Shifting Culture Through Inclusive Leadership Development Program

Two large government agencies sought a shift of their internal workplace leadership culture. Multi-session Inclusive Leadership Development programs were created and delivered with a team of 7 facilitators. A classic Organization Development collaborative approach framed the project and contained planning, one-on-one interviews for the data collection, analysis, and feedback phases, program development, and highly experiential workshop.

The second agency engaged the LWC team based on the success of the first agency. That project involved working closely with the CEO and Assistant Secretary Office of Diversity and Civil Rights . Susan White led the project planning and implementation. A group representing people from all organizational levels and departments participated in one-on-one interviews with White and then discussed the data collected about current DEI initiatives, challenges, and objectives .  This data-driven approach culminated in 3 highly-experiential virtual workshops for approximately 30 senior leaders, delivered virtually on Zoom with break-out sessions during the Covid pandemic. The second agency expanded the program to 6 workshops for 60 people, requiring LWC to scale up the initiative.

The program methodology integrated two key frameworks:

• The Kolb Learning Model - blending concrete learning, experiential exercises, and reflection; and

• Social Construction Theory - leveraging the principle that conversations about change catalyze actual change.

Workshop Series Structure:

Workshop 1: Building Inclusive Leadership Foundations

• Incorporated pre-work including a growth mindset assessment;

• Explored unconscious bias in decision-making and problem-solving;

• Examined power dynamics between dominant and non-dominant demographics;

• Developed strategies for recognizing and engaging employee differences and diversity; and

• Explored enhanced techniques for fostering inclusive participation.

Workshop 2: Communication and Psychological Safety

• Utilized a commercial communication assessment that raised awareness of different communication styles and approaches for adapting communication styles to reduce tension and unnecessary conflict;

• Enhanced capabilities for listening to employees raise difficult topics of racism, exclusion, and inequities; 

• Built frameworks for creating safe spaces for employee concerns; and

• Strengthened feedback mechanisms to improve equity and inclusion

Workshop 3: Addressing Structural Racism

• Analyzed real-world cases, including Lisa Cook's research publication challenges

• Conducted hands-on examination of talent cycle processes

• Developed strategies for embedding equity in evaluative decisions of Talent Cycle

• Created frameworks for attracting and retaining a diverse group of employees across all Talent Cycle phases

Critical success factors included:

• Strong executive sponsorship from both CEO and Assistant Secretary;

• Data-driven program design based on organizational interviews;

• Vocal support and participation of  CEO and Assistant Secretary; and

• Collaborative, OD approach, which integrated efforts with broader organizational DEI culture initiatives.

The Pivot Point: Transforming Strategic Deadlock into Dynamic Progress for a law firm

What began as the field research project evolved into a three-year consulting relationship. The initial engagement focused on a stalled business strategy implementation - a plan developed by another consultant that had failed to gain traction.

Through data collection and analysis using the Lawler and Worley Build to Change strategy model, I discovered that unresolved questions about the firm's core identity were blocking progress. The key challenge was creating an environment where senior leaders could discuss these sensitive but crucial identity issues. The model highlighted the critical connection between identity and strategy and also the dependency upon certain competencies needed to implement it - particularly effective communication.

A fundamental barrier was the organization's adversarial communication culture, where individuals would:

• Take rigid positions and defend them aggressively;

• Listen selectively to find ways to strengthen their own arguments; and

• Focus on defeating opposing viewpoints rather than understanding them.

To address the core identity issues, this communication pattern needed to transform. The organization needed an environment where diverse perspectives could be openly shared, genuinely heard, and thoughtfully integrated.

Finding no existing change model that adequately addressed communication culture transformation, I developed an innovative approach. I adapted motivational interviewing techniques for the data collection phase, conducting one-on-one interviews that prepared individuals for subsequent feedback sessions. The data revealed a consistent pattern: criticism routinely derailed productive discussions.

The breakthrough came during a feedback session where I overlaid these findings with the Lawler and Worley model. This presentation resonated with a key opinion leader who candidly acknowledged, "we have none of the competencies and capabilities" needed for strategy implementation. The silence that followed created space for a crucial shift toward skill development and action planning.

