LRI began a consulting relationship with a national foundation dedicated to improving the quality of public life in the United States. From a programmatic perspective, the foundation had been extremely successful.
However, the organization was facing some challenges around employee commitment and engagement; as well as a need to rapidly develop leaders to be ready to address growth challenges and institute strategic changes in how the organization delivered its services across the country.
The foundation partnered with LRI on a leadership coaching initiative, coupled with a climate survey and consulting on organizational design and systems. As a result, the foundation has significantly enhanced employee commitment and engagement, and retained, empowered, and unleashed key leaders, whose performance is measurably stronger. Further, they have developed systems and processes (e.g., policies, values-based performance review process, scorecard for hiring processes) that will support and sustain their projected growth and considerable civic impact for years to come.
Consider the following statement from the foundation’s president, Martha L. McCoy:
“Our work with LRI has magnified our effectiveness and impact with external clients and with the whole civic field. Through consistently thoughtful and right-on-target coaching from CFM and others in the capable LRI team, we’ve been able to identify and successfully tackle problems in management systems, processes, and policies. Working with LRI has made it possible for us to retain and make the highest use of our best management talent. That, in turn, makes our whole staff more cohesive and productive. When I see other executive leaders in nonprofits struggling with similar kinds of issues, I tell them about LRI.”