Does it drive you to distraction when you bring in a consultant to deal with a problem, you pay them good money, and hours later they tell you the answers are within you? I mean, if you HAD the answers you wouldn’t be bringing people in to consult with, would you!
Okay, I had to get that off of my chest. About me: I’m not going to pretend that someone else wrote this for me; I’ll be honest and speak for myself. I grew up in a family business and perhaps that’s where I learned the most about management, employee relations, and customer service. My dad, a very devout man, taught me about hard work, honesty, and living up to a personal code of honour. Clients, employees, and family, were all treated the same. He’s who I think about first when I think of “integrity.”
Then I studied psychology, earned my Master’s Degree, became a Family Therapist, started a consulting and coaching business with a focus on work issues, and that combined with servicing Employee Assistance Programs for over 20 years, taught me even more about what motivates people and what they require in relationships. I have literally consulted with and coached thousands of employees, supervisors, managers, and executives concerning possibly every personal issue and work situation that you might be experiencing. All of that helped me learn what to do and what not to do if you want to thrive as a leader, and have productive employees and highly functioning teams. I’ve worked and managed in the private sector, social services, and non profit sector and developed and supervised teams for over 25 years-not to mention all the sports teams I’ve been on. I co-owned my first business when I was 21. I’m a former Ontario Graduate Scholar, and the recipient of a Harshman Foundation Award for leadership potential. My coaching style is based on extensive clinical training in Solution-Oriented, Constructivist, and Narrative theory.
I love teams-well, the ones that work well. I love working too, but only when I believe in the organization that I work for. I’m not much for pretense, and I find office politics and toxic work environments to be disheartening. I believe that organizations, like people, can possess integrity, even a sense of spirituality. I think that any group of people, no matter the size, develops its own culture, and that culture can be filled with energy, passion, commitment, and talented people who want to stay there, or it can be life sucking, resulting in that group barely scratching the surface of its potential (not to mention all the employee burnout, work to rule, absenteeism, stress leave, and harassment claims costs that can accumulate).
What else? Well, I listen well. If you decide to talk with me, I’ll pay very close attention to what you have to say. Then if you want, I’ll pay very close attention to what everyone else in your organization has to say and be very honest with you about what I find. And then, we’ll work together to develop an integrity based organization that has clear values and ethics and lives by them. We’ll develop energized teams made up of people who know exactly what their common mission is and they’ll be committed to achieving it together. They’ll trust in you and each other, and they won’t know the difference between their organization’s objectives and their own (because there won’t be one).
Oh, and I love challenges. Whether you’re a leader new to an organization and looking to transform it, or you’ve had a lot of poorly managed change, a break down of management-staff trust, a climate of toxicity, negativity, and fear, or whether you’d like to prevent all those things from happening, I’d love to hear from you. Let’s have a conversation and see where it leads us. Just don’t expect any “visioning, action items, facetime, and value added” talk from me-my dad wouldn’t stand for it! If you’d like some personal coaching just for you, that would be fine as well. As I said, I’ve likely heard what you’re dealing with before and I’m confident that I’ll be able to help.
One last thing; I’m not able to talk about integrity because I always have so much of it and I’m better than you. In fact, from my own personal life, I know what can happen when one loses connection with values, doesn’t behave according to those values, and does not focus with one’s team to stay true to a mission. I’ve paid dearly for those times. Whether you’re an individual feeling a little lost, or someone representing a team, or a company, or an agency, or a church, I’d like to help you avoid the same mistakes.
Sincerely,
Theo Selles
