Excellence

Deliver excellent service and be excellent co-workers and collaborators.
Expect to work hard and work smart. Provide extraordinary value to our clients.

Results

Results tell us the extent to which our strategies are sound and our organizations are capable.

Humility

If there is a secret sauce to effective leadership, it is humility.
You’re invited to challenge any biases and assumptions in pursuit of excellence —
and I commit to responding positively to those challenges.

Simplicity

The ability to distill the complexity of the world and our work into something more manageable
is a prerequisite to solving the puzzles we confront. Importantly, part of our responsibility
is to engage with the complexity rather than pretend it doesn’t exist.

Candor (Authenticity & Integrity)

"Saying what we mean, and meaning what we say"
is as an essential part of showing-up as a "leader" – and "leader" means anyone who
intends to influence others in a positive and constructive manner, irrespective of
their role in an organization. Being candid when one’s views and thoughts run counter
to the prevailing "wisdom" of a leader, a team, or an entire organization requires courage — another attribute that Catalyz holds dear.

Clarity

Communication, written or oral, that is clear has a much higher probability of being received and acted upon in a manner that’s consistent with what the deliverer sought. Clarity is also an attribute of sincere communication. George Orwell was right when he said, "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity." Of course, another enemy of clarity is sloppy thinking.

Analytical Rigor & Intellectual Discipline

While many situations can be addressed qualitatively, there are also situations where data and analytics are essential for making progress. When people get stuck in their positions, in what we call a "battle of beliefs",
it is data and analytics that allow us to build the cases for and/or against
all sides of a debate and ultimately get beyond the battle to a place of alignment.

Intellectual & Emotional Honesty

It is so easy to get caught-up in whatever it is that we are focused on achieving. In doing so, we can easily lose sight of the bigger picture. Being open to being reminded by others that we may not be "on track" intellectually or emotionally is an important capability. It’s a capability that separates those that truly influence others from those that merely treat others as a means to an end.

Alignment

Within or across a team, alignment is the most important condition. Importantly, alignment is not "consensus". It is instead, a state in which people who may not agree set their differences aside and jointly own a decision so that the organization can move forward.

Benevolence, Compassion & Empathy

While all of the other values are important, perhaps the most important is the ability to put oneself in the position of another. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." In life generally and in consulting in particular, having the best interest of whomever we’re interacting with in our heart and in our mind is at the core of every relationship.

Trust

Wrestling with difficult topics, having the conversations that would be easier to duck, and working through differences of opinion and perspective requires trust. Developing and maintaining trust requires people to be vulnerable, to take personal risk. Trust is comprised of equal parts: ability, integrity, and benevolence.