ADDRESSING COMPLEXITY AS YOU GROW: THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNICATION

WHAT:  January CEO Tools Workshop
WHEN: Tuesday January 14, 2014
WHERE: Starbucks Headquarters, Seattle

Communication is the lifeblood of organizational health, and is challenging even in the smallest organizations. As your business grows, your focus and planning on communication as a critical growth strategy is essential.

In this program we will work on:

·       Understanding the critical need for communication

·       Understanding the various modes of communication

·       Recognizing what shifts or changes in communication as the organization grows.

·       Creating a specific set of plans and goals to make communication in your organization better, and to sustain it and enhance it as you try to keep the organization “on the same page.”

LUNCH
All who are attending the morning workshop session are invited to join us for lunch. Please let Dave Shapiro or Michele Bosworth know if you are not able to attend lunch.

MEMBERS

Members arrive at 7:30am for breakfast and check-in. Please RSVP to Michele Bosworth by January 2nd, 2014 if you will be bringing employee guests.

MEMBER CANDIDATES

There will be CEO Potential Member Candidates joining us for this workshop.
Potential Member Candidates are invited to the workshop and lunch; 8:50 am - 1:00 pm.

EMPLOYEE GUESTS

Employee Guests are invited to attend the workshop and lunch; 8:50 am - 1:00 pm.

HOST

Steve Hopp of K&H Print will be our Host Member

WHERE WE WILL MEET 

Nisqually Conference Room

Starbucks Headquarters, Third Floor

2401 Utah Avenue South

Seattle, WA 98134

On exiting the elevators, the Nisqually room is directly to the left. 

There is lots of parking out front which is good for 2 hours.    Dave will provide all attendees with a parking pass.  During a break, the attendees can put the passes on their dashboards and park all day.  

Click HERE for a map and driving directions

TITLE OF WORKSHOP

Addressing Complexity as You Grow:  The Challenge of Communication 

AGENDA

Click HERE to view the Agenda.

QUESTIONS THE CEO SHOULD BE ASKING

• What have I tried, so far, to communicate my vision and our plans?
• What communication tools have worked in the past?
• How do I continue to communicate effectively as my organization grows?
• What are the modes and techniques of communication that will serve to keep my organization on the same page?
• Communication is a strategy, just as much as marketing, or technology, or capital planning. It’s just as important as anything else and deserves a focused and alert management approach.

TAKEAWAYS

• Understanding communication as a core strategic issue
• Creating a game plan for communication as their organizations grow and expand
• Understanding their personal role in communication strategy
•  Identifying the needs that are currently present in your organization
• Five key best practices for communication

PREPARATION 

• Your communication plan, if you have one and, if you don’t have one, think about what your goal would be if you had such a plan.  
• An Organization chart 

PRESENTER:  Jim Hessler

Jim Hessler brings over 25 years of business management and executive leadership experience to Path Forward, which he founded in 2001.

Jim has been an award-winning salesman, sales manager, general manager, and executive. He has specialized in turning around underperforming operations, and in the mid 90’s he helped lead a massive national reorganization for a Fortune 150 company.

Jim’s experience in general management has resulted in broad and deep knowledge of nearly all aspects of a well-run business. From building and managing a sales organization, to managing complex inventories and delivery systems, to generating vision and trust in demoralized organizations, to leading complex restructuring efforts, Jim has earned a depth of knowledge and insight that serves his Path Forward clients exceedingly well, regardless of the leadership challenges they face.

Jim lives in Issaquah, Washington, and has been married for 32 years to Paula Weiss, a teacher in the Issaquah School District.

December CEO Retreat- Work your Business Plan

DECEMBER 10th, 2013 CEO RETREAT

December is our Members Only ~ Work Your Business Plan CEO Retreat 

We will meet at Sechrist Design; 5819 6th Ave South, Seattle Washington 98108

LUNCH & LEARN:

Chad Blevins will join us for lunch to present: Leveraging Incentive Compensation 

Align your leaders to drive short and long-term company performance.   Business Owners/leaders have a variety of objectives for the business they lead.  One aspect they can generally agree on is fostering a stable environment that creates solid financial performance for the company.  How do we structure an incentive compensation program that looks toward these goals and enables your key leaders to maximize their value to the organization?  And how do we those objectives in light of existing programs and company culture?  This discussion will take a look at (often competing) design options and how they might fit your company. 

Click here to view Chad Blevins August 2013 blog post on Creating Alignment to Drive Performance (short and long-term) for Your Company - Employee Retention and Incentive Compensation collide.

