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Our team was lucky enough to chat once again with Joe Britto, a psychological coach, published author, founder of Innate Leaders, and Outback\u2019s interactive management consulting expert, to learn more about his innovative solution Strategic Focus Consulting<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can listen to the full episode below, or continue reading to learn more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During the interview, Joe took us through:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cI think that sometimes people coming in to talk about strategy, or work with teams on strategy, make it more complicated than it really is,\u201d says Joe.<\/p>\n\n\n Regardless of which solution<\/a> your group has chosen to help support your leadership team\u2019s growth, management consulting with Innate Leaders always follows the same two-step process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe way that we work with Innate Leaders is we have what we call a two-stage approach,\u201d says Joes. \u201cSo, it\u2019s always going to be around the six attributes in growing a leadership mindset<\/a>, because that\u2019s kind of our thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although all of Joe\u2019s management consulting solutions follow one format, it isn\u2019t to say that all of them are the same. Far from it. In fact, each solution is built bespoke from the ground up to address the unique challenges of each group that Joe and his team work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, not every management consultation will apply all six attributes. Instead, the team will evaluate which of the six are most impactful to a specific challenge and focus on those.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Viewed through the lens of these attributes, Joe guides corporate groups in changing their perspectives. But what does this mean, exactly? Simply put: \u201cWe get the team to start to think differently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joe explains that this first stage is so important to making the second part of the Innate Leaders process work. He says, \u201cThese things are really easy to talk about and they\u2019re hard to do, and that\u2019s what the point of Innate Leaders is.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stage two is then all about how to embrace and operationalize this adjusted mindset. Joe challenges teams to ask themselves, \u201cHow do you create systems and processes and new ways of working, informed by this shift in thinking that allow us to, first of all, embed a new way of working, second of all, reinforce this shift in mindset, and third of all, create a meaningful long-term, sustainable change for that business?\u201d So, what are the six attributes of management consulting? According to Joe, \u201cThere\u2019s this thing called leadership mindset that we feel is comprised of six attributes, possibly more, but these are the six that we think are worth focusing on.\u201d They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned, not every group will focus on shifting their mindset in terms of all six of the attributes. For Strategic Focus Consulting, Joe says that most groups will need to pay attention to enterprise thinking, creating leaders, flexibility of mind, and genuine curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Find more information on each attribute below.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cMindfulness is really about having the ability to be present in a moment to see what is going on under the surface of a situation,\u201d says Joe. He continues, \u201cTo not react to a situation but to wait, to see, to understand the dimensions of the challenge, and then to make a decision based on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cGenuine curiosity is asking sometimes very obvious, very simple, but also very profound questions about why we do things the way we do,\u201d explains Joe. He suggests that the difference between curiosity and genuine curiosity is asking questions in the spirit of wanting to know, without having a predetermined end goal in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cFlexibility of mind has this kind of quality. It\u2019s the only attribute that actually runs in a process. So, it\u2019s a three-step process, you might say,\u201d describes Joe. The first step is recognizing that you could be wrong. The second part is to understand that there are multiple valid solutions to any problem. And then the third step is to creatively combine these solutions into a revolutionary idea.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cResilience is really all about keeping keeping on,\u201d suggests Joe. He explains that when it\u2019s really difficult to get something done, resilience is the guiding light that allows us to live through it, keep our eyes on the prize, and get back up after we\u2019ve been knocked down.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cCreating leaders is about creating leaders of others, but I just call it creating leaders,\u201d says Joe. He explains that this attribute focuses on how to grow leaders and help people think for themselves in order to create a leadership pipeline within a business.<\/p>\n\n\n Joe explains that enterprise thinking is about doing what makes the most sense for the business because you understand that by doing so, you\u2019re also benefitting yourself. \u201cWhen it works at its best,\u201d says Joe, \u201cwe are working together to do what is best for our business areas and what is best for the enterprise as a whole.