Case Studies​

Case Studies

The flexible nature of Wisdom Councils’ events and programs allows clients to customize our materials to suit their needs.
We collaborate with clients to design and deliver programs that expand leadership capability, develop high performing teams, launch a new Vision or increase organizational alignment.
Our high impact events have helped inspire global teams, improve collaboration across silos and strengthen connections between executive leaders.
For more information about the results we have achieved, please read one of the Case Studies below, or contact us to set up a meeting.

Leading Change and Shaping the Future

Wisdom Councils has a successful track record in partnering with senior leaders to design and roll out large scale culture change efforts. We effectively address the concerns, challenges and needs of individuals and groups involved in complex systems change and get them excited, committed and involved.

A president was newly appointed as head of an entertainment company. The company owned similar venues at multiple national and international sites and he was charged with bringing together these businesses under one global, strategic and cultural umbrella. The key challenge was to instill a sense of urgency in a company which was number one in its industry and resting on its laurels. He quickly needed to position his businesses for exponential growth in response to competitors on the horizon who were quickly gaining in popularity and market share. During the engagement we worked with the President and the executive team and achieved the following results:

  • Developed a long term and sustainable global roll-out plan for change.
  • Coached the top ninety executives to define a clear strong and motivating vision, strategy, and culture.
  • Designed and led strategic alignment and change management retreats for key executives at multiple sites to facilitate the buy-in process.
  • Defined leadership traits and behaviors required to lead strategic change and developed an executive development and performance management process to reinforce these.
  • Implemented a 360-degree leadership assessment process and development program for the top 800 leaders in the company that was cascaded down through the organization.
  • Created a dialogue and feedback-rich culture by implementing issues forums, team-building opportunities for problem solving, goal setting, and leadership effectiveness team sessions.
  • Utilized inclusive, collaborative methodologies involving employees at all levels to identify, address, and resolve key issues pertaining to productivity and growth, as well as guest and employee satisfaction.

The senior vice president of operations at a major resort company was frustrated by the behaviors and performance of managers and employees who dealt directly with guests. He thought he clearly articulated his expectations to his direct reports but little was changing in their individual areas of the business. There were few managers acting as role models to provide on-the-job training. Because of this, he personally walked his food service businesses and gave feedback and coaching wherever and whenever he saw the need. He realized that this was an inefficient way to use his time. His vice presidents began receiving distressing feedback from their managers complaining of employees confused about the chain of command. Should they listen to their managers or the senior vice president? As the employees spoke with each other they sometimes learned that they were receiving conflicting directions. This created turmoil in the organization. Although his intentions were good, the senior vice president clearly needed to find more effective solutions to his service challenges.

We partnered with the client to:

  • Clarify his role and focus, as well as those of his vice presidents.
  • Refocused his efforts on developing his direct reports to deliver extraordinary customer service.
  • Helped him use his great talent as speaker and motivator to address large groups of employees on the key success factors relevant to great customer service.
  • Created Great Leaders Strategies process and tools which clearly defined the roles of leaders in the organization. These included clear, demonstrable, applicable and measurable behaviors and checklists which were used as a basis for coaching, education and assessment.
  • Assembled an internal training team who redoubled efforts to refine the approach to training front line managers and employees on customer service based on Great Leader Strategies.

A highly talented and accomplished leader was brought in from another company to head up a large division. Her cavalier abrasive style and lack of political savvy in her new in environment was quickly eroding her credibility with internal partners and the respect and trust of her team. Her boss was aware of the issue and was determined to do what he could to keep her in her position if possible. After giving her feedback about the situation, it was clear she needed more help than he could provide.

We partnered with her boss and worked to clarify, calm and resolve the dysfunctional dynamics by:

  • Gathering leadership and personal style feedback from key partners and team members.
  • Facilitating a new leader transition meeting to set the tone for increasing mutual understanding and sharing of important experience and knowledge between the new leader and her team.
  • Developing a relationship-building plan to use with each peer partner to rebuild connection and trust.
  • Mediating conflict resolution conversations between the leader and others where needed.
  • Providing on-going coaching to her boss, leader, partners and team members to assure the trust building process remained on track.
  • Providing process consultation at team meetings to guide the leader and her team in using inclusive collaborative behaviors.
  • Working with Human Resources to develop leadership coaching capability in their area.

