Month: January 2024

“There’s really nothing like Lauder love,” says Laura Goldenberg, Executive Director of the Lauder Institute Alumni Association (LIAA). She’s describing the unique bond experienced by Lauder Institute graduates who earn an MBA from the Wharton School, or a JD from Penn Carey Law School and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Laura suspects “Lauder Love” drove 200 Lauder alumni to respond when invited to join Meridians, spearheaded by the Lauder Women’s Group, that provides alumni with an opportunity for ongoing personal and professional connection and growth.

Candidates who have a passion for international business, culture and language can apply to The Wharton School or Penn Carey Law School and the Lauder Institute, a unique joint degree program that prepares them to become global leaders. Students apply to one of six programs of concentration, and travel abroad numerous times during their 2-year program. The experience offers interdisciplinary knowledge, intercultural fluency and language ability.

The international component forms a unique bond, according to Mary Flanagan, founder of the Lauder Women’s Group and an advisor to the Meridians initiative. “You find kindred spirits in the Lauder community. I think that’s why we have such a strong alumni network and look for ways to stay connected.”

The Lauder Women’s Group was formed in 2022, and presents quarterly webinars and other community-building points of connection. Lauder Meridians developed from a Lauder Women’s Group discussion to create small group engagement opportunities. Together with the Circles team, Mary, Laura, Melissa Blohm, and other volunteers designed and launched a pilot program, sorting participants from around the globe into groups based on time zones, while ensuring diversity of cultural background, industry, and experience. Meridians have connected monthly since May 2023 in guided 90-minute groups, discussing everything from relationships to career paths.

Objectives for the program include:

• Fostering genuine connections with other Lauder women leaders.
• Sharing stories and overcoming challenges for personal and professional growth.
• Gaining a community and tools to bolster ongoing leadership journeys.
• Dedicating time for each participant to clarify a leadership “why.”

• Not a webinar or subject matter lecture, Meridians offer intentional space in small groups designed to uncover and explore themes common to Lauder women.

Connection Beyond Networking

The first four sessions of the program built trust through vulnerability, followed by several challenge exploration sessions highlighting a particular challenge one member currently faces. Emily appreciated participating in the challenges shared by women further along in their careers. “It’s so valuable for me to hear first-hand experiences like that, describing how complexity increases over your career and how to prepare.”

Her family immigrated to Brazil from Taiwan, and then to the U.S. when she was twelve years old, so Emily grew up hearing Chinese spoken at home; accordingly, she chose the Asia and Mandarin language track at Lauder and spent time studying in both Shanghai and Beijing. “There’s already a natural bond and affinity between Lauder alums. My Meridian has people who have lived all over the world and that openness and curiosity made us immediately like each other and open up.”

She says women in her Meridian discuss everything from fertility and dating in their 30s to returning to work after having children. “The most valuable part of the experience for me was not solving problems, but hearing different perspectives.”

Developing Facilitative Leaders

“As a facilitator, I share things I have struggled with because while some participants are fresh out of grad school, others have had to leave careers for various reasons, and they feel like failures. I know what it’s like to have to redefine success over the course of your career–for me, at one point success meant walking away from a McKinsey career and prioritizing myself and my kids.”

In her work as a Transformation Coach, Sydel teaches classes on creativity and mindfulness. She says Meridians facilitator training helped her grow in her listening skills, and the Meridian sessions developed her ability to keep conversations going. “When people start offering  advice in response to others, I redirect them to save that for later when they’re sharing their own story.” Facilitators are trained to watch conversations and steer them in the right direction, observing individual breakthroughs and choosing what question to ask next.

One session in particular stood out to Sydel. During the initial check-in round, participant Lu Jiang shared that she had recently been in a car accident and could barely walk, and that because she had just moved to Los Angeles, she knew no one and had to fly in her mom to

take care of her. She shared “I feel terrible physically and I’m bedridden, but didn’t want to miss this meeting and connecting with you all.”

Lu and most of the other Meridian participants live in the Los Angeles area. One weekend shortly after her accident, Sydel was heading up to visit her daughter in LA and sent a message to the group, asking if anyone wanted to meet in person. Walking with a cane still recovering from her accident, Lu came to meet Sydel and her daughter for breakfast, along with another LA participant. “We made a connection in Meridian because it was a safe space where Lu could share how she was really doing. This is my purpose; to create safe spaces where women can share in a vulnerable way and realize we’re not alone.”

Global Connection Points

That’s exactly what Meridians offered for Karine Alyanakian of PepsiCo, a 2014 Lauder alum who joined a NYC Meridian when she relocated back to New York after six years away. “I wanted to reconnect with classmates and rebuild community, and Meridians was the perfect way to do that.” Like Emily, she appreciated the wide range of life stages represented by the grads in her group.