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to Strategic Focus Consulting is to consider a business plan versus a strategy. Joe talks about how a plan is simple and straightforward, with a goal and steps to achieve that goal. A strategy, on the other hand, is more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the things that we do is, rather than going in and saying to someone, \u2018What\u2019s your plan?\u2019\u201d explains Joe. “We think more about, what is it that we need to be thinking about as a business in order to, let\u2019s say, for the next five years, achieve that plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Built into the work that Innate Leaders does is the ability for a strategy to continue functioning once they\u2019re gone. It\u2019s also meant to flex and adapt as teams go through the next few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following Innate Leaders\u2019 two-step process, the first stage helps groups shift the way they look at the business in order to start developing a strategy. The second part challenges teams to apply that new way of thinking in a manner that is meaningful and sustainable for the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStage one is great, and you do get this revolutionary strategy. It\u2019s bold and people are buying into it,\u201d says Joe. \u201cBut almost more important than that is developing the mechanisms that will put that strategy into place, informed by our shift in thinking. Because then it\u2019s this loop, this cycle, that constantly is reinforcing itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Strategic Focus Consulting is primarily for senior teams who are in the position to develop and execute large-scale organizational strategies and change. Generally speaking, Joe says they work with C-suites, directors, and executive-level teams for this management consulting solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For assistance with business strategy, a traditional consultant will typically help leadership teams develop benchmarks and perform a market analysis to see where that company sits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joe is quick to say that most consultants usually do a great job of identifying possible opportunities for a business. And he believes they often put together brilliant plans for what that company could be doing over the next number of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But to Joe and his team, \u201ca plan is just a plan.\u201d Then the consultant leaves and, over time, the business goes back to the way it was before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “My take on that is because we haven\u2019t looked at the mindset that is integral to whether we continue working with this or not,\u201d says Joe. He believes that in order for a strategy to truly take hold within a business, the team must be willing to challenge themselves and do things differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joe explains that with a shift in mindset, teams tend to create plans that they believe are effective, useful, and exciting. And because of that, they\u2019re invested in making their strategy work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Just being willing to think about your business differently and to come up with something that is bold but also doable and practical, and then taking the steps to make that happen, you know, is perhaps a different way for people to think about strategy,\u201d concludes Joe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Management consulting with Innate Leaders is all about expanding leaders\u2019 mindsets and implementing new behaviors that result in innovative and sustainable solutions. Using the six attributes, Strategic Focus Consulting is different from your \u201ctraditional\u201d consultation in that it supports a shift in how groups think about business issues, rather than offering a quick fix. It\u2019s ideal for executive groups who need support in fundamentally altering how they operate as leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has your team ever participated in management consulting or coaching? Share your experience in the comments below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information about how our leadership coaching and management consulting solutions can benefit your group, reach out to our Employee Engagement Consultants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kara Sy:<\/strong> Hi everyone and welcome to Outback Talks: The Employee Engagement Podcast. This podcast is produced by Outback Team Building & Training, a leading team building, training, and consulting provider for organizations across North America. I\u2019m your host, Kara Sy, and on today\u2019s show I\u2019m joined once again by a very special guest, Joe Britto, the mindset and management consultant over at Innate Leaders. He also happens to be our lead coach and consultant here at Outback and he sat down with me today to discuss another exciting solution he has called Strategic Focus Consulting.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Joe! Thank you so much for joining us again on Outback Talks. We\u2019re so happy to have you back.<\/em><\/p>\n Joe Britto:<\/strong> Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Yeah, Joe was here last time talking about Leadership Team Cohesion Consulting and today we\u2019ll be talking about his solution \u2013 Strategic Focus Consulting. So, let\u2019s jump right into it. Can you give me a better understanding of what the solution is all about?