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

LSA helped us design and deliver blended leadership solutions for our key leaders to help drive our growth plans in a way that aligned with our unique culture and values.

LSA understood our business, had deep expertise in the content areas, customized the leadership development programs to fit our specific needs, and delivered great results in alignment with our strategic priorities, culture, and performance management systems.

I highly recommend them to anyone looking to take their leaders and the performance of their teams to the next level.

Beth A. Taylor
Vice President of Human Resources

Over the years, both at 3Com and now at Redback, I’ve found LSA Global to be a valuable partner. The recent management programs that they delivered for Redback’s executive and management teams was the right solution, of the highest of quality, and customized to fit our unique business and culture. I would highly recommend LSA to any company looking for top quality solutions.

Gina Fulton
Vice President of Human Resources

You have become our premier change leadership strategic partner. Your expertise in the human side of change is unparalleled and enabled our company to successfully implement our ERP Solution under challenging and ever-changing circumstances.

Thank you for your practical and outcome-oriented approach.

Ted Ramlet
CIO & SVP

We have had a very beneficial partnership with LSA. Their recent Leadership Development Program helped us to identify, develop, and retain top leaders. It was instrumental in helping take our company and our key people to the next level. I would recommend them to anyone looking to truly develop and retain top talent.

Steve Janowsky
Vice President of Operations

LSA’s action-learning leadership approach has been very beneficial to me, our leadership team, and the entire organization.

The balance of development and results has been excellent.

We have made huge progress, and I was also able to identify 2-3 high potentials while having the extra benefit of people stepping up to carry key strategic projects forward.

The experience was better than anticipated. I could not be more pleased.

Heather Feltman
President & CEO

I’ve been associated with LSA for the last 8 years and have found them to be extremely professional and client-focused.

I’ve participated in a number of solutions ranging from Performance Management to Leadership Training. I’ve found the quality to be superior.

They are always well prepared and have definitely done a considerable amount of pre-work in order to customize to our unique culture and goals.

Duane Schroeder
Human Resource Manager

We partnered with LSA Global to help us invest in our people. LSA custom designed an impactful management curriculum to help upskill our key managers and leaders.

We consider LSA to be our trusted learning and development partner and a valued extension of our team as we rapidly scale. Thank you LSA!

Lisa Bruun
SVP Human Resources

LSA has been a tremendous asset at my current company and my past company.

As an HR leader, I am always looking for ways to find external resources that can provide impactful leadership and management development expertise. LSA consistently does that for me.

The tools and practices are crisp, business relevant, and easy to apply on the job.

Ken Boehm
VP of Human Resources

At a time of change in our marketplace, LSA Global did an exceptional job helping our executive team create strategic clarity by helping us to define, clarify, and prioritize our corporate vision, mission, values, differentiation, target clients, strategic priorities, success metrics and key roles.

They beautifully navigated a very difficult and fuzzy situation, respectfully cleared out all of the cultural elephants, and shared impactful insights and leadership development theories along the way. They have transformed our business.

Laurie Sewell
President & CEO

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 helped us with leadership development by designing a solution to match our unique needs and culture.

It was a huge success. I would highly recommend LSA to help take leaders and managers to the next level.

Karen King, SPHR
Manager, 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

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
General Manager

LSA worked with our Executive Leadership Team to help create strategic clarity and alignment as we look to increase our growth rate and unlock innovation. They masterfully handled very complex, challenging, and high stakes leaders, decisions, and cultural nuances to help us identify what matters most and move toward one unified direction.

Their practical, straightforward, and client-centric approach was refreshing. I highly recommend them to any executive team looking to get aligned to create even higher performance. They are lights out awesome!

Patrick Resk
Chief Financial Officer, Partner

Great job in designing the Mergers and Acquisition strategy session for our global leadership team. The session was excellent.

I gained additional insight on the importance of the role of HR regarding strategy, culture, and people in Mergers and Acquisitions and would recommend LSA to anyone looking to align strategies and cultures.

Gloria Veon
Senior Vice President, Human Resources