My experience with Sharon started with business measurement and processes, roles and responsibilities, developing a personal vision statement, and ended with discovering my “WHY.” Sharon is a skilled coach and facilitator who is well-organized and communicates well.

by Kevin Corcoran, Owner & President, Professional Livery Worldwide, Columbia, MD
Sharon has the ability to illuminate what is happening in the group at the time. This is an art to know how to interfere as little as possible as a facilitator yet quietly guiding the group’s focus.

by Tina Corner, Founder, LXCouncil, Annapolis, MD
If you’re a business owner, carve out at least an hour or two a month to work with Sharon. She will help you grow and avoid obstacles to growth that you may not be able to see. She’s done it for me.

by Tom Ainsley, Founder & CEO, Ainsley & Company, Baltimore, MD
Sharon has been involved with our electric service and construction companies for over six years. Sharon is our partner, not a vendor or consultant, and she has helped us through tremendous growth and lots of company changes. Her knowledge in setting financial metrics, goals and mentoring leadership has been instrumental to the success of our company.

by Eric N. Shatzer, President & CEO, Hawkins Electric Construction and Hawkins Electric Service, Laurel, MD
The end result of the job benchmarking process was TREMENDOUS. The value of the position – what it means to DPS and the value of the $$ it represents – was acknowledged, and we made positive steps. The exercise was invaluable.

by Karyn Schell, Vice President of Operations, DP Solutions, Columbia, MD
My company was growing and in need of a seasoned accounting manager. After enlisting Sharon, she quickly gained an understanding of my business and identified the desired skillset of the prospective manager. She made the hiring process seamless, and in the end, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results.

by Jeff Welbourne, President, Welbourne Electrical Services, Hyattsville, MD
Sharon has been essential to our operations since 1993. She is not only skilled but also readily accessible. Sharon is easy to work with and has always met all of our needs promptly. I recommend her services without any reservation.

by Susan Stamell, Law Offices of Stamell & Schager LLP, New York, NY
Senior team meetings are essential, but that doesn’t mean that they’re always productive. Sharon helped each of our departments not only take ownership for our goals but also understand how each leader approaches problems differently. Her understanding and expertise has proven truly invaluable for our growing team.

by Renee Bagshaw, Executive Vice President, Continental Contractors, Annapolis, MD
Sharon provides the ultimate value in that she understands the total process from A to Z. Accounting, marketing, workflow, you name it! By understanding all the pieces of the puzzle, she’s given me a global viewpoint and a solid path to success.

by Jack Ellis, Owner and CEO, Post Haste Mailing, Annapolis, MD
Having Sharon as a sounding board gave me the confidence to take risks and bring on more talent to support my growing business. I can’t express the difference the results have made for my daily workload—not to mention my sales!

by Kelly Mitchell, Principal, impactHR, Columbia, MD
Sharon knows how to put the right kind of pressure on you to do what you need to help your business.

by Chris Chapman, Owner and President, Loucon LLC, Murray, KY
I have worked closely with Sharon for 10+ years as a financial and business advisor. She’s an excellent listener who can find the core issues in any problem, despite the environmental “noise,” and provide smart, workable solutions. There isn’t anyone else I’d rather work with to take my business to the next level.

by Roberta Rosenberg, Owner & President, MGP Direct, Washington, DC
One of Sharon’s strengths is holding you accountable for the things you want to be held accountable for. And that’s really important in a coach.

by Vincent Marucci, Jr., Principal, The Kenjya-Trusant Group, Columbia, MD
Sharon has a holistic view into the human dimension of being a leader, and that’s not something that most business coaches have. Her strong people skills and personality are highly conducive to a successful coach-client relationship. I consider Sharon a friend and am so grateful for the insight she’s given me over the years. I’ve doubled my company’s size since I started working with her.

by Ravi Waldon, Owner & CEO, Waldon Studio Architects & Planners, Columbia, MD
After more than two decades of being your own boss, it’s nice to have an impartial sounding board. Sharon is a great listener, and her guidance has helped me hit sales, operations, and personnel management out of the park.

by Mark Circo, President and CEO, Tritech, Edgewater, MD
Working one-on-one with Sharon gave me the confidence I needed to take my business to the next level. Even after four years, I continue to lean on Sharon’s wisdom.

by Amy Ives Sroka, Principal, Evolve Consulting Group, Crofton, MD

Stages of Growth X-Ray

You are here: Home » Stages of Growth X-Ray

If you aren’t growing, you are dying.

