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Case Studies
Clarifying strategies, stories and systems requires candid conversations.
My clients rely on me for an outside perspective and safe space to talk things through.
Our work together helps them prepare ot have honest, clear and productive conversations that
create strategic alignment to advance their work.
The following case studies are all real examples.
They are anonymous because of the sensitivity of many of these conversations.
Communicating a Team's Value
Challenge
The operations team at a national news organization provides many important resources that support the production and distribution of content across various platforms. People usually don’t think about how the content makes it to them, so the essential work that this team does is largely invisible. The Vice President who oversees this team wanted to change that — to help the staff share the story of how their work enables the organization to run its business and fulfill its mission. The VP wanted to make sure that everyone on the team understands the importance of their work, empower them to more effectively represent themselves within the organization, and clarify communication within the team as their work continues to evolve.
Approach
I worked with the VP responsible for this team and reviewed existing documentation to understand what services the team provides, how this has changed over the last few years, and upcoming priorities. I synthesized all of this information into a cohesive narrative. I prepared a presentation for the VP to share with the team, including this new narrative, an Alignment Map to illustrate how the team’s work supports core organizational priorities and a framework to help team members share their work, to guide the team’s narrative as it continues to evolve.
Results
This process of clarifying the team’s story, and creating systems to ensure the accuracy and vitality of that story, provided the VP with a strategic approach to highlighting the team’s important work — both within the team, and within the larger organization — that the VP did not have time to develop. Bringing in an outside perspective also made it easier to distill a big-picture overview and highlight key points of the story of the team’s work, while providing a structure for staff to share and celebrate the importance of their day-to-day work.
Leadership Change: A New Core Story
Challenge
A community non-profit was undergoing a leadership transition, with the founder of the organization stepping back but still involved. This coincided with a time of growth and other changes for the organization, including increased financial responsibilities and new, complex, collaborative relationships.
Approach
I worked with the new organizational leader to review current needs and challenges, identify priorities, and evaluate how those aligned with the organization’s vision and mission. Through this process the new leadership was able to frame changes and challenges in a way that was clear, truthful, optimistic, and rooted in the organization’s founding documents — which remained unchanged. The result: A new core story, bridging past, present, and future.
Results
New leadership was able to share the organization’s story — both through in-person presentations and in writing — with community members, community leaders, and collaborators leading other organizations. This led to renewed community enthusiasm for the organization’s work, increased trust in the organization’s leadership, and successful fundraising to support the organization’s financial needs.
Addressing Controversy to Align a Team
Challenge
The leader of an academic research program brought decades of experience and insight to the research team’s work, but some of that past work has been controversial. For the current team to be successful as their research gains increased attention, they needed to understand the origin of the work — as well as past controversies — without shifting focus away from the current research, recent findings, or promising next steps.
Approach
I worked closely with the leader of this academic research program to understand all previous work, as well as past controversies and ongoing sensitivities. After extensive conversations, I condensed this information into a brief, clear story that acknowledged past challenges while also maintaining a focus on supporting current work. After reviewing this with the leader of the research program, I presented it to the full research team.
Results
This was the first time that the whole team had heard the full story of the work that provided the foundation for their current research. This helped them understand their work better, as well as “hot button” issues and rumors that had previously been mysterious. Sharing this story improved internal communication by increasing transparency. It also provided a strong foundation for successful external communication, since team members would not be surprised if they heard any of this information from other sources, and now had the context needed to respond appropriately if that happened.