Peer Advisory

Contact us for more information. For groups attached to a chamber, you can also work through the specific chamber. If you're looking to start a group in your area (in-person or virtual) and are in need of a facilitator or have an idea for a new group, feel free to contact us.

Relationships! Healthy relationships are at the heart of peer advisory. Healthy relationships benefit the business/organization and also build genuine personal connection. Leaders express relief when realizing they are not isolated and alone in their concerns. “My idea was vetted before I irrationally launched it with my senior leaders.” There is a spirit of “give and get” at each meeting. An openness to receive feedback is evident as well as a desire to be helpful to others in the group. Confidence!

Meetings are held monthly and in the morning. They generally last 1-1.5 hours, depending on the group. A planned, but flexible agenda typically guides most meetings allowing for emergent issues that arise. These emergent issues enrich the meeting experience. Topics discussed are related to the specific group. Please see the list of current groups for more information. Groups are intentionally kept small (6-10) members. Meetings in person rotate between membership sites and are held in conference rooms.

Shakopee Chamber – Executive Roundtable. This group is made up of business owners, senior executives and members of the Shakopee Chamber. Content areas include growth strategies, workforce pressures, economic drivers, self-care and more. Greater Mankato Growth – Executive Business Boards. Two groups are running in the Mankato area. These groups are made up of business owners, senior executives and members of the Greater Mankato Growth Chamber. Content areas are similar to above. Next Gen: Peer Advisory. This group focuses on family business and participants are the next generation of leaders. Family businesses represented include retail, restaurant, construction, banking, recreation and others. Content is specific to family business topics such as generational challenges, legacy concerns, internal credibility, “finding my own voice” and more. Non-Profit Peer Advisory. This group is made up of executive directors of non-profits and is 100% virtual. Content discussed includes guiding a board, employee workforce, fundraising, strategic planning and operations, marketing, donor relations, galas/events and more.

Yes. Because groups have different focuses and some are connected to a Chamber, cost varies. Please contact us for more information.

The pressure has never been higher for organizations to constantly change. However, management literature suggests most organizational change initiatives fail between 60-75% of the time. What is going on? Maybe employee resistance should be reexamined? This course provides leaders a framework for recognizing subtle symptoms of resistance and take steps to leverage both the change that is sought but also the continuity desired by the organization. Learning objectives: Relook at employee resistance Understand various types of resistance in the workplace and see the upside to employee resistance Recognize that not everything is a problem to solve Recognize the difference between problems-to-solve ("either/or" thinking) and polarities-to-leverage ("both/and" thinking) Leverage key interdependent pairs (i.e. polarities) within organizational climate

Conflict, whether low, mild or high, is inevitable in the workplace. Learning how to sharpen one’s conflict competency is critical for superior results. This conflict competency course is designed for participants to identify conflict in the workplace, assess their personal conflict styles and gain practical skills to leverage conflict constructively. Learning objectives: Identify conflict in work and personal environments Understand and leverage one’s conflict management styles Gain skills in negotiating conflict in the workplace Assess situations where constructive conflict can be used for mutual benefit

Organizational change can happen in one of four ways. By choice, by chance, by a crisis or simply with the passage of time. Most often workplace change is a strategic or operational choice for a specific organizational benefit. The challenge arises in that not everyone sees the organizational benefit at the same place nor at the same time. Too often leaders misunderstand the impact of the change and miscalculate the time to effectively prepare the workforce. There are predictable stages everyone navigates through when changes occur in the workplace. This workshop equips participants with the ability to see six stages of change (The Change Cycle ™ E-Locator assessment) with their associated thoughts, feelings, and behavior and what can be done at each stage. Learning objectives: Increase confidence with workplace change Define the change and issues associated Identify how the change came into being (choice, chance, crisis or time) See six stages of change with their specific thoughts, feelings and behaviors Assess what stage a person or team is at during the identified change Develop action plan rooted in specific change happening in the organization Equip an agile mindset for future change in the organization