Many issues that can create chaos in a business aren’t correctly identified or are mislabeled, bundled together or buried under other categories. Misidentifying these kinds of issues can lead a CEO or business owner to attempt to solve one aspect of the problem while ignoring related risk factors and the real underlying causes. Taking the time to identify your top challenges and working to get your management team aligned to address and solve them is a critical step to ensure that you stay ahead of your company’s growth curve.

Our Stages of Growth X-Ray Helps a CEO:

Gauge and gain clarity on the root causes of organizational dysfunction
Develop and enact an effective model for growth
Instill alignment and buy-in with key people, process & profit issues
Identify the factors that create challenges during growth and implement strategies to weather them

Our Approach

We conduct a critical diagnostic of your company’s past, present and future decisions that identifies the “hidden agents” that are impacting a company’s ability to grow. We then develop a plan with senior management that can be successfully implemented to resolve these distracting issues so they can focus on the “right things at the right time”.

Day 1 – Diagnosis: Assessment & Discovery

The first part of the X-Ray involves diagnosing the issues that are creating obstacles to growth, specific to a company’s stage of growth.

Identify Organizational Strengths and Challenges

We assess 27 organizational strengths and challenges to assist CEOs and their management teams in identifying and addressing areas that will impact their company as they grow.

Understand The Company’s Builder/Protector Ratio

The Builder/Protector Ratio is a critical measurement tool that enables leadership to assess the company’s ability to accept change, react with confidence to that change and help the company achieve its stated goals.

By assessing your company’s Builder/Protector Ratio CEOs and business owners gain insight into their company’s mental health by:

Allowing them to measure the company’s ability to perceive and overcome challenges.
Communicating the company’s willingness to both recognize and take advantage of opportunities.
Measure the strength of the company’s “immune defense system” which acts as a barrier against low morale that can produce poor performance.
Assess the company’s willingness to advance itself through the change process.
Asserting the company’s belief in the future.
Assessing the company’s trust in its leaders.

Establish Non-Negotiable Leadership Rules

We assess your company’s 5 Non-Negotiable Leadership Rules that must be addressed to effectively and profitably move to the next stage of growth. This process identifies the “hidden agents” and deep issues that have been overlooked to provide direction for the CEO and clarity and alignment for the organization.

Day 2 – Treatment: Alignment & Accountability

The second part of the X-Ray focuses on treatment by achieving alignment on priority initiatives to address the top 6 – 8 issues and set accountabilities.

Strategic Alignment & Critical Initiatives

By addressing all critical issues identified during the assessment and discovery process, then evaluating how they impact the strategic focus of the company, we develop through consensus, the top initiatives that will address critical growth concerns not addressed in prior growth stages, including those facing the company during its current growth stage.

Intentional Communications

Recognizing what a critical role communication plays in a company’s growth, we create a two-step approach that defines who needs to know what and when, and how those messages will be distributed within and outside the organization.

Creating a Language of Growth

Knowing that a company moves through different stages of growth and the areas of impact are “normal” takes the fear out of growth. Taking the mystery out of running a business helps each and every person feel like participating in critical discussions. Being able to express challenges and issues in everyday language makes everyone feel like a valuable stakeholder, broadening their understanding of how their work impacts the company and recognizing that their contribution improves a company’s bottom line.

Results

CEOs and their Senior Management Team will understand the fundamental growth issues based on their stage of growth so they can attack issues BEFORE they appear, allowing them to literally forecast what they will need to do next.

Client Commitment

The Stages of Growth X-Ray is a 2-day strategic planning workshop followed by regular team meetings to evaluate progress and accountability of established initiatives.

Each member of the leadership team will need to complete multiple online surveys and commit to the agenda.

Business Coaching

Strategic Planning & Facilitating

Organizational Development

Assessments