The senior leadership team then developed a comprehensive change initiative that went beyond their initial strategy concerns. Over the next three years, I supported their transformation from an adversarial communication culture to one embracing open dialogue, active listening, and collaborative problem-solving. This shift enabled honest discussions about fundamental aspects of their business, revealing they operated with two conflicting models: one rewarded immediate revenue generation with increased compensation, while the other - focused on business leadership and developing innovative efficiencies - went uncompensated despite creating long-term value. Resolving this compensation structure disconnect became the key to unlocking their stalled strategy implementation.

Racial Equity Audit, Development and Implementation of Strategic Plan

This multi-year change management project began with an audit of two division of a large municipality and grew from there,

Susan White and her LWC team conducted a comprehensive racial equity audit of Worcester's Human Resources and Health and Human Services departments, leading to the development and implementation of a city-wide DEI strategic plan. In addition to White, the project team consisted of 2 lead consultants and 2 support consultants.

Project Approach & Methodology

Following established organizational development practices, the project launched with a strategic planning session with the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to define success metrics and key deliverables. The assessment phase incorporated multiple data collection methods including:

• In-depth stakeholder interviews

• Employee focus groups

• Confidential staff surveys

Strategic Recommendations & Implementation

The resulting report, recommendation, and  strategic plan, available here,  addressed systemic changes across:

• Leadership development and accountability;

• Organizational structure and processes;

• Policy and practice reforms;

• Internal communications;

• Mission, vision, goal-setting and action planning; and

• Training and professional development.

As a result of LWC’s report, the City published the following on its website. Based on the results of independent consultant Letterman White LLC's Racial Equity Audit Report, completed in September 2022, City Manager Eric Batista is taking the following steps:

• Hosted virtual Town Halls for city employees at all levels of government to share their questions and concerns about the Report with the City Manager.

• Collaborated with the administration's Cabinet to establish a 5th priority in the City's Strategic Plan that establishes a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mission, vision, goals, objectives and metrics.

• Worked with the Human Resources Department to further standardize and centralize the hiring process for City jobs.

• Worked with Letterman White LLC to establish an implementation plan for breaking down barriers to change, including the establishment of a disaggregate data collection system that will allow the City to measure its progress in diversifying the City workforce.

• Worked with department heads to establish clear DEI goals within their Departmental Development Plans that were submitted as part of the Fiscal 2024 budget process.

• Removed the requirement that physicals and drug tests are required for all candidates who have accepted job offers to reduce the barriers to employment. The requirement will remain in place for certain positions.

• Changed the parking policy so that employees who work at downtown City offices no longer need to pay for monthly parking passes in City garages and lots to reduce barriers to employment and increase employee retention.

Project Deliverables

• Racial Equity Report and Recommendations

• Employee Resource Group Handbook

• Comprehensive project management plan

• Data analysis and feedback presentations

• Strategic planning materials

• Detailed meeting documentation and progress reports

The project's success led to an extended engagement, with White facilitating leadership working sessions focused on workplace inclusion and equity, ultimately helping craft inclusion-centered mission and vision statements with measurable objectives.

Complex Culture Shift in Large Government Agency

This. multi-year, multi-phase culture shift was a true Organization Development and comprehensive change management project.

Phase 1: Leadership Competency Development

LWC’s White, with 1 support consultant,  led a strategic initiative to transform the organizational culture, beginning with a multi-day workshop with a group of 12 SMEs to develop a profile of “mission critical” leadership behaviors to drive collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Through structured facilitation, the group analyzed 38 leadership competencies, distilling specific observable behaviors into a targeted profile for senior leaders. To embed these concepts into daily operations, the team implemented a strategic communications plan, including regular discussion in leadership meetings and visual displays of competencies in the Division's entryway Vesta Board.