Any lasting structure is built upon a solid foundation. Similarly, an organization is dependent on the foundation of leaders, teams and corporate trust. Research shows there is a healthy correlation between trust within the organization and bottom-line results. Leaders need to ask, “Is trust affecting the productivity of our workplace? Are there tangible steps we should take to cultivate deeper trust?” This course examines the behaviors that advance trust and invites participants to take an active role in influencing a culture of trust. Learning objectives: Identify the rampant culture of mistrust in today’s corporate culture Acknowledge the myths associated with trust Experience how ambiguity cultivates lowtrust Understand behaviors necessary for cultivating high trust environments Understand how a high trust environment increases organizational outcomes Prioritize behaviors necessary for building a culture of trust

We enter the work force knowing how to read and write and have often educated ourselves in a field of expertise. However, too often, we lack the skills to manage our emotions when the temperature rises or were placed under pressure. We need tools that help us mange, adapt and communicate effectively with maximum impact. Understanding emotional intelligence (EI) is key. This course develops knowledge on EI and its power to improve your life and strengthen relationships. Learning Objectives: Recognize the role emotional intelligence has on one’s life and what it looks like Understand the four core competencies of emotional intelligence Assess emotional intelligence Be equipped to develop personal strategies in the four skills of EI Make explicit connections between EI and work performance

Teams are more fluid than they are fixed entities within today’s fast paced organizations. Teams are required to be agile, pivot quickly, orient new members or adapt to new expectations on a dime. Knowing what knowledge and skills teams need to meet these fluid states is more vital than ever. This course provides tangible knowledge and skills for individuals and teams for increased effectiveness. Learning objectives: Understand the necessary ingredients for high performance teams Appreciate the predictable team development cycle Identify vital roles for teams to be productive Identify shared and individual responsibilities Understand how power plays a role in team health

A healthy organizational culture is agile, inspires positive engagement, is a market competitor, is an employer-of-choice and produces winning outcomes. Sadly, we have all felt the opposite. Research suggests an unhealthy culture generates a reduction in productivity, a decline in employee morale, a slow-to-adapt organization, and overall frustration mounts as the brand is tarnished. To build or maintain a healthy organizational culture recognition of the current state and future state is needed. Then honest and real conversations need to be had on data collected from a reputable culture assessment. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument ™ (OCAI) is used to empirically measure the distribution of four culture types. Every organization has a unique mix of the four culture types: Clan (Collaborate) culture, Hierarchy (Control) culture, Market (Compete) culture, and Ad Hoc (Create) culture.

Leaders at one in five organizations are unprepared to deal with the sudden loss of key executives according to a recent online survey of 1,098 senior managers and executives conducted by American Management Association's Corporate Learning Solutions. Regardless of the size of your organization, succession planning and management demands thought and attention. Putting a succession process in place enables an organization to tap into an ongoing pool of talent at all levels. Is your organization prepared for a sudden loss of key individuals? Effective succession planning doesn't happen overnight. It's a process that requires ongoing thought and planning. Targeting and developing candidates who will be ready to take on leadership roles when the time comes not only benefits the organization, but also your customers. We can help with your succession planning, so you and your organization can be prepared when its needed most.

Mentoring is a time-proven strategy that allows a younger generation to benefit from senior experience. Formalized mentorship programs allow for senior leaders to pour knowledge and skill to newer members of the organization. A well-designed mentorship program has key essential elements to make it successful: screening potential mentors, making matches based on the interests of the mentor and mentee, providing adequate training for the mentor, and offering post-match training and support. We can assist in designing and implementing a formal mentorship program that taps into the wealth of experience that already exists within your organization to pass along to the next generation.

To meet today's business challenges, organizational leaders must execute viable business strategies that will project them into the future to keep them running strong. They need long-term priorities, goals and objectives linked with practical strategies and initiatives that move the organization toward its stated purpose. How do they get there? With a well thought-out strategic plan. However, creating a strategic plan can be a challenging undertaking. With a systematic approach, essential elements can be assembled into a logical, comprehensive final product. We can assist your organization in developing a strong strategic plan aimed at a productive future. A strategic plan developed by senior leadership and/or the governing board with our assistance means your organization will have a customized strategic planning framework and process that can be leveraged for optimal organizational effectiveness. Models we routinely leverage include: Future Search, Polarity Assessment for Continuity and Transformation, SWOT Analysis, Whole Scale Change and Open Space Technology.