<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> An overview\u2026so, this is a broad brush but, hopefully, kind of illustrates what I\u2019m talking about, because I think, with all of these, what is the objective? What\u2019s the plan? What\u2019s the mission? What\u2019s the strategy? And you know, I get that quite a lot when I go into businesses, and I think that sometimes people coming in to talk about strategy or work with teams on strategy, make it more complicated than it really is, right? So, I think, simply put, if we think about it in terms of a plan versus a strategy, I think a plan is something that we go, \u201cOkay, I want to achieve X. What are the steps to make that happen?\u201d So, it\u2019s really simple and straightforward. I\u2019m a sailor, right. So, I\u2019m just going to use like an example to break it out to you.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Yeah, I\u2019ll try and keep up.<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Well it\u2019s not complicated, I\u2019m not a great sailor! If I\u2019m trying to hit the shore and there\u2019s wind coming in from all sorts of directions, my plan will be, I would like to get to shore, that\u2019s my plan. And then my steps will be, I\u2019m just going to tack toward the shore and I\u2019m going to get there, that\u2019s it, right? My strategy though is different because my strategy is, I still have my plan, but my strategy will be on how will I accommodate changes, you know unexpected changes or just changes in whatever, that make my plan difficult to achieve? So, plans tend to be steps, strategy tends to be adaptive. So, for example, back to our little guy who is trying to get into the shore, strategy will be, if the wind is coming from a certain direction, I can\u2019t go straight in, I\u2019m going to have to tack it, like I\u2019m going to have to head in a zig-zag instead, and may have to, there may be some other boats, now I have to work around them. So, the whole idea of strategy is that, it\u2019s not static. The plan is probably going to be static. It will be, I will do, if I\u2019m Nike, I\u2019ll sell shoes and I\u2019ll sell clothes, whatever else Nike sells and that will be my plan. My strategy will be, how do I sell those things and make a good return given that there\u2019s lots of other people doing exactly the same thing and how do I position myself to weather out challenges and the business landscape, the financial landscape, the political landscape in order to achieve my plan.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Right, and so what does that look like in terms of your consultation with the business?<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yeah, so, one of the things that we do is, rather than going in and say to someone, you know, \u201cWhat\u2019s your plan?\u201d And they say, \u201cThis, we go here. Let\u2019s work out milestones for that.\u201d We think more about, what is it that we need to be thinking about as a business in order to, let\u2019s say, for the next five years, achieve the plan that we\u2019re trying to and that might be a financial target, or like a growth target, achieve that bearing in mind the business, political, financial landscape that we\u2019re in. So, built into the work that we do is the ability for that strategy to work when we walk out the room, but also to flex and adapt as we go through those five years. Like the number of times that you go, I\u2019ve heard businesses say, \u201cYou know, we developed a five-year plan,\u201d and then I say to them, \u201cGreat, and how much of that five-year plan have you brought into effect?\u201d And they were like, \u201cWell, the first three months went really well,\u201d and then it starts to kind of fall apart, because strategy should adapt.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Yeah, that first quarter.<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yeah, exactly. Strategy should adapt, it should change and that\u2019s part of, you know, one of the things we would be thinking about is the enterprise. So, we bring in enterprise thinking. We\u2019ll be thinking in terms of flexibility of mind, because we want to adapt strategy as we go. We also want to ensure that we\u2019re not just doing the same thing that we did last year, or the year before that, or the year before that. So, having a flexibility of mind, maybe drawing on genuine curiosity, gives us the opportunity to come up with bold strategies, rather than, yeah, this is what we normally always do.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Right, and so, for those of our listeners who missed last week\u2019s episode, Joe went into great depth on the six attributes of coaching and consulting. Those are mindfulness, genuine curiosity, flexibility of mind, resilience, creating leaders, and enterprise thinking. So, you\u2019ve kind of touched on enterprise thinking, flexibility of mind a bit. Are there any of those, any of the other six that you would say really lean into the Strategic Focus Consulting?<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> I think, something that is important in terms of our strategy, so this isn\u2019t necessarily about business growth, or maybe it is, but it\u2019s about a leadership pipeline. So, making sure that the people, that the leaders in that room were developing this five-year strategy, maybe in five years from now, those people won\u2019t be in that room. In which case, part of that strategy is how are we growing leaders within our business to make sure that they can take over, what comes to them.