ABOUT CHAD BLEVINS:

Chad Blevins founded Blevins Financial to serve the complex financial and estate planning needs of the closely-held business owner and high net worth individuals. His focus on combining an overall estate planning strategy with life insurance analysis positions him to serve clients in a more comprehensive -- and often more simple -- manner.

He has held executive leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies (GE, Honeywell, MagneTek), private start-ups as well as family-held businesses. His experience includes executive positions in Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Finance, Operations and M&A work. This diversity of experience allows him to work in a highly comprehensive manner in dealing with client’s personal and business objectives.

Chad is a Board of Directors member for the Northwest Family Business Advisors, which focuses on teaching advisors how to work together for the client’s benefit.  His level of expertise and desire to educate has also prompted speaking engagements with the following organizations:

Washington State CPA Association Association of General Contractors (AGC)

National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Approach Management Systems/Smart Association Northwest Family Business Advisors.

Chad was a recent honoree by the Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the “40 Under 40" top business people in the Puget Sound area, recognizing his contributions to both the business and charitable communities.

Building the Management Team You Need for Strong, Sustainable Growth… (even if you think they may not be your dream team)

NOVEMBER CEO WORKSHOP, TUESDAY NOVEMBER 12TH, 2013

The economic environment of the last couple of years has had us all running as fast as we can, working harder than ever, and making due with less resources and people.

Now, some of us are taking advantage of growth opportunities; opening new offices or expanding existing operations. Until human cloning technology is perfected, it’s imperative as leaders that we develop our people to their best potential, attract right new talent, and move underperformers up or out, and delegate effectively.

you can be in a position for strong, sustainable growth.

In this workshop, we’ll give you the tools to address your people resource challenges so you can be in a position for strong, sustainable growth.

LUNCH

All who are attending the morning workshop session are invited to join us for lunch. Please let Dave Shapiro or Michele Bosworth know if you are not able to attend lunch.

MEMBERS

Members arrive at 7:30am for breakfast and check-in. Please RSVP to Michele Bosworth by October 30th, 2013 if you will be bringing employee guests.

MEMBER CANDIDATES

Member Candidates are invited to the workshop and lunch; 8:50 am - 1:00 pm.

EMPLOYEE GUESTS

Employee Guests are invited to attend the workshop and lunch; 8:50 am - 1:00 pm.

HOST:

Greg Lambert of TERRA Staffing

WHERE WE WILL MEET:

TERRA Staffing Everett Office; 1000 SE Everett Mall Way, Suite 301

Everett, WA 98208

Click here for a map and driving directions

TITLE OF WORKSHOP:

Building the Management Team You Need for Strong, Sustainable Growth…
(even if you think they may not be your dream team)

AGENDA:

Click here to view the Agenda.

QUESTIONS THE CEO SHOULD BE ASKING:

• What types of structural issues do I have in my company that either support or inhibit performance and/or growth opportunities and people development?
• How do I keep and grow my best people? How do I delegate effectively
• How do I address the problem of underperforming employees/teams?

TAKEAWAYS:

• What types of structural systems can promote (or inhibit) performance and growth and applied that knowledge to your own company
• Concrete things you can put in place to ensure success in new office or operation.
• A proven methodology for correctly diagnosing and preventing ‘people problems’
•  A step by step methodology to help solve and more, importantly prevent, “people” issues from happening.

PREPARATION:

A one or two sentence write-up about your biggest challenge facing your potential growth opportunity, or, a current chronic “people” problem you are facing and some bullets about what you have tried or what has not worked. For example:

Related to an Expansion Opportunity:

•    How do I pick the right person to head up the new operation? How much decision-making authority do I give him or her? How do I know they are ready?

Or related to your Current Operations:

• Have an underperforming team or individual and I need to have more critical thinking and strategic project management action taken by my team, or I will go nuts trying to be everywhere. 

Use the following framework:

•  The Issue:
• What I have done about it:
• What worked:
•   What did not work:
• Where I need help/Where I am stuck

Bring: An org chart for your business

PRESENTER:  Lauren Owen MBA 

Lauren Owen specializes in leadership development for business owners and senior executives. She combines professional executive coaching and facilitation skills in her work.  Over the past 10 years, Lauren has worked with 150+ leaders from businesses large and small, helping them to lead more effectively. One unique aspect of Lauren’s leadership coaching is that she only gets paid if her clients achieve quantifiable improvement as per the assessment of the client's boss, peers and direct reports. In short: No improvement=No fee.

Lauren holds an MBA in Organization Design and Human Resource Management from the University of Washington and a B. A Degree in Public Policy from Duke University.  She completed the Core Essentials program from Coach U, a leading coach training organization.  She is a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder- Centered Coach.  She is also the leader of the Excell Southend CEO Peer Group.