Professional Services

“Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.”

Mary Parker Follett, The Creative Experience, 1924
People working together

Using Ethics

Building shared Ethical frameworks to collaborate, establish trust, and increase revenue:

Meeting Facilitation, Training & Professional Coaching
Strategic Consulting & Confidential Advising (C-level)
Presentations & Explanations

Outcomes / Results

Examples of the products we provide to clients; full case studies are below:

Organizational Code of Conduct
Corporate Ethics and Mission Statements (C & board level)
Research, white papers
Practical Ethics Toolbox™

Features & Benefits

Our clients enjoy:

Overcoming ethical conflicts to find root cause solutions
Strategies for ongoing collegiality — turning an effective work ethic into ROI
Ongoing support
A moderated website
Persistently effective teamwork

Contact us for a Free Initial Consultation

Cases

Urban Health Center

A health center serving over twenty thousand patients used an ethical process to remain open in the face of looming bankruptcy, a damning federal audit, and COVID.

Stakeholder focus was explicit: patient services came first, then community needs, staff third, then leadership, and finally, the board — our ethical framework.

After a thorough review, the board unanimously agreed that the health center needed to merge with another, similar organization with higher reimbursement rates, or, as a backup plan, lose independence and become part of a hospital.

In the end, the center successfully merged with a nearby, larger, and closely aligned sister organization.  While the transition wasn’t completely smooth, we avoided the financial cliff and remediated federal compliance, and the center continues to serve its patients.  All staff had the opportunity to shift to the new organization and those who did receive enhanced compensation packages. The CEO stepped down, and the board dissolved.

IT Services Company

Having grown their company over many years, the owner hired a CEO.  Founder syndrome prevented them from letting go of the day-to-day, and the CEO resigned.  We brokered a vice president’s promotion to CEO in exchange for an agreement limiting the owner’s involvement.  Operations stabilized and revenues increased.

Customer service improved with staff morale, as did collegiality.  Using an ethical process, staff collaboration largely replaced entrenched, self-preserving behaviors.

Housing Shelter

A large housing shelter’s failing IT department couldn’t keep up, frustrating everyone.  Staff departures, including the director, compounded aging, undocumented systems.  The number of support tickets increased daily and triage disappeared: service went to whomever was most upset.

Organizational work slowed down as operational conflict escalated.  The board was notified that the numbers were off.

An IT leadership search had proven expensive and fruitless.  They needed the services of a consultant to determine services, budget, timeline and resources.  Ethics was thekey to healing their fractured relationships.

Short term, we arranged contracted technical support to users, while other experts documented systems and started replacing outdated and dysfunctional ones.  

In the meantime, practical ethics enabled collaboration around the very same problems that had been antagonizing everyone previously.  Through dialog, frustration diminished and appreciation reemerged, a recognition of their shared dilemma.  Relationships improved as the IT Department rebooted.

Ticket numbers dropping, chaos and acrimony (somewhat) abated, it became possible to hire an experienced IT Director.