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> The creating leaders attribute.<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yes, absolutely, and thinking about that in terms of a strategic intent, right? So, it\u2019s not just, it\u2019s not like people development, it\u2019s the development and strategic focus of my entire business, because if I don\u2019t have that pipeline, you know, my business doesn\u2019t have a future. <\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Right. Are there any others that you think?<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> I think those are the main ones, really. So, it\u2019s going to be enterprise thinking, creating leaders, flexibility of mind, genuine curiosity, those four will probably be the ones that are most important probably when you\u2019re in, when we\u2019re in a strategy development focus. So, that takes us lots of takes, but once again, we always work in this kind of two-stage approach, right? So, our first stage will be, helping leaders to shift the way that they think in order to start developing a strong bold strategy, so that\u2019s going to be our first step. Our second step will be, applying that new way of thinking to developing this strategy and then thinking about: “How do we implement this in a way that is meaningful and sustainable for the business?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> And how is that different from a typical business consultation?<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yeah, well I think that the thing about, when a normal consultant goes in, a traditional consultant as you say, goes into a business, because they are not necessarily focused on what is the mindset of this team, they will do a really, really good job, and I do mean this, they\u2019ll do a really good job of benchmarking for that business. Of doing like a market analysis to see where that business sits and, you know, other parts of the business. They\u2019ll probably do, competitors I mean, and then they\u2019ll probably do a great job of kind of identifying the possible opportunities for that business, and then they may even \u2013 and they usually will put together a brilliant plan for what that business could be doing over the next number of years. They may even do sessions where they try and create buy-in for the plan and then that\u2019s their job.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> But to your point earlier, a plan is just a plan.<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yeah, that\u2019s right, and a plan is just a plan. And what tends to happen, when a consultant goes into a business, a traditional consultant, is they\u2019ll go in and they\u2019ll do all of that really brilliant work that I have just described, and then the leadership team will go, \u201cThis is great, thank you very much.\u201d Maybe there\u2019s some immediate flexes in the business, and then the consultant goes and over time the business goes back to the way that it was. And my take on that is because we haven\u2019t looked at any of the mindset that is integral to whether we continue working with this or not. I\u2019ve been into businesses before where I\u2019ve come in to do strategic work, where I\u2019ve been told, you know we had a consultant come in three years ago, whatever it is, we designed these amazing plans. Everybody said that they were in. They were on board, the consultant was very happy, the work was all very well received, and then six months later, people go back into, well actually, my business area needs this, and my business area needs that, I don\u2019t really agree with this and I don\u2019t really agree with that. And then we just go back where we were, that\u2019s kind of why businesses flex back, right? So, that\u2019s why I think, like it\u2019s almost, well obviously I\u2019m biased, right? I think it\u2019s integral that before we start worrying about what is the strategy for the business, we go, \u201cHow does the team\u2019s mindset sit in terms of being willing to challenge itself in being, in terms of, willing to push to the business and being willing to do things that we haven\u2019t done before?\u201d And that\u2019s kind of the point again, that\u2019s our first stage. But then the second stage, which kind of ensures that it doesn\u2019t just flex back to the way that the business was. Now, informed by that way of thinking, let\u2019s create a strategy and implementation plan for that strategy so that we are embedding this new way of thinking, this new strategic direction in the business by the systems and processes we designed.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> And what type of results will be seen from that, and actually embedding a mindset versus just having that plan?<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yeah, well, the difference in being a mindset versus offering a plan is that, because people, because their mindsets have shifted, they have created a plan that they believe is effective and useful and bold and exciting. And because of that, they\u2019re invested in making this plan work, this strategy work. Does that make sense? If I feel like I have been instrumental in designing this strategy, if I feel that it is different from things that we\u2019ve done in the past, if I feel like some of the challenges, perhaps within the team or within the business, it has been looked at and honestly discussed, now I feel like I can really get behind this strategy. And then, we don\u2019t leave at that point, right? Like, we don\u2019t go, \u201cthat\u2019s great!