Bottom Line Learning Leaders In Action

“It was a challenge to find a consultant with an Bottom Line Learning approach to performance improvement that fit our unique culture and style.

They understood what we were trying to accomplish, helped us clarify our objectives, create a solid, refreshing approach that quickly got us moving with engaged people at all levels. They listened and made adaptations focused on our needs and business objectives. Overall, I couldn’t be happier that we found a partner in LSA.”
Doug Hansen | President and Director | Redwood Trust

Most organizations struggle with how to develop mid-managers to leadership roles. Though leadership as a discipline is abstract, inconsistent, and vague, expectations of leaders are crystal clear. We expect leaders to make decisions with an enterprise perspective — decisions that add value to the bottom line and inspire employees to achieve an aligned organizational.

Leaders in Action is a six-to-twelve month program in which a small group (12-16) of high potential managers work in teams to envision, to sell to senior executives, and to implement a real project that can increase revenue or decrease cost significantly.

We use real business projects that teach managers through practical application to:

Be more innovative, have a big-picture view of the organization, and create a more motivating work environment.
Take action, implement effectively, and get results.

Individuals receive training, supervision, and coaching to develop leadership skills as they work through the process of initiating and implementing a significant “initiative” in their organization.

Approach
We don’t use the terms “leadership” or “development.” We refer to the program as “running the business,” and we approach it accordingly. We take an action-learning approach to teach leadership so that the program and learning integrates with a manager’s day-to-day work.

Small teams are created that select a project that has high potential value to the organization. The action learning teams meet monthly for a period ranging from six months to a year. Over the course of the initiative, the action learning teams:

Are supervised and coached as they build a business plan that they will present to the executive team.
Select a proposed project that directly adds revenue or decreases costs by an appropriate amount for the situation. (typically +/- $6m.)
Plan and implementation strategy, ROI, and forecast of how the project fits into the broader organizational objectives and vision.

Plans are evaluated by company executives and accepted or declined based on criteria and processes used to evaluate any other proposal. Once proposals are accepted, we work with the action learning teams on implementation, influencing for initiative support, and managing the politics of the project.

Content
During ongoing monthly sessions teams debrief, learn new tools and techniques, and learn from each other’s experiences. Management and business acumen content is modular and provided on a just-in-time basis to support teams at each step of their project. The innovative as-needed curriculum meets the immediate learning needs of teams and individuals.

To provide an internal support system, an executive mentor is assigned to each team to help them understand how the company really works and how to get things done in their particular organization.

Measurement
For the individual, a program-specific executive 360 degree assessment is used at the beginning, middle, and end of the program to assess participant needs and growth. The true measure of the team’s success is the completion of their team project and how well it met or exceeded initial proposal expectations.

Outcomes
As a result of this intense Bottom Line Learning program, participants will have applied “on the job” skills. They will be able to:

Identify opportunities that add real, bottom-line value to the business.
Develop, pitch, and sell their business plan to key stakeholders and decision makers.
Formulate audience-specific value propositions for their project.
Influence key players to work on their projects — even when there is no reporting relationship to them.
Navigate workplace politics effectively.
Perform risk management for their project and manage expectations for all those involved.
Deliver and maintain a positive communication process regarding their project to all levels of the organization.
Become adept at presenting project updates and adjusting for different audiences.
Drive the agreed-upon dollar amount in revenue increases or cost reductions.
Take the current project, identify other opportunities that rise from it, and replicate successes on future projects.

Target Audience:
Experienced managers and leaders.

To speak with an LSA Expert to learn about program customization and delivery options for Bottom Line Learning at your company, please contact us.

Related Information

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LSA’s flexibility, depth, and breadth of expertise allows us to deliver top quality solutions that are directly tied to key business plans and talent management strategies.

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Margaret M. Mader
Vice President, Human Resources

What a refreshing change from the half-baked psycho-babble you normally get from training and consulting organizations. LSA gives you the practical and results-oriented assistance you need to define and reach your goals.

Their leadership, management, and sales expertise has been invaluable. They think strategically and provide a results driven plan – not just a temporary fix.

They are great to work with, and even more importantly, they “get it!”

