Catalyst Consulting Partners LLC

In order to help senior executives stay focused on the leadership activities that are most likely to produce lasting results for their companies, Catalyst has developed The SPEED Challenge™. Through this innovative new diagnostic device, we are able to pinpoint specific areas of concern within a particular business, ensure that the senior leaders of that business have the tools to rapidly address those concerns, and generate a company-wide sense of urgency (i.e., "SPEED") to accomplish more ... faster. After all, it's is no longer good enough to just meet your goals. The accelerating pace of global competition demands that results be obtained more quickly, over and over again.

Through the The SPEED Challenge™, we help business executives learn and follow a deceptively-simple five-step circular process that will keep them focused on the most important ingredients of success: Shaping Strategy; Penetrating Markets; Empowering Others; Embracing Change; Driving Execution.

Good leadership drives good performance, and Catalyst is dedicated to Leadership that Works™. We are eager to see our clients succeed in the global marketplace, so we devote significant time, energy and resources to supporting company leaders individually (e.g., executive coaching, 360-degree feedback, mentoring, etc.) and as part of a leadership team (e.g., executive team retreats, role analyses, style assessments, etc.).

Are team development or team conflict issues holding you back? Catalyst has spent years working with clients to improve the effectiveness of their team activities. We are committed to Teams that Work™, our label for the belief that teams should strive for synergy — or cease to be a "team." Organizations cannot afford to invest in groups of people getting together to ostensibly advance important organizational objectives if the results are less than optimal.

Culture by itself is not a bottom-line commodity. You won't see it itemized on the balance sheet. But research suggests that a company with a healthy, adaptive culture will generally outperform a company with an unhealthy, rigid culture, sometimes in dramatic fashion. Companies with strategically conducive cultures stand a better chance of achieving their goals, so Catalyst has developed what we call our Organizations that Work™ series. Since helping you achieve success and create substantial and lasting value is our mission — and since a dysfunctional company culture can derail even the most concerted performance improvement efforts (we've seen it happen too many times) — we employ sophisticated tools and methodologies that can accurately assess your organization's current culture. We can then help you contrast "where you are" as an organization with "where you need to be" to accomplish your strategic and growth objectives.

In the interest of finding new ways to work with our clients to create lasting value, we have developed a series of workshops that don't fit neatly within the above categories. But they are definitely worth a look!

Enterprise "Check Up"

Summary: Combining the Five Forces model first developed by Harvard’s Michael Porter with the Enterprise Model shown in the Catalyst Learning Center, this workshop yields a 360-degree assessment of your current organization. Much more complete and useful than a traditional SWOT analysis, this session is designed to produce actionable insight. Often a prelude to a full blown reassessment of an organization’s strategies and long-term objectives, an Enterprise "Check Up" should be performed at least every other year.

Format: Depending on an organization’s scope and complexity, this is either a one- or two-day Facilitated session. Attendance by the entire executive team is mandatory.

 

Inspiring Creativity and Innovation

Summary: Using an assortment of tools, such as Brainstorming and Mind Mapping, Catalyst’s facilitation experts will help your group unlock their creativity!

Format: Typically, one day Facilitated sessions.

The Science of Gaining Market Share

Summary: This workshop will identify those products, customers and/or markets that have the highest probability of yielding profitable market growth. The objective is to leverage the market insight of your key sales, marketing, executive and operating personnel — coupled with the experience and expertise of Catalyst’s experts — to develop an aggressive new growth plan. This plan will be based on market facts and informed insight, not conventional wisdom.

Format: A one-day Facilitated workshop. A customized Excel-based Market Model will be developed for use by the client after the workshop as circumstances and assumptions about market conditions change.

Launching Your New Team   (click here for details)

Summary: Using teams - either within a function or across various functions - can be a powerful tool for accomplishing your organization’s mission. But when to use a team, how that team should be constituted and governed, and what authority to invest in a team are not obvious. Many teams are doomed from their beginning because of inherent conflicts between the team's view of its role and that held by the executives that launched the team in the first place.

Format: Seven 2-hour work modules. Self-Guided and Facilitated versions are available.

Conflict Mediation for Managers

Summary: What does internal conflict cost your organization? Probably more than you think — much more! Conflict exists in every organization, and has the potential to derail your most strident efforts to "get things done." This workshop uses the methodologies developed at the Mediation Training Institute to train your executives, managers, supervisors, and team leaders to negotiate productive working relationships. Participants learn about the consequences and costs of conflict, the types of conflict, and about the manager-as-mediator model of finding solutions to business problems caused by conflict.

Format: A one-day Facilitated workshop. Participant materials and resources include: Workbooks; a copy of Managing Differences by Daniel Dana, PhD; and, a handy wallet card which summaries Managerial Mediation for immediate use.