Ready to manage less and lead more? We’ve got you covered. Get ready to elevate your team by unlocking powerful conversations in The Team Table.

As a modern manager, you work hard to navigate new hybrid work modes, societal anxieties, and the ever-increasing need for team speed. Has your team lost the magical feeling from the last offsite? Does work feel more siloed than ever? Teams need a new way to quickly build trust and grow together, addressing issues before they fester.

Rather than another training, tool, or video conference platform, The Team Table enables the big, breakthrough conversations we often avoid, conversations that, over time, move teams into a high-value zone where they open up, count on each other, and develop a clear, shared purpose.

We worked with and distilled best practices from management thought leaders and social learning experts like Harvard Business School, The Aspen Institute, and Young Presidents’ Organization. The result is an interface that creates a refreshing experience but also has the transformative capability to elevate team conversations to the next level.

Initially, we facilitate and demonstrate The Team Table, using our most popular “Conversations.” Once you’ve seen how it works, we leave and you take over.

The Team Table includes:

• Interactive Agendas structured to support your most important team discussions
• Conversation Tools built to facilitate equitable talk time and the flow of dialogue
• An Automatic Process created to capture key challenges, takeaways and actions
• Sparks and Prompts included to help connect and build the kind of trust your team needs to perform at their peak

In short: The Team Table builds trust through openness, accountability, and shared purpose.  Ready to try something different designed with your people in mind? Here’s how to experience our proven recipe:

Step 1: Reserve your Team Table for a 60- minute session with your team

Step 2: Watch for your invitation and Circles Guide introduction

Step 3: Answer a few easy questions via email or phone, depending on your preference

Step 4: Add your team to the invitation to experience The Team Table together

That’s it. We can’t wait to host you at The Team Table.

In the last year, hundreds of leaders have gathered in CircleSpace to engage in powerful conversations that elevate teams. The Circles framework and conversation library have improved team health and productivity, while developing dozens of participants into facilitative leaders.

Whether it’s leadership or team development, here are four use cases highlighting the best of CircleSpace 2023.

Developing Teams at KLog.co

When Janan Knust, CEO of logistics company KLog, suggested that a Circl.es facilitated program be incorporated into his executive team’s offsite, KLog CFO and Chief Strategist Igal Meirovich knew it was the right move. “In professional dynamic environments, getting personal can look weak. So you have to be intentional about opening up with each other. That’s when you realize authenticity is a strength, not a weakness.”

Together with the Circles team, Igal put a plan in place for the executives to step away from the grind and go deep, using Circles’ Foundations program. Foundations teaches teams how to listen to each other, through equitable conversations honoring each person. Using a three pillar framework of openness, accountability and shared purpose, a facilitator guides teams to establish norms while prompting deeper questions, both of which invite teams to open up in ways they typically haven’t before.

KLog’s executive team experienced significant breakthroughs over the course of the sessions.

After completing Foundations, CTO Alvaro Serrano says Circles will scale their core company values and give them a competitive edge in the field of logistics. “I think what differentiates us in the logistics industry is our empathy, authenticity and transparency. We want those values to be reflected in sales, operations, and customer service and success. We need to translate the Circles experience to the rest of KLog.”

Changing the Culture at Lloyd’s Register

While the homogenous white male maritime industry of the late 18th century has evolved, Lloyd’s Register continues to pursue gender equality for their globally dispersed workforce consisting of 70% men and 30% women. Through a partnership with Circles, LR recently created and implemented Safe Harbor Circles to help bridge the gender gap.

Safe Harbor reached people who don’t always feel comfortable sharing in other spaces, and they often reported feeling less lonely. For example: two female naval architects who had both been with LR for over ten years never crossed paths until they met in a Safe Harbor Circle. One reflected, “It would have been so helpful to know each other when we were starting our careers at LR.”

Another participant appreciated the space to recognize commonalities with global colleagues. “I’m in Japan, and I never knew I could reflect like this with someone across the world in the UK.” The sessions raised her awareness of global gender gap realities while providing a community with a shared sense of purpose

Developing Facilitative Leaders at Merakey

Ali Bolick leads Merakey’s enterprise-wide learning team, and was the first at Merakey to discover CircleSpace. In the midst of rolling out a new manager training program, she joined a one-off session, immediately noticing the psychological safety. “People can be themselves in CircleSpace–they are not afraid to share.” Captivated by her experience, she shifted the remaining new manager program sessions into CircleSpace. The completely redesigned Merakey New Manager Training now incorporates peer circles, providing space to practice, apply and sustain concepts and behaviors.

Merakey sent five of their own team members through a three-session facilitation training. One of them, Kristen Smith, is now a Certified Guide, empowered to design and deliver Circles sessions independently. Kristen felt the main takeaways of her CircleLeader training included personal growth