Eighteen months ago, when David Wantman (CEO) and Greg Sauter (President) set out to deepen relationships and cohesion amongst the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) at WGI – a national design and professional services firm with 18 offices stretching from West Palm Beach, Florida to Austin, Texas – they couldn’t have foreseen the dividends that decision would pay during the human and economic crisis that is Covid-19.
WGI is no stranger to changing terrain and steep ascents. The firm’s history is rooted in win-win partnerships and strategic mergers, bringing together talented individuals and teams to form a whole new competitive advantage.
With the acquisition of Big Red Dog (BRD) of Austin, TX on January 1, 2019 – growing headcount by nearly 30% and further distributing WGI’s workforce and leadership team members, geographically David & Greg recognized the criticality of fostering genuine relationships and authentic trust amongst SLT members in order to deliver on the strategic promise of the merger.
WGI enlisted two partners who proved critical to that process: Joan Hobbs of Hobbs Leadership Coaching & Consulting shined light on the SLTʼs complementary styles and strengths during monthly onsite coaching sessions, and Outward Bound Professional applied its unique learn-by-doing approach to reinforce those learnings and to promote new discoveries.
Equipped with Joan Hobbsʼ pre-engagement coaching, as well as input from Greg & David, Outward Bound Professional facilitators, Clint Studdard and Gary Tublin, presented WGI’s executives with a progression of team initiatives during a three-day offsite conducted in and around the Tallulah Gorge State Park in October 2019. Each challenge required varying degrees of physical, cognitive, and emotional commitment, and between periods of activity, team members reflected on their experiences, taking care to examine how specific behaviors had served them. Were they consistent with the teamʼs “ground rules” (i.e. operating principles) developed in collaboration with Joan Hobbs in the months prior? Did their actions match their words? On the final morning, Clint & Gary guided the SLT to prioritize actions plans for the weeks and months which would follow.
What became of this significant investment of time, energy, and resources? And why is it relevant during the Covid-19 pandemic?
According to David Wantman, CEO, “The SLT has made huge strides in terms of communications & trust. People don’t hesitate to bring an issue to the group’s attention. Covid-19 has frayed people’s nerves differently, but because we know and understand each other better, now, we’re able to appreciate differing perspectives.”
Covid-19 has required many hard decisions and adaptations. “None of us thought we would have 70% of our team working remotely,” Greg Sauter says. Members of the SLT have stepped up to tackle unfamiliar duties: Chief Marketing Officer, Will Schnier, accepted the task of developing consensus on the spending reductions to be implemented as a result of Covid-19, and Michael Davis (Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer) is spearheading the internal communications – a critical function during periods ripe with anxiety.
Photo: the Tallulah Gorge
A year and a half ago, it would likely have been the CEO’s job on both fronts,” according to Will. “Now David gets to focus on making critical and timely decisions, based on data and input provided by other leadership team members. We learned in the Tallulah Gorge [with Outward Bound] that as a group of leaders, sometimes we have to let one of us take the lead on a certain item and be the willing support pieces. We learned to accept that someone among us may be a better leader than ourselves during any specific challenge.”
Greg Sauter says, “Plain and simple, we upped the trust and are a more cohesive and committed team since our Outward Bound experiences. There is nothing like the experiences and programming that Outward Bound provides with the outdoors as the perfect backdrop for learning as a leadership team.”
David & Greg believe the SLT’s growth experience will cascade throughout the organization, reinforcing WGI’s culture of excellence, innovation, people, and clients…but theyʼre not resting on their laurels. On the contrary: the SLT regularly reviews progress against the top priorities which emerged during last Octoberʼs offsite, and Outward Bound Professional remains an active partner, adapting its experiential methods to todayʼs “distanced” reality. Before long, though, these clouds will part, and the WGI crew will be chomping to tackle another summit.