Conflict Mediation for Managers

Summary: What does internal conflict cost your organization? Probably more than you think — much more! Conflict exists in every organization, and has the potential to derail your most strident efforts to "get things done." This workshop uses the methodologies developed at the Mediation Training Institute to train your executives, managers, supervisors, and team leaders to negotiate productive working relationships. Participants learn about the consequences and costs of conflict, the types of conflict, and about the manager-as-mediator model of finding solutions to business problems caused by conflict.

Format: A one-day Facilitated workshop. Participant materials and resources include: Workbooks; a copy of Managing Differences by Daniel Dana, PhD; and, a handy wallet card which summaries Managerial Mediation for immediate use.

Successful Meeting Management

Summary: Poorly planned and executed meetings can be a tremendous, and recurring, drag on productivity. Catalyst’s meeting experts can help you and your team learn: when to a call a meeting and when other forms of communication are more appropriate; who to invite to a meeting; how to engage all meeting participants; agenda development and time management; how to ensure that agreed upon actions are carried out in a timely manner; etc.

Format: A half-day Facilitated workshop.

 

Conflict Mediation for Managers

Summary: What does internal conflict cost your organization? Probably more than you think — much more! Conflict exists in every organization, and has the potential to derail your most strident efforts to "get things done." This workshop uses the methodologies developed at the Mediation Training Institute to train your executives, managers, supervisors, and team leaders to negotiate productive working relationships. Participants learn about the consequences and costs of conflict, the types of conflict, and about the manager-as-mediator model of finding solutions to business problems caused by conflict.

Format: A one-day Facilitated workshop. Participant materials and resources include: Workbooks; a copy of Managing Differences by Daniel Dana, PhD; and, a handy wallet card which summaries Managerial Mediation for immediate use.

 

Fostering a Culture of Leadership - the Marine Corps Way!   (click here for details)

Summary: For over 230 years, the United States Marine Corps has inculcated a culture of leadership in generation after generation. All Marines, at every level, are trained within a framework that emphasizes leadership under all circumstances. The Marine Corps has perfected a philosophy of "Every Marine a Leader," and is recognized worldwide for its leadership strength. This workshop, led by former Officers and Aircraft Commanders, motivates attendees to be more confident, decisive and accountable team builders and leaders.

Format: A one-day Facilitated workshop. Keynote presentations are also available.

Launching Your New Team   (click here for details)

Summary: Using teams - either within a function or across various functions - can be a powerful tool for accomplishing your organization’s mission. But when to use a team, how that team should be constituted and governed, and what authority to invest in a team are not obvious. Many teams are doomed from their beginning because of inherent conflicts between the team's view of its role and that held by the executives that launched the team in the first place.

Format: Seven 2-hour work modules. Self-Guided and Facilitated versions are available.

Offsite Retreats

Summary: Facilitated offsite workshops, or "retreats", are designed to comprehensively address issues of critical importance to the enterprise. Examples include: development of a strategic plan; brainstorming new business/product opportunities; surfacing and resolving executive team conflicts, etc. Intensive offsite workshops, coupled with knowledge transfer seminars and well-designed interactive activities, can be extremely cost effective ways to accomplish important work very quickly. And by their very nature, offsite retreats significantly improve the "buy-in" of key stakeholders, a necessary precursor to making the results of the offsite retreat "stick."

Format: The format of these Facilitated solutions varies depending on the design and intent of the offsite retreat. Typically at least one full day and often as many as three dedicated offsite days are required.

"Fired by the Family"

Summary: A one-day facilitated workshop designed to raise - and address - the special challenges and potential pitfalls for family-owned businesses considering bringing non-family executives into the business. Facilitated and led by Glen Waisner, who had the opportunity to serve a $100 million family-owned business as President only to be dismissed by a majority of family members after 2½ years.

Family members will better understand the pros and cons of employing "outside" executive talent. Alternatives will be explored (e.g., further development of existing executive team members) and, if appropriate, each family member will commit to supporting a non-family executive in specific ways. Family members will also be better prepared to interview and evaluate potential non-family executive candidates, and to develop a realistic 180-day and six-month transition plan to increase the odds of the new executive being successful.

Format: A one-day Facilitated workshop.

 

The Family Business Report Card

Summary: A specialized workshop designed to create and reinforce a blueprint for survival, success and succession within a family business. Relies on the completion of a detailed questionnaire by both family and nonfamily employees to help identify the firm's most serious weaknesses and areas of risk. Topics covered include: family matters; marketing and sales; management; accounting; asset protection; and production. A Report Card covering each of these topics will presented at the workshop, after which consensus action plans, implementation timelines and measures of success will be developed. Can form the basis for more comprehensive strategic and/or tactical planning.

Format: A one-day Facilitated workshop.