Phase 2: Pilot Leadership Coaching Program

Building on this foundation, LWC launched a pilot coaching program focusing on two senior leaders. The program began with an orientation session covering:

• Introduction to the 360° assessment process;

• Guidelines for selecting feedback providers across organizational levels; and

• Program expectations and commitment requirements.

Following the collection and analysis of feedback data, each leader received a comprehensive assessment report during their initial coaching session. The program continued with 11 additional weekly one-on-one coaching sessions, where each leader explored opportunities for personal growth and worked on developing several of the “mission critical” skills. Support included:

• A structured development planning workbook

• A comprehensive competency reference guide detailing skill progression from basic to mastery level

• Practical strategies for strengthening each leadership competency

Phase 3: Program Expansion

Based on the pilot's success, the program expanded to include additional coaches, offering leaders coach selection flexibility. Three cohorts have completed the 12-week program, with the fourth cohort scheduled to begin in January 2025. 

Phase 4: Organizational Restructuring

Concurrent with the coaching initiative, White identified the need for structural changes to sustain the cultural transformation. This led to a group coaching project focused on organizational redesign and process improvement. Key accomplishments include:

• Restructured organizational units aligned with cultural transformation goals;

• Established Executive Leadership team charter;

• Defined clear role distinctions between strategic and operational functions;

• Created comprehensive strategic and implementation plans;

• Developed systematic hand-off protocols between Strategy and Operations teams; and

• Implemented communications plan framework.

The project demonstrated measurable improvements in employee engagement and organizational effectiveness, as evidenced by monthly employee engagement and climate data tracking.

MANAGING AND DEVELOPING PEOPLE

The Client

The managing partner of a small law firm.

The Challenge

Our client wanted to encourage technically solid lawyers to improve their client relationship development skills

The Solution

Interviews with the lawyers created the data for a facilitated discussion where consensus decisions were made that: (1) for the firm to thrive, more lawyers needed to improve their communication skills for relationship development and the firm needed to create new client and industry team structures and (2) they needed firm-wide experiential training in strategic communication. During a follow-up 2-day retreat, the lawyers created client and industry teams, selected team leaders for each, and each team identified client relationship development opportunities. On the second day, each team created a detailed strategic plan that called for training, coaching, and using the developing skills to reach out to clients and prospective clients to improve relationships. Subsequently, they implemented the plan.

The Results

The entire firm participated in a strategic communication workshop, individual lawyers began using those skills in the meetings they now regularly scheduled with clients and prospective clients, and meeting weekly with coaches to further develop their communication skills and continue implementing their strategic plan.

MANAGING DIVERSE STAKEHOLDER INTERESTS

The Client

The director of a century-old law association, who was responsible for the day-to-day management of the organization. 

The Challenge

The director struggled to manage the competing stakeholder interests of elected leadership, long-term staff, and association membership. At times, groups of stakeholders’ interests and concerns conflicted with each other. How could the director make sure people felt heard and at the same time actually get things accomplished?

The Solution

We facilitated a group conversation among stakeholder group leaders to surface and discuss the conflicting interests and concerns. The meeting began with us proposing best practices for group discussion and decision-making. We also coached the director on listening and giving feedback effectively.

The Results

The frustration of competing interests subsided, complaints about not feeling heard fell, and the association was able to create an agenda for the year and plan a highly effective and well-received annual leadership conference.  Our client reported an increase in confidence and ability to manage inherent conflicts and leverage the benefits of the diversity of the organization.

TALENT ENGAGEMENT AND ADVANCEMENT

The Client

The managing partner of a rapidly growing small firm that was quickly losing top talent.

The Challenge Part I

The firm was experiencing growing pains when it tuned to us.  Two lawyers had recently left the firm for other opportunities and another valuable, experienced lawyer had given notice because of a family move to a city 500 miles away. Remaining lawyers didn’t know why others were leaving and wondered if they were next. The owner was concerned about talent retention and how the firm’s current situation would affect the ability to hire other people.