Executing strategic initiatives and delivering on bottom-line business goals are essential to a board's success. Is your board aligned to meet those expectations? Boards that regularly assess their strategy report greater productivity and have assurance they are operating to their full-potential. Boards that do not evaluate, run the risk of impairing the organization's performance. Our board development offerings gauge overall board effectiveness. We provide expertise on managing and developing executive teams and work with clients to implement a process that helps improve overall board performance. We work with boards to assess board dynamics, evaluate individual and collective abilities and contributions, conduct board effectiveness evaluations and align, plan and assist implementing strategic change and goals.

Our customized employee engagement surveys are designed specifically with your organization's unique goals and objectives in mind to help gain valuable insight as to the health of the organization. These surveys provide a direct means of assessing employee opinions that would otherwise be unreported. They can be used to gather feedback on a variety of issues such the organization's success in communicating its mission to the quality of the working environment. By assessing people, structure, strategy, culture and operations, we can help ensure organizational alignment with strategic goals, measure employee engagement and drive business improvement.

360-degree employee feedback provides a holistic view of an employee by gathering feedback from a leader’s manager, peers, direct reports and sometimes customers. Data collection is ideal if an organization seeks sustainable individual development for a leader, as the leader gains an outsider’s perspective into their personality. Each assessment is customized for the leader to align with known goals, objectives and competencies. Our reporting and action planning tools enable leaders to align strategic change within the organization for overall effectiveness.

We recognize the value of collecting internal and external performance data on leaders, teams and entire organizations. We tap into several well-recognized, valid and reliable instruments found in the marketplace. We will use the following techniques, where appropriate: Emotional Intelligence Appraisal (EQ) The EQ assessment pinpoints strategies to increase emotional intelligence in the areas of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. StrengthsFinders 2.0™ The StrengthsFinders 2.0 measures natural patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving to discover what you naturally do best (your talents) and learn how to develop them. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator™ (MBTI) The MBTI is designed to measure personality temperament preferences along four domains: Extroversion and Introversion, Sensing and Intuition, Thinking and Feeling, Judging and Perceiving. Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument™ (TKI) The TKI is designed to measure a person's conflict styles in work and personal life. Five styles are measured against how much a person asserts themselves and/or how much a person cooperates with others. The five conflict styles are: Control, Collaborate, Avoid, Accommodate and Compromise. Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness Model (DiSC)™ The DiSC is an assessment of behavior at work and/or personal life measuring Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. Insight of other’s behaviors helps to break down real and imagined barriers between team members when results are shared. Polarity Assessment for Continuity and Transformation ™ (PACT) The PACT assessment allows a management team to see individual and group interpretations of performance of key polarities within an organization.

Leaders need to perform effectively, efficiently and produce results. They must execute viable business strategies. Effective leaders ask, "How can we take a good thing and make it better?" The seasons of a leader's career sometimes calls for a trusted partner to navigate with them. Whether sharpening an existing skills-set, providing a sounding board, broadening organizational awareness, developing executive presence or simply reminding leaders it's okay to have doubt sometimes, executive coaching is a safety net to give leaders a competitive advantage. The Process The coaching process is customized and adapted to fit your goals and objectives from start to finish and focused on your professional realities. We will work in collaboration to strengthen, equip and challenge you as a leader. Set preliminary goals and objectives to guide the coaching outcomes. Gather leadership effectiveness data (e. g. assessments and/or 1:1 interviews). Determine what should be changed or reinforced based on data collected. Review your motivation and capability for change(s) sought. Develop an action plan to achieve revisited goals and objectives. Use the co-created action plan to benefit you, you and your team, and you and your host organization. Hold you accountable to your action plan. Celebrate the progress you have made!