The Call to Council: Using Collective Genius to Address Challenges

Some organizational problems just seem too complicated to address and don’t seem to be the responsibility of anyone in particular. Some problems are addressed, but then reappear at some later date. Some problems need the focus of multiple stakeholders, who never seem to be in the same place at the same time. And some problems just don’t seem like a big deal, until they become a big deal.

We utilize new and powerful ways of solving problems provide effective solutions, while empowering and energizing those most affected and involved.

In each of the following cases we:

  • Identified the key challenges, issues and stakeholders involved.
  • Assembled and collected all qualitative and quantitative data relevant to the issues.
    Set specific, measurable goals for effective results.
  • Assembled and prepared key decision-makers to work together to reach agreement on recommended solutions.
  • Identified and prepared teams to work on specific aspects of the issues.
  • Implemented a team process to identify, prioritize and decide on the best solutions and implementation plans.
  • Designed and facilitated a decision meeting at which teams presented solutions and business rationale, including cost/benefits and the support and help needed. Decision-makers gave “go” or “no go” decisions on the spot and in a public forum.
  • Action began immediately after the meeting and results began to occur, often within a very short period of time.

The head of the South American division of a high-tech company needed to increase the sales of one product by 20% over a two quarter period. The directors of sales for that product reported directly to the company’s head in each individual country. There was no formal structure to mobilize the individual, disparate sales organizations to work together to leverage ideas, network for cross-selling and sharing resources. The head of the South American division needed them to work together to identify and implement effective collective solutions. He needed a structured process to pull people together to meet his challenge and he needed it fast.

An outpatient specialty clinic within a large hospital was steadily seeing a decline in the number of patients coming to the clinic for treatment. Many were choosing smaller specialty clinics farther distances from the community. We explored the reasons and found that wait times at the hospital were four times what they were at other clinics and quality of care was perceived as inferior.

A wide range of healthcare specialists were involved in patient delivery and all reporting into different structures with different bosses. The director of the hospital needed to address a multitude of issues and create successful solutions that would ensure buy-in by all stakeholders

Life Leader Coaching

Life and Leader CoachingEvery leader deserves a coach. Wise leaders know at times they must be very discerning about what and how they share with others in the organization. Without a safe sounding board, leaders may feel disconnected and isolated. They may not receive the accurate information and feedback they need to lead most effectively. We have helped hundreds of leaders with their life, professional, and performance challenges.

In each of these cases, coaching clients reported that they experienced the following:

  • Discovered or remembered what their passions were.
  • Dropped old patterns of thinking.
    Tested assumptions about what is or is not possible.
  • Worked with or eliminated barriers.
    Made decisions based on facts and research rather than fears and doubts.
  • Stopped settling for “what is” and created a concrete plan for what they envisioned their best life to be.
  • Made daily decisions that support their plan.

A successful executive had been with the same pharmaceutical company for fifteen years. Although she was highly respected and had contributed in numerous ways to business success, she was becoming bored, distracted and less motivated. She feared becoming frustrated and less productive and wanted to address these concerns.

A vice president had been with the same resort company since its inception 25 years prior. He started as an hourly employee and worked his way up through the ranks. He was a passionate energetic executive and leader, but recent downsizing left him without a job. Although he left in good standing and with a sizable package, he was anxious about the future and found his subsequent less active schedule challenging. His mind told him this was a great opportunity to explore a variety of options and discover whether or not he wanted to switch careers. On the other hand, he fought the instinct to grab for the first good job opportunity that might come along. He was struggling with how to approach his crises and opportunities in productive and enjoyable ways.

