We have been wanting to share our new leadership team coaching program in greater detail, and now feels like the perfect time. Our most recent cohort of our GRACE™️ Leadership Team Coaching program wrapped up at the start of the year and we heard from the group how it went.
A little context first: Last fall we were brought in to help support a nonprofit leadership team that was facing some challenges:
- The group struggled with making decisions on challenging topics.
- New team members struggled to feel a sense of belonging.
- Long time members grappled with historic tension and disagreement.
- Virtual meetings had made creating, and repairing, trust difficult.
- While committed to their organization, there was a lack of collective vision and understanding how they each contribute to that vision.
Everyone was committed to becoming more collaborative — they just needed support to get there. We worked with the team in a guided process to build their strength to lead collectively (more on the process below).
Here is what we heard at the end of our work together:
“I have appreciation for the agreements that we built together and look forward to seeing it in practice.”
“Catalysis was great! The facilitation and process to develop guidelines was helpful and was a great way to begin to build a trusting and functional leadership team. Thank you!”
“I hear from the group that they feel safe and supported by the building blocks you [Catalysis] have put in place for this work. You have created a space where we feel safe to show up and engage.”
The building blocks for our GRACE™️ Leadership Team Coaching program are no accident. We designed these to build trust, actionable practice, and collective vision. We are excited to share these steps with you:
GRACE™️
Ground
We start by getting to know your team and what makes you tick! We talk about what we want to accomplish together. We explore why leadership teams might struggle, recognizing you are not alone. There are broader societal factors at play, not just personality, that create obstacles to our success.
Reveal
Our coaches meet one-on-one with each member of your team. This lets us uncover what might be in each person’s way in bringing their value and feeling a sense of belonging on the team. Together we explore both commonalities and differences. In this stage we normalize talking about differing viewpoints and power dynamics — modeling this with our co-coaches bringing different identities and perspectives.
Agree
Once we have a stronger sense of you as individuals and as a group, we work together to create team agreements. These agreements, along with very practical actions, serve as a guide for how you want to lead as a collective. The agreements are unique to your circumstance, needs, and personality as a team.
Converse
We don’t leave you to put this into practice unsupported! Using the agreements as a safety net, we talk through some important dilemmas you want to address in your organization. Real stuff. Some of the decisions you are facing as a team. This is where we walk our talk.
Engage
Now that we have had some guided practice, we explore how to put your new skills into action, commit to ongoing growth, plan for adapting to team changes, and find some time to celebrate progress!
That’s it! (but we think it packs a punch 💥)
Our recommended timeline for the process is 4 months and includes virtual 90-minute meetings with the full team, one-on-one conversations with team members, and check-ins with the executive. Two coaches with different identities and perspectives work side-by-side to support teams in this process. Along the way we use a variety of tools and keep the work real and engaging (we like to keep it fun!) and adapt as needed for YOUR team. We also offer an optional celebration team building event at the end.
(To get more info and sign up to hear more as we open spots up in our GRACE™️ Leadership Team Coaching in 2024, click here)