • Support people in managing themselves throughout the journey
  • Establish communication systems – out and in (feedback with quick response)
  • Implement a healthy system of accountability – formal and frequent/informal

The Builder

  • Expand and maintain the health of the leadership web
  • Build the individual, group and systemic capabilities required (this includes using the challenges of the journey to develop new leaders)
  • Guide people through the mastery process

Role & Strategies “In Conclusion”

The Integrator

  • Manage the “ripple effect” – how changes affect others and their response
  • Align the “things” of the organization (strategy, structure, processes, policies, etc.)
  • Attune the people (values, beliefs, relationships, cultural norms, etc.)

A Note on Leadership Leverage.  All of these strategies are high leverage, but that leverage will vary from change to change and throughout the journey.  The key is always (a) customizing the roles and strategies to match the organization or community and the nature of the desired change; and (b) to keep checking on progress to continue to manage how the strategies are being implemented. 

How to Begin

Just get in touch and have an initial conversation with us about: 

  1. The DEI initiative you are leading or anticipating
  2. Where you are in the process
  3. Your experience so far, and how we might support you

Email Us ([email protected])

  1. Your name
  2. Role/Title
  3. Organization
  4. Best way and times to contact you
  5. Anything you want to add to help prep for the call

“Change does not roll in on wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Download more on Organization/Community Services