Team Coaching and Facilitation

Leading Teams in Times of Change

Leadership self-awareness, connecting with a sense of meaning and purpose in the work we do is essential to building high performing teams that excel in achieving results. Using our patented processes, The Purpose Initiative ®, The Purpose Culture, and The Genius Field, we support leaders and teams to access their creativity and innovation and achieve what they previously imagined possible.

At Gates Group LLC we are often called upon to facilitate leadership planning and strategy sessions to enable teams to harness their potential and make the most of their time together.

Our team has collectively worked with thousands of high level leaders —from NASA astronauts, to Naval Jet Fighter Pilots to Royal Dutch Shell Oil Rig managers, Silicon Valley Tech Innovators and start-up Founders and CEOs— helping them overcome seemingly impossible challenges and evolve their leadership skills for more inspired, productive and impactful teams and organizations.

We explore team dynamics, relationship tensions, communication break downs. We clarify challenges, prioritize goals and create commitments and action plans for change. We get strategic and focused on what’s important vs. the time drain of the unimportant. We work with teams suffering from debilitating conflicts on the verge of imploding to those with a desire to simply be a more effective, aligned and focused on the right priorities. In situations where the team is no longer viable, the process of transition becomes smoother and less stressful for all involved. 

Teams emerge more motivated, impactful, aligned
and clear on the path ahead.

At its core, a team is comprised of human beings who want to be heard, seen and acknowledged for their contributions while they engage in meaningful work. 

From this place, anything is possible.

Laura is the most adept facilitator I've ever worked with. She has incredible tact and an uncanny ability to cut through difficult situations to get to the root cause of what's going on.

-VC-backed tech start-up Founder & CEO

Approach
Our workshops and facilitation are fun, engaging, hands-on,  practical and results-oriented. We focus on concrete business challenges. Each program is unique and custom-designed, combining presentation and workshop format with experiential exercises, self-reflection, small group learning and large format discussions. 

Hard Conversations
The ability to have difficult conversations in the workplace, talk through disagreements and deliver useful constructive feedback enables us to be more effective and impactful in our work. In this program we help illuminate key areas where conflicts can arise and provide practical steps to make having hard conversations easier. We will harness lessons learned from training and coaching individuals and teams to overcome conflict, navigate challenging conversations and engage in more powerful ways. Bring  your own examples to work with and apply to learn new tools and have fun doing so!

Zone of Genius* - Tapping our True Potential

An aligned team harnessing its collective Zone of Genius* is unstoppable. Here we explore each team member's Zone of Genius, helping them identify how they can best contribute to the team in their unique way, and how that impacts the whole. We also uncover blocks to tapping into that genius and help you get out of your way to achieving greatness.

• Identify your “zone of genius”

• How to translate this to where you add most value in your role

• Identify areas for leverage—what can you do differently to achieve your goals? Concrete actions to commit to.

• Making an impact, what do YOU want to be remembered for?

• Collective Zone of Genius

*Concept adapted from Gay Hendrick's book The Big Leap

Leadership and Self Awareness

In this series of sessions we explore the various aspects that shape leadership: Organizational, Cultural, Teams and Individuals. You will have a chance to explore your own leadership strengths and challenges as well as discover what inspires you to contribute – where you want to have impact in your career. We will also explore team dynamics and cultural influences to help you identify and clarify as a team and organization what is next for you in terms of the mission you bring to your work. Each person should be prepared to bring their personal challenges and examples to work on.

• Understanding personal drivers

• Ego dynamics sabotaging success

• Navigating Fear

• Interpersonal dynamics

• Core beliefs, our "story"

• Typical time and energy drains

Team Culture, Vision and Values

In this session we explore team values, norms and culture. A series of small and large group discussions allow us to discover where the team is in sync and where it's out of alignment, what needs to change? What do you want to take a stand for in your culture and how do you collectively align around that? What does the future look like? How can you inspire others and motivate change?

Team Dynamics

Building a safe container for transparency and open dialogue, we explore team dynamics, relationship tensions, communication break downs and conflicts. Regaining trust, making clear agreements and commitments is key to maintaining healthy team relationships. Teams often have powerful breakthroughs in these sessions, we've seen long-standing conflicts dissolve before our very eyes!

Innovation and Strategy in Times of Disruption and Chaos

We are living in an era of great change and in some cases, industry upheaval. If you look at disruptive technologies in energy, aerospace, communications, photography, the entertainment industry, the music industry and the advent of breakthroughs in AI and automotive technology, we are in revolutionary times indeed.

In order to lead an evolving organization through chaos, it is essential for today’s leaders, teams and organizations to learn to navigate complexity and tap into innate abilities while supporting others to do the same. As Marshall Goldsmith’s bestselling book says “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There!”

Here we discuss leadership planning and strategy to enable teams to harness their potential and become almost fanatically disciplined about a sense of urgency and utilization of their time. We talk about "managing our energy vs. our time." We address current business challenges and needs with an exploration of tools from IDEO in helping leaders innovate and harness their creativity to be forward looking and anticipating change rather than reacting to it.

Testimonials

Laura has an uncanny ability to use the collective group to help each individual unlock their unique and intuitive leadership qualities. Laura’s retreats have helped me better understand and deepen my leadership qualities and identify opportunities for development in a safe and supportive environment.

—Executive Leader, Oil + Gas Industry

Laura’s skills in feedback and team facilitation helped me build a high-performing, executive-level team at NASA Headquarters. As a new team in NASA’s newest mission directorate, she helped us define our strategy in the challenging environment of Washington D.C., and helped us work through long-standing interpersonal issues to transition into a high-performance team. Laura quickly identifies the critical issues and moves the team to address them. She delivers results! In fact, one of the more skeptical member of our team even commented after working with Laura that she was the most impactful and effective facilitator he had ever encountered.

-Senior Government Executive