The Solution

By asking the right questions, we coached the managing partner through an analysis of the problems and to identify solutions for talent recruitment and retention. When her decides to communicate more openly with others and explain the departures with reassurance of future stability, group anxiety decreased. As anxiety dropped, an opportunity appeared to open another office in a new city, promote the experienced lawyer to non-equity partner, and hand over the day-to-day control of the remote office. This created the need for a new leadership structure and compensation model with job descriptions. We provided the subject matter expertise to redesign the organization structure, job descriptions, and compensation model.

The Results Part I

The new, second office began to thrive.  The new non-equity partner reported feeling valued and invested in the success of the office and the entire firm. Others reported feeling relieved by the outcome and confidence in their future with the firm.  Two years later, another lawyer moved 3000 miles away and a new office to accommodate the lawyer, rather than to lose the talent.

Subsequent Challenge

Over time, attorneys reported that their sense of organizational cohesion had weakened.  They said they felt that the physical distance separating the three offices and their fellow attorneys had affected firm-wide, internal interactions.

The Solution Part II

At our suggestion, annual retreats in the home office city brought everyone together for two evenings of socializing and a day focused on the business of the firm.  Planning for the retreats began three months in advance and engaged all attorneys in shared goals.

The Results Part II

Since we started working with this firm, it has continued to grow, maintain cohesion, and be able to recruit and retain top talent.

LESS IS MORE - IMPROVING COMMUNICATION

The Client

The de facto managing partner of a firm with a chief operating office, three-person executive committee, and twenty-six partners.

The Challenge

Our client was overwhelmed and frustrated by the frequency of requests for information by partners about the firm’s operations and complaints about a lack of information.  Although there were weekly partner lunches, they were essentially social gatherings rather than business meetings. Consequently, “back-channel” communication had become out of control and exhausting to those involved.

The Solution

Network mapping enabled visualization of communication relationships, “information brokers,” disconnected groups, and information bottlenecks.  This helped us create a communications plan to circumvent the bottleneck and open up new, robust channels for communication. We further investigated the reasons for disconnection. Interviews revealed a lack of leadership skills, so we created a temporary leadership team of the information brokers in each disconnected group and provided coaching to this leadership team, They were able to immediately practice new leadership skills by leading their team meetings and planning and leading portions of a consultant-designed offsite.

The Results

The bottleneck problem was resolved. Complaints decreased. Since retreat preparation required discussing the business of the firm, information about the firm was taken back to informal groups, relieving the information bottleneck. The new team also provided updates during weekly all-partner lunches about the planning for the offsite, which spurred business-related discussions during these lunches. They planned the offsite and each partner led a section of the offsite. Feedback on the offsite was that it was the first true business meeting in years.

MOVING A STRATEGIC PLAN OFF THE SHELF AND INTO ACTION

The Client

The partners of a 125 lawyer IP law firm headquartered in the Northeast with two additional offices.

The Challenge

The partners were unable to implement a growth and branding strategy that sat on a shelf gathering dust. We were asked to diagnose the obstruction and provide a solution.

The Solution

We immediately recognized a common psychological obstacle to strategy implementation. Often the people, who will be affected by the strategy and asked to implement parts of it in, are not involved in the planning and design phase. Using face-to-face interviews and a written survey to collect data,  a diagnostic model, and an off-site retreat, key partners were encouraged to discuss the “elephant in the room.” There was never consensus among partners about many implementation steps of the strategy.

The Results

The partners went through several rounds of discussion before concluding that the best solution was for three groups of partners to leave the firm. One group started a firm with a very different business model. Two other groups joined other firms, one joined a much larger international firm, while the other joined a smaller regional firm.  The remaining partners were united and able to move the strategy forward.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT THAT ALSO CHANGES CULTURE

The Client

A manufacturing and services company with over 13,000 employees.

The Challenge

Managers needed to learn leadership skills, while becoming change-agents to create a high-performance and high-inclusion culture. The company needed a cost-effective way to do so.

The Solution

We provided a comprehensive leadership development program and culture-change intervention that was customizable and designed with facilitator notes for internal delivery, according to best-practices for adult learning and culture change.

The Results

Change begins.