Organizational Performance

FDA: Management Team Effectiveness Training

IT Consulting Firm: Strategy Planning

Fortune 500: Enterprise-Wide Leadership Training

NIH: Leadership Coaching

THE CHALLENGE
The NIH’s Clinical Center is facing pending retirements of senior-level staff and general needs for leadership development. In the Office of the CFO a major benchmarking study creates major change in the functions and role of the office moving forward.

New responsibilities create need for evaluation of team-wide performance, structure, and required skills.
Alignment of the leadership team on goals and priorities and the coaching and mentoring relationship between the senior leader and staff require strengthening.

THE SUNTIVA SOLUTION
Suntiva conducts ongoing one-on-one and 3D coaching with the COO and Acting CFO, with a strong focus on alignment on business strategy. Suntiva works with the entire team to assess organization structure and skill requirements. Suntiva designs and helps implement a structured succession planning process.

THE RESULTS

The leadership team is aligned on common goals and priorities
A structured succession planning process is developed to prepare the office for pending retirements
A collaborative decision on the to-be state (e.g., structure, functions, roles) is reached
Team-wide skill gaps are identified and an action plan to address gaps (e.g., cross training, hiring, transition planning) is developed

FDA: Management Team Effectiveness Training

THE CHALLENGE
A senior government leader is struggling to determine how to initiate and develop a new management team and for its members to develop and demonstrate key management and leadership skills. The organization is highly virtual in nature and its members are struggling with how to communicate effectively and build trust with one another. Team Leaders within the organization have several different types of challenges they are addressing, ranging from low morale to mediocre performance.

THE SUNTIVA SOLUTION
Suntiva provides the entire management team with broad leadership development and management consulting services. We have developed and continue to implement a comprehensive leadership coaching program that is supported by monthly management brown bags. In addition, Suntiva consultants facilitate the management team’s quarterly strategy meetings. Finally, Suntiva provides team effectiveness and general organizational consulting to several Team Leaders, management consulting support to the Deputy Director and HR Departments, and help to design and facilitate the organization’s annual retreat.

THE RESULTS

All management team members find they are far more effective in terms of executive alignment, communication, and general management skills, after one year of work with Suntiva’s coaches and consultants.
Best practices for working virtually have been developed and are being rolled out.
One virtual team has begun work in the identification of key issues and is actively working to address them.
New leaders are gaining insights more quickly and as a result are more effective in a shorter period of time.
Individual contributors report that they see a positive change in their management team. They experience far less micro-management and improved communication.

IT Consulting Firm: Strategy Planning

THE CHALLENGE
The CEO of an award-winning and successful technology consulting firm recognized that his organization had reached a critical point, and that growth had stalled. His decisions regarding growth strategies, market development, organizational structure, and executive leadership would become integral to future success. “Suntiva made it clear that the direction for the company had to start with our ownership group. In the process, I became convinced that unless this group had energy and excitement, nothing else would ever go — a profound thing to realize. How we all work together has improved significantly, and that drives our ability to get results” —Company CEO

THE SUNTIVA SOLUTIONWorking side-by-side with the executive team and Strategy Council as part of their strategic planning process, Suntiva delivered its unique and integrated suite of services, enabling key insights and breakthroughs for the client.

THE RESULTS

Surpassed aggressive growth targets two years running.
Defined a clear plan of action, fully supported by all business owners.
A key organizational shift to a business unit model (focusing on vertical markets), resulted in significant growth opportunities for the business, and for newly promoted business unit leaders.
Increased client confidence and loyalty due to the CEO’s improved ability to clearly and sincerely articulate company mission.
Newly discovered energy and confidence for the CEO as he learned how to best leverage his talents and strengths.
“As CEO, I need to stay above the fray, make decisions, and stick them out. My work with Suntiva gets me into a much more effective mindset as a leader. I’m becoming less focused on proving my worth by doing, and instead creating a coaching relationship with the people who work for me. This is critical because our organization will only scale when we get leverage. As our organization starts to grow, Suntiva is a big piece of the reason why” —Company CEO

Small Business: CEO Coaching

THE CHALLENGE
The CTO of a rapidly growing firm, a recognized thought leader and critical member of the executive team, was concerned: his continued focus on technology infrastructure and standards was viewed as being out of touch with both day-to-day business challenges and the informal company culture.
“What connected me with Suntiva’s approach was leveraging the strengths from both psychology and business. That’s what’s really unique” —Company CTO

THE SUNTIVA SOLUTION
Suntiva delivered its Leadership Coaching services to unleash this CTO’s hidden potential, helping him leverage his expertise as a senior executive in the organization.

THE RESULTS

The CTO connects technology strategy with business strategy using his audience’s language.
He significantly increases his leverage and level of influence within the organization by aligning himself with the CEO’s vision, strategy, and overall expectations.
He becomes actively engaged in corporate risk management by speaking out more effectively on the benefits and dangers of company decisions.
He becomes a trusted partner of the sales team because of a deeper understanding of their challenges and priorities.
learns to appreciate and adapt to the corporate culture without compromising his own style and values.
“My coach’s style — his empathetic, personal approach — is invaluable. It really set him apart from the more generic, sterile approach you get with Harvard or McKinsey-type consultants” —Company CTO

Fortune 500: Enterprise-Wide Leadership Training

THE CHALLENGE
A Fortune 500 organization going through a significant reorganization and re-focusing of the business was looking for a means to invest in and further develop key leaders throughout a prolonged period of change. They wanted a programmatic approach that would be consistent across the organization, and would help to retain and grow key leaders.??“Looking back, I feel that providing leadership coaching for my team was the most important thing that I did for them this year” —Company Vice President

THE SUNTIVA SOLUTION
Originally hired to provide leadership development and executive coaching for just a few individuals; eventually, we were retained across multiple organizations to provide these services at company locations across the U.S., for leaders ranging from Directors to Executive Vice Presidents. All of the Suntiva coaches participate in a regular Coaching Roundtable, designed to provide each coach with additional perspective and insights to organizational issues. This gives the coaches a much broader and more thorough understanding of the company environment than if they were only speaking with their own client(s).

THE RESULTS

Leaders across the company are now following Coaching Plans and an overall leadership development process that is consistent and measurable;
Individual leaders consistently report improved leadership effectiveness and business results as an output of their coaching;
The company is able to retain key staff, and to stay focused on long-range business strategies in a time of significant uncertainty and change.

Some of the things that our individual coaching clients at this Company have said:

“Coaching has certainly improved my productivity…”
“Coaching has helped me to become a more effective leader…”
“My team is able to take on significantly more responsibility…”
“My coaching has helped me to see myself through other’s eyes… it has helped me to clarify what priorities I should be pushing and how to be most effective…”