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Faced with the opportunities and challenges posed by digital transformation, globalisation and high-paced innovation, many organisations reach out to external management consultants to help them with their strategy. The consultants come and apply their well-healed approach of:

  • analysis by ‘benchmark’
  • recommendation by ‘analogy’
  • implementation by ‘fiat’

Of limited success in the past, this classical consulting approach falls far short of what is required now, because:

  1. it tends to be undertaken by ‘experts’ who are themselves entrenched in a ‘business-as-usual’ mindset
  2. it results in simply ‘re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic’, at best
  3. most importantly, it totally fails to tap into the talent existing throughout the organisation

After all, which management consultants rolled their sleeves up and made online retailing actually happen for Amazon? Or iPod/iTunes actually happen for Apple? Or reusable rockets actually happen for SpaceX?

Producing a nice 100 page strategy report is all well and good… but it doesn’t make anything actually happen. Talented people within an organisation are the ones who make things actually happen.

So, how can you transform your organisation into one where people have a sense of collegiality, mutual trust and a respect for performance? Well, it starts at the top, with the executive team. But the executives I’ve worked with over the years tend to be strong individuals who can sometimes work at cross-purposes. Left unchecked, this can breed competing agendas and turf politics, inhibiting the focus and coordinated effort required during the transformation. What they need is a facilitator to guide them – someone who can help them work together and contribute their individual intuition, creativity and passion fully to the task at hand.

Utilising my background in physics and management consulting, and my deep interest in psychology, I’ve helped design and deliver a number of successful transformation programmes for my clients. At a macro level, the process is:

  1. working with the executive team to:
    – articulate a compelling story of the ‘why’ and ‘what’ of the transformation
    – ensure complete alignment between executives by clarifying transformation roles and responsibilities
    – help executives project confidence, enthusiasm and conviction when communicating the transformation story
  2. working with the management team to:
    – ensure understanding and buy-in of the transformation story
    – build the necessary resilience for what lies ahead
    – identify enthusiastic ‘change agents’ to cascade the transformation story throughout the organisation
  3. working with people ‘at the coal face’ to:
    – help them through the uncertainty of change
    – actively contribute to the ‘how’ of the transformation story
    – make the transformation story their own

Each transformation programme is supported by a number of one-to-one coaching sessions with key executives and managers. For UK/European based clients, my preference is to hold the sessions at the Reform Club in central London, where we have the option of including a superb working lunch:

I’m a seasoned facilitator, trainer and coach, having worked with many clients across the globe:

To learn more about how I can help you with your transformation programme, just scroll below.

– Mani Sandher

workshop

On this high-intensity 3-day workshop, executives work together to address key business challenges, following a structured process:

As well as creating truly innovative solutions, they leave with an extensive problem-solving toolkit, and the skills necessary to apply it going forward.

The workshop is intensive, challenging and certainly no ‘walk in the park’, with assumptions, beliefs and mental models all tested and teased apart continuously. But participants find it immensely stimulating and engaging, and tend to remember it for years after.

The systematic structure of the workshop, along with my particular facilitation style, tend to act as a ‘safety net’ for participants, giving them license to fully release their intuition and creativity.

Some clients have used the workshop as a very productive ‘executive retreat’.

Feel free to contact me to discuss running a from first principles workshop in your organisation.

training

coming soon…

coaching

‘Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are all in harmony.’
– Mahatma Gandhi

Striving for such congruence is arguably the best path to achieving a truly fulfilling professional life. Applying from first principles thinking, we arrive at the following model:

  1. working with passion
    – what’s important to you?
    – what do you believe to be true about you, about others, and about the world?
    – what do you want to be famous for?
    …
  2. contributing your unique talent
    – what do you find easy that others find difficult?
    – which activities make you lose track of time?
    – what preferences do you have in the way you think, and the way you do things?
    …
  3. offering real value
    – how can you combine what you have a passion for, and what you have a talent for?
    – how can this add value to others, and create an economic return for yourself?
    – what do you need to do to make this a reality?

My approach to coaching is based on a series of stimulating face-to-face conversations, predicated on mutual credibility, respect and trust. Although the atmosphere will always be relaxed and friendly, expect me to challenge your assumptions, beliefs and mental models throughout.

We’ll think through constraints to achieving your goals from first principles. We’ll employ tools such as psychometric tests and 360° feedback too, but only where we feel they’ll add real value.

Feel free to contact me to discuss how you can construct a truly fulfilling professional life.

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