Helping Clients Achieve Extraordinary Results
Bringing energy, focus and a streamlined, collaborative approach, we help senior teams create a compelling vision for change and map out a strategy with tangible deliverables and clear accountability. We help forge strong relationships between CEOs and their Boards, government and industry partners, and interagency teams, national networks and consortia. We work with clients to ensure that they are equipped and aligned to deliver high impact results that matter to the Nation and the world. Our work with clients is confidential; however, these are actual client engagements and the real results we helped them achieve.
Restoring a Critical Mission
Challenge
A Federal Agency with a complex, highly technical program requires strong partnership among scientists, engineers and program management experts from government and industry. The program is stalled due to a series of complex challenges within and across the Federal sector and industry. Program failure looms, which could result in billions of dollars of lost investment, years of effort wasted, and failure to deliver important scientific knowledge linked to key societal issues facing the planet.
CZA Work
We worked with the senior teams from both the Agency and industry to build a shared vision for success, address thorny issues between the two groups and map out a strategy to deliver the mission successfully. At critical stages of the implementation, we met with the two groups to assess progress, plan for the upcoming phases, and ensure continued program alignment and effective delivery.
Results
The high visibility mission was launched successfully. It produced critical high-impact data and knowledge that continues to shape the future strategy for our planet.
Creating a Corporate Culture Globally
Challenge
An international corporation is moving to a highly decentralized business model. Employees are being recruited internationally to work in remote and difficult communities around the globe. The corporation wants to protect its highly successful and well-known brand with clients and partners.
CZA Work
We worked with the CEO, the team of 350 executives and managers from around the world, and key staff to design and deliver a process for creating and institutionalizing a shared vision, values and way of working to deliver service to clients worldwide. We facilitated strategy and teambuilding workshops with key Departments and Regions to ensure ongoing alignment and delivery of service.
Results
All employees worldwide operate with a coherent set of values and a strong commitment to mission and vision of serving clients. The organization achieved record business results and continues to be strong in the face of today’s difficult global challenges.
Transforming a Large Federal Agency
Challenge
A new Political Appointee assumes leadership of a Federal Agency that has been doing business in the same way for over 35 years. Employees view the mission of the Agency as “giving out money”. They are resistant to change and have successfully managed to wait out decades of Administration changes.
CZA Work
We worked with the team of new political appointees and career leaders to create a compelling vision and strategy for change, engage internal and external stakeholders using collaborative processes and advanced technology, deliver innovative new initiatives, and institute an effective system for measurement and shared accountability.
Results
The Agency’s mission was fundamentally recast to serve American citizens (vs. simply giving grants to communities); internal processes were streamlined, reducing 90% of the time and essentially eliminating cost overruns; industry partners adopted and aligned with the new direction set by the Agency; and the team of executives mobilized a highly successful and continuing program to serve the Nation.
Integrating Fortune 500 Acquisitions
Challenge
A highly successful Fortune 500 company has acquired two smaller companies, formerly fierce competitors. Each company is known for its rich history, capabilities, and culture based on very different values and business models. The three groups have been trying unsuccessfully to integrate into a coherent entity that retains the best of all three companies.
CZA Work
We worked with the newly formed executive team to develop a shared vision and strategy for taking the business forward. We developed a new organization structure to leverage the talents and capabilities of the leaders and teams from each company. We engaged all employees in the three companies in celebrating their past, letting go of the “baggage” left over from their days of competing as rivals, and moving forward together. We provided leadership coaching for the senior team and worked with the senior team on strategic initiatives.
Results
The company built a strong team that successfully leveraged the experience and capabilities of all the units. The company’s overall efficiency improved, sales improved, and the combination of new capabilities supported expansion into innovative new product lines.
Launching a National Network
Challenge
A group of regional partnerships, working independently around the country, are delivering high quality programs to the citizens in those communities. Regional groups compete for scarce resources and recognition; synergy is non-existent. The Board that provides funding wants to leverage capabilities across groups to maximize the impact of their investment.
CZA Work
We worked with 60 leaders, representing all regional groups, to develop a shared vision for a national network and a plan with clear goals, strategies and deliverables to achieve the vision. We helped create a governance structure and operating agreements to leverage communication and collaboration. We provided leadership coaching for leaders of the new Network Steering Group.
Results
The Network is delivering high-quality programs that are reaching a much broader national and international audience. The Network expanded, adding new groups in other parts of the country. The Network is exploring ways to diversify funding through innovative new partnerships to significantly expand their impact.
Developing High-Impact Leaders
Challenge
A Federal Agency needs a new generation of leaders to carry the Agency into the future, as the existing generation of leaders nears retirement. Current training and development in the Agency was focused on technical and traditional managerial skills, rather than the kind of transformational leadership needed to deal with increasing complexity of challenges facing the Agency.
CZA Work
We delivered a radical and comprehensive program to create a cadre of leaders equipped and aligned to deliver the Agency’s daunting mission. We engaged senior executives at all of the Agency’s centers across the country to leverage the profound nature of the program. We assertively coached and challenged participants throughout the program experience, pushing them to discover their core drivers, see new leadership possibilities, and target specific results that would be valuable to the Agency and the Nation.
Results
Over 200 leaders across the Agency are equipped with new skills, taking on significant leadership roles, and generating high impact mission results. Results include mobilizing mission-critical global partnerships, developing essential technologies for future missions, redirecting failing missions, launching innovative programs to save taxpayers millions of dollars each year, etc. Program graduates cite learning and experiences in the Program as a fundamental factor in producing these results.