A thirty-something fast track cruise line executive was burning the candle at both ends. Long hours, peer competition, challenging multiple bosses, a new baby and two small children were just the half of it. Recently his doctor told him his blood pressure was too high and his stomach problems were caused by stress. He knew he and his family needed a vacation but he was afraid to leave the office. He wondered how he was ever going to meet all his obligations and take care of himself too.

Conflict Resolution Processes and Conflict Coaching

Few people have training in effective conflict management. Thus, conflicts preoccupy individuals at all levels of an organization. The ways individuals and teams proactively plan and prepare for dealing with contentious and adversarial issues can greatly impact the outcome for all. Wisdom Councils has often been brought in at the eleventh hour because conflicts have stalled business efforts. This is often the first contact with new clients who then recognize their ongoing needs for organizational development services.

In each case of the below engagements, we worked with clients to address conflict in different ways. In some cases we chose several solutions, in other cases just one or two. These included:

  • Cultural awareness meetings to increase understanding about beliefs, values, communication styles, and differing expectations.
  • Working together to clarify and align the team’s collective vision, mission, goals and strategies.
  • Sharing, clarifying and agreeing on one another’s roles and responsibilities.
  • Exploring possibilities, then agreeing on common processes and methodologies to use in problem identification and resolution, communication, planning, and execution.
  • Utilizing personality and personal style inventories and assessments to increase self awareness, strengths, limitations, and impacts on others.
    Implementing creative and new decision making strategies using collective knowledge and perspectives of all stakeholders.
  • Improving skills in dialogue, influence, meeting management and negotiation.
    Working with management to practice and use de-escalation and non-violent language in verbal and written communication.
  • Designing and scripting dialogue opportunities and preparing leaders to run sessions.
  • Participating in outdoor experiential teambuilding retreats and business meetings which increased organizational vitality and deepened connections.

The information technology division of a large hotel chain was partnering with an outside vendor. The hotel chain was creating and implementing new technology for a centralized call center as well as for use by individual hotels. The user groups were getting more and more frustrated as they found the product difficult to use and not meeting their needs in serving customers. They felt IT had bought into a complicated, sexy product which was much too sophisticated for the average user to navigate. IT specialists thought that the users were resistant to change and too lazy to learn the new system. Attempts to meet and discuss issues were often counterproductive, involving rude behavior and lack of follow-through on the few agreements negotiated. The president of the hotel chain had a lot riding on the success of this new technology and was at a loss as to how to get the two stakeholder groups to work effectively together.

A development group of a major company was set to break ground at a new site in Europe. This was the company’s first European project and they had assembled the best talent from all over Europe as well as the U.S. The development group was a new cross-cultural team and individual members had no previous relationships with one another. The president of the development company was disappointed over dissention within the group and concerned about the group’s lack of progress. He could not figure out all the reasons why they found it so difficult to work together because he got conflicting, convoluted answers from everyone involved. He was unsure how to approach their dysfunctional team dynamics and would have liked to fire them all. He was at the end of his rope and this situation needed to be resolved quickly.

An international leadership and sales training company wanted to train their sales force to deal with their biggest and most challenging clients and potential clients in ways that would ensure a close on substantial contracts. Client surveys had confirmed that the sales people were often pushy, not focused on client needs, inattentive listeners, and ineffective in providing unique, customized solutions. They were also territorial and reluctant to cross-sell with colleagues. The president of the company decided to use an annual conference to provide training in managing the politics of power and influence to work effectively with clients and colleagues. His challenge was how to deal with the topic in a successful way with a group of over 300 people.

The last round of union negotiations had gone badly. Although a contract had been signed, some union members were not happy. A frustrated angry groundswell of employees was growing. Employees felt they had legitimate grievances and requests which were not being heard. Union membership was fracturing into factions with differing loyalties and perspectives. The work environment was impacted. Employees were distracted by gossip and the antagonism growing between union members and management. Management was challenged by trying to interpret the varying information they were receiving from different quarters. They were at a loss as to how to deal with the growing escalation of criticism and negativity. Every attempt on the part of management to communicate and resolve issues was met with further resistance and refusal to engage constructively and directly. How could the leader and the senior team begin to turn the tide to address this conflict effectively?