Carleton-Willard Village

Building Trust and Teamwork with Outward Bound Professional

Carleton-Willard Village and Outward Bound Professional collaborated on two complementary engagements, each utilizing a three-phase methodology:

Engagement #1: Senior Leadership Team

Phase 1: Assess & Design

Work with the senior leadership team commenced in early 2024, beginning with a discovery effort which would inform Outward Bound Professional’s design of a two-night offsite held at the Wequassett Resort on Cape Cod. 

Phase 2: Engage & Impact

On the Cape, HIOBS facilitated long days consisting of challenging teaming exercises and meaningful conversations from sunrise until well-beyond dinner. Interwoven throughout were insights—and a common language to describe them—gained by incorporating the Gallup Center's CliftonStrengths Top 5 assessment tool during Phase 1 discovery efforts. 

Phase 3: Apply & Reinforce

Weeks after the SLT's offsite, HIOBS's facilitators conducted individualized, confidential coaching sessions with each SLT member, reflecting on lessons learned, action steps taken, and the targeting of identified talents.

Engagement #2: Incorporating Department Heads and the Senior Leadership Team

Phase 1: Assess & Design

In the fall of 2024 Carleton-Willard and HIOBS re-engaged to incorporate leaders across all departments. As with the SLT, each new participant gained access their own CliftonStrengths Top 5 results and a profile of the aggregate team across four domains:  Strategic Thinking, Executing, Influencing, and Relationship Building.

Phase 2: Engage & Impact

Next, the whole group—SLT included—convened at MIT's Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts for a single-night retreat requiring cross-functional leaders to cooperatively tackle challenges that would require—and illuminate—all of their complementary strengths.

Phase 3: Apply & Reinforce

Three months following the offsite, the engagement concluded with individualized coaching for each departmental leader, as well as a full-group facilitation to reinforce the norms and behaviors required to maintain a psychologically safe work environment for all.