Indu Brar
We are back after what the entire team thinks, was an incredible few days together.
Your work with us has been instrumental at this very important stage of our journey and has allowed a relatively new group of senior leaders to better understand and become excited about each other and what each person brings to the table.
It starts with me, and I cannot stress enough my takeaway of really making the investment in understanding each other first. I’ve always known how important this is, but with all the people change in the midst of the peak business season, and perhaps having already done this once before, I didn’t make the time right out of the gate other than at a superficial level. I can now see that I wasn’t modelling this with each new member of the team. I also appreciate that at the end of the day it starts with me.
By engaging you, you took our team one giant step ahead by giving us a deeper dive of ourselves and most importantly, what we really “need” from each other, where we go when we don’t get it, you showed us how to get the best of each other and in fact in any relationship. This is golden! I am so thankful that we did this within the first five months of this new team coming to be.
We spent Friday in a strategy meeting and for the first time, I saw a lightness, a greater understanding and appreciation of each other, a rallying cry and lots of fire in the belly. All the rights steps on the road to becoming a high performing team. I am excited about the possibilities of the future. You gave that to us, and I can’t thank you enough. It re-affirms just how important it is to have an expert lead the way with the Birkman assessment as an incredibly powerful foundation.
Caroline Dunn
Dave Phillips was a critical advisor during my transition into the CEO role. In a world of underrepresentation of women in the leadership ranks, Dave Phillips is making his contribution to the solution.
Nate Kinzinger
The purpose mission work I did with Dave was the most impactful thing that I have ever been through. I review my Purpose, Mission and Vision work probably every two weeks and haven't changed a word in the past 5 years as the process was so well-thought-out. It's really been very impactful.
It has led to the launch of my consulting business. Purpose, Mission and Vision, in that order, really helped define a proper scope or activities in my life.
Lina Taylor
Never before has the concept of purpose been explained in such a simple yet powerful way. Dave helped me see my gift and as a result, my business is benefiting from this new level of clarity and commitment.
Brian
This is a great planning tool that helped me see all the most important components of my life one sheet of paper.
Sid
I went through this process over a decade ago and it’s still working for me today.
Leanne Abraham
My team of 6 was hesitant to start these bi weekly team building exercises and mocked the simplicity of STOP GUESSING. However, after the 2nd 20 minute session we all looked forward to the 3rd. By session 4 we fully appreciated how it’s changed the team in a positive way.
We really appreciated the power of these brief conversations when we subsequently had to deal with conflict. The new tools and awareness got us through the conflict in a positive way which would not have happened before we used STOP GUESSING.
It is so simple and easy to use and only takes 20 minutes every second week. We all open our personalized chapter on a new topic like trust or accountability, then each person has about two minutes to describe their top three points and we have a brief summary discussion afterwards.
This simple exercise is transforming our culture.
Ian Troop
In 2008 I engaged Dave to do my Birkman and develop my personal mission statement. It was thoughtful and introspective work, and from it I got a better understanding of myself and defining my personal mission statement or "what I stand for". I never imagined how valuable this work was until I took on the role of CEO of the Toronto 2015 Pan & Para Pan Am Games – the largest multi-sport event ever run in Canada, with 51 sports, 10,000 athletes and officials, funded by three levels of Government with a budget of $1.4 Billion. It was a complex project, and even more complex stakeholder environment. After four years as CEO, the political winds changed in Ontario, and my Chairman was replaced by a politician. It was then I saw the value of my mission statement, and the grounding it gave me. When I was asked to do things to people for short term political gain my answer was easy – it was a violation of what I stood for, regardless of the consequences to me. My mission statement may have been created in the quiet introspection of 2008, but it was invaluable when things really got hot in the fall of 2013! I recommend Dave to all executives striving to be better leaders.