\u201d So, then we help people design the systems and processes to implement that strategy, which means that this new mindset will be reinforced every time you implement the strategy or implement the systems and processes that create the strategy, right? So, it\u2019s this self, what is it called?<\/em><\/p>\n KS<\/strong> Like a loop?<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yeah, it\u2019s this loop that basically, every time you do something\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> You\u2019re feeding into it\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> You\u2019re feeding into and reinforcing your mindset. So, that\u2019s why that stage two is so important, right? Stage one is great, and you do get this revolutionary strategy. And it\u2019s a bold strategy and people are buying into it, but almost more important than that is developing the mechanisms that will put that strategy into place, informed by our shift in thinking because then it\u2019s this loop, this cycle, that constantly is reinforcing itself because you are constantly doing something now that reinforces your shift in thinking.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> And so, what type of groups are you usually working with on the Strategic Focus? <\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Yes, so, obviously, it\u2019s going to be like the senior teams who are in the position to develop Strategic Focus. So, it\u2019s usually going to be C-suites, directors, and all those kind of people.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Well, great! So, is there anything else that you\u2019d like to share with us about Strategic Focus Consulting?<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> I would say that, probably, making a plan is easy, and I think that when we \u2013 I don\u2019t know if anybody listening to this has ever had the experience of you going to a, like a planning meeting or strategy meeting. You sit down and you plan these amazing things and it all sounds really, really cool and it\u2019s super ambitious and I absolutely love it. And then you sort of walk away maybe two or three months later and now those, like when you get into the day-to-day job and those things seem, they seem almost like wistful and they seem almost like a long time ago now. Like even though they weren\u2019t, and they don\u2019t tend to happen, and I kind of brand those sorts of conversations more like either, like we are kind of building castles in the air. Or they\u2019re kind of planning meetings, and castles in the air is great, but it doesn\u2019t turn into anything. And planning meetings tend to be, kind of, produce the same sort of things that we\u2019ve always done. And I think a different approach of just being willing to think about our business differently and being willing to come up with something that is bold but also doable and practical, and then taking the steps to make that happen, you know, is perhaps a different way for people to think about strategy.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Okay, great! Well, thanks again for joining me today on Outback Talks. It was great to have you back!<\/em><\/p>\n JB:<\/strong> Thank you very much!<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> That\u2019s it for this episode of Outback Talks. Thanks again to Joe for joining me on today\u2019s show and thank you for listening. Outback Team Building & Training helps organizations across North America build relationships through memorable team building, training, and consulting experiences. And our team has been recommended by over 14,000 corporate groups in the United States and Canada. To learn more about Joe and his coaching and consulting solutions, visit the Coaching & Consulting section of our website at outbackteambuilding.com or get in touch with one of our Employee Engagement Consultants, and don\u2019t forget to subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you may listen to your podcasts. Until next time, this is Outback Talks: The Employee Engagement Podcast.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Joe Britto sat down with our team for another episode of Outback Talks to discuss the management consulting solution that can help support strategic leadership. Listen in to learn more about Strategic Focus Consulting and the six attributes of a leadership mindset, according to Joe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8583,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[27,22,28],"class_list":["post-18292","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employee-engagement","category-leadership-training","category-podcasts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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How Innate Leaders\u2019 Management Consulting Works<\/h4>\n\n\n
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The 6 Attributes and Strategic Focus Consulting<\/h4>\n\n\n1. Mindfulness<\/h5>\n\n\n
2. Genuine Curiosity<\/h5>\n\n\n
3. Flexibility of Mind<\/h5>\n\n\n
4. Resilience<\/h5>\n\n\n
5. Creating Leaders<\/h5>\n\n\n
6. Enterprise Thinking<\/h5>\n\n\n
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Strategic Focus Consulting<\/h4>\n\nWhat Is Strategic Focus Consulting?<\/h5>\n\n\n
Who Is Strategic Focus Consulting For?<\/h5>\n\n\n
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How Strategic Focus Consulting Is Different<\/h4>\n\n\n
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Learn More About How Management Consulting Can Support Your Team<\/h4>\n\n\n
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Transcript:<\/h5>\n\n