APPROACH
APPROACH
Since 2003, Nevins Consulting has supported leaders in accelerating the development and effectiveness of their people, teams, and organizations. Our clients say that what they most value from us, beyond our commitment to great results, is that we take the time, from the beginning, to understand their needs, their particular context, and their ambitions.
At Nevins Consulting, we consistently find ourselves guided by a handful of beliefs, values, and passions:
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We appreciate that no two companies or situations are alike, and therefore we don’t offer “off-the-shelf” products or solutions. Rather, we collaborate with our clients to develop creative solutions and programs that exactly meet their needs.
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We suspect there is more art to leadership than most people realize. Effective leadership is based in insight, practice, dialogue, and the desire to be a better leader.
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We believe that “soft skills” such as persuading, influencing, building consensus, and fostering dialogue are indispensable when it comes to engaging people, motivating them, and holding them accountable. Often, “the soft stuff is the hard stuff.”
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We know our clients’ emotions and intuitions are just as important as their intellect when it comes to making changes and being better executives.
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We believe that “doing” and experiential learning are keys to improving performance and changing behavior.
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We feel that management fads can be counterproductive, and that “cookbook” approaches to leadership don’t work everywhere.
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We accept complexity, conflict, and risk as natural parts of life, both within and outside business. We understand that any solution must address potential negatives in order to achieve results.
SERVICES
Executive Coaching and CEO Advisory
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What’s preventing you from reaching your full potential as a CEO or other senior executive?
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How will you navigate the next critical inflection? (Taking on a bigger role, joining a new organization, leading large-scale change.)
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What could you do differently to take your business to the next level?
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How can you be more effective driving results today and developing yourself for future success?
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What kind of leader do you want to be?
To find the answers to the toughest questions, sometimes it helps to have someone question your answers. Executive coaching is a collaborative process that includes establishing clear goals, listening intently, asking probing questions, providing perspective, challenging assumptions, and helping leaders discover breakthrough insights to take their performance to the next level.
Executive coaching helps the client develop skills and adapt behaviors to be a more effective leader and manager. The most effective coaching addresses specific business and organizational goals. An effective coach will help improve performance, develop leadership capability, enhance self-awareness, and offer a critical sounding board.
In addition to providing executive coaching services, we support executive assessment and succession planning efforts, and we have worked with organizations both large and small to help create effective coaching strategies and programs to support talent development objectives.
I have known Mark and worked with him as an advisor and colleague for more than 20 years, from GE Capital through my career as a bank turnaround CEO. From his decades of study and practical experience come the questions, insights, advice, and action items that have helped me work through the most critical decisions and transitions of my career. In the realm of C-suite coaching and organizational dynamics, Mark is an invaluable resource; there is none better.
Robert Sweeney
President and CEO, Mission National Bank
Executive Team and Board Alignment
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Does your team have a clear, shared understanding of its vision, strategy, and critical priorities?
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Are your team members comfortable with constructive conflict?
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Does your team as a whole come to the best decisions?
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Is your team spending time and energy on the right things?
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Why don't your team off-sites lead to meaningful improvement?
Teams are the fundamental building blocks of every organization, and yet most leaders don’t invest enough time and effort in developing their teams to achieve their full potential. Effective team alignment goes beyond mere “team-building” and addresses real business goals by improving how members think and work together.
We help CEOs and senior executives align their teams around shared strategic agendas that address critical governance and execution issues. We focus on difficult trade-offs (individual objectives vs. collective goals; short-term results vs. long-term performance) and foster productive conversations about the most important things. As a result, teams are better able to understand, support, and execute a focused plan: here’s where we’re going; here’s how we’re going to get there; and here’s why it matters.
We also work with boards to assess their performance and improve governance and board processes.
I have initiated a number of executive offsites and retreats, and none of them was as good as the one that Mark Nevins designed and led for us. He structured the conversations well. Broke the groups up at the right moments. And most importantly he allowed the conversation to flow as it needed to. I think that the results and the insights that came out of the day were extremely helpful and constructive and I know everyone on our team felt the same way. I can honestly say Mark is the best at what he does and it was a pleasure to spend time with him.
Michael Lynton
Chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Leadership and Organization Development
We collaborate with our clients to develop pragmatic solutions for improving organization effectiveness, increasing employee engagement, and fostering more effective innovation and collaboration.
We have special expertise in the design and delivery of bespoke, high-impact top-of-the-house leadership programs.
We don’t offer a suite of off-the-shelf “products”—rather, we collaborate with select clients to solve difficult organizational problems and improve execution and results. Recent engagements include:
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Organization assessment
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Organization redesign
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Culture (re-)design
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Strategic planning and goal setting
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Talent review and succession planning
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Conflict intervention
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Offsite design and facilitation
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Vision, mission, and strategy refinement
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Curriculum development and program evaluation
Mark Nevins and his talented team played a critical role in helping me lead an organization and culture realignment during a period of explosive organic and acquired growth. Because of Mark’s strategic advice, consultation, and partnership, our firm successfully integrated five companies across three continents. And we did so while retaining key talent and clients, growing the business above industry rates, maintaining a leadership position in our space, launching new innovative technology and a new brand promise, and evolving our culture to one that brings the best of our combined companies. Mark served as a coach and advisor to me and my executive team every step of the way and my learnings from him continue to be applied and have helped me in my ongoing development as an enterprise leader. I couldn’t have done it without Mark and his firm.
Taryn Owen
President, PeopleReady