David Fiano
Director of Merchandising

The quality of LSA’s Leadership Training Programs and facilitators is always top notch. We recognize and appreciate the hard work LSA always goes through to align to our unique culture and meet our specific requirements. Thank you for regularly going above and beyond. Your support and dedication, both on the strategic and tactical side, have been outstanding!

Anna Meyer
Leadership Development

LSA is an excellent sales and leadership outsource partner! They listen to our needs, are responsive, and work at a pace that keeps up with our rapid speed.

We have found LSA to bring strategic, innovative, and practical solutions to meet our business priorities by partnering effectively with our key staff. I consider them to be an important external extension of our team.

Thank you!

Wendy Chinn
Sr. Director, Global Sales Enablement

Your team was amazing. Facilitative Leadership was one of the best leadership and change workshops my team has ever attended. Thank you!

Diane White
Executive Director, Head of Product Development

We turned to LSA to help us custom design and deliver a management development solution to help drive performance. They have done an excellent job diagnosing the business situation, designing a leadership approach that fits our culture, and delivering a first class solution with the support systems necessary to make a real difference.

I recommend LSA Global to anyone looking for real results.

Sally Buchannan
VP Human Resources

It was a challenge to find a consultant with an approach to performance improvement that fit our unique performance culture and style. We were pleasantly surprised to discover LSA’s depth of expertise in the fields of motivation, developmental coaching, performance management, and measurement.

LSA seamlessly integrated those components without our folks feeling like the intervention was forced. They understood what we were trying to accomplish, helped us clarify our objectives, and created a solid, refreshing approach that quickly got us moving and engaged at all levels across the organization.

Overall, I couldn’t be happier that we found a true strategy and implementation partner in LSA.

Doug Hansen
President and Director

Thank you to LSA Global for their partnership and support in helping us to design and roll-out highly needed and valuable leadership and management development programs that fit our unique situation.

I personally have partnered with LSA Global at four of my previous companies. It continues to be a delight.

We look forward to partnering with them for a long time to develop our managers and leaders.

Suzanne Kinner
VP Human Resources

As a high growth agency with cutting edge talent, we hired LSA Global to help clarify our strategy and work with our executive leadership team to help implement strategic changes in a way that made sense for our unique culture.

The work was so successful that we also hired them to coach our key leaders. LSA has been instrumental in helping us transition to a new leadership team and triple revenue. In this age of useless consultants, I highly recommend their practical and business-oriented approach to strategy, culture, and talent.

David Bentley
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We greatly value our relationship with LSA Global.

They focused on understanding our unique culture and helping us to move our strategic priorities forward.

LSA continues to deliver top quality executive coaching, consulting, and leadership development solutions that are highly customized for our unique situation.

I highly recommend LSA Global to anyone looking to greatly improve their leadership, management, and project capabilities.

Bonnie S. Olson
Vice President of Human Resources

LSA exceeded all my expectations.

We interviewed 7 potential training and consulting partners and selected LSA due to their expertise, flexibility, and breadth and depth of leadership solutions.

We were able to design a highly focused and relevant management training course that fit our unique needs.

Our leaders and managers galvanized as a team and are better prepared for the rigors of a leading their teams in a very competitive and fast-changing market.

Mitch Mandich
CEO

LSA’s executive coach based his approach on understanding our business circumstances and strategy, as well as our leadership aspirations. The customized coaching covered all aspects of leadership; it was not simply a touchy-feely endeavor.

In fact, the focus on clear business outcomes and real life circumstances challenged me as a senior leader to develop my thinking and actions related to leading the business.”

Janet Pagano
Managing Director

LSA consistently delivers for me and my team. Recently they demonstrated the criticality for executives to look beyond current ethics topics and focus on applying fundamental values in everything they do to demonstrate true leadership. They successfully delivered in two hours what most leadership development facilitators would spend an entire day trying to communicate.

Nick Voyvodich, SPHR
HR Manager

LSA’s approach and ability to bring the right leadership and management expertise and approach to eBay has been a great asset.

They really focus on helping us succeed in any way they can and definitely lifted up our leadership and management development capabilities.

Mike Normant
Learning & Development

LSA’s approach has certainly brought value to Knight Ridder Digital. They were laser focused on our goal and determined to meet all of our Leadership development program needs. Their flexibility and commitment were keys in making our program successful.

Dipik Rai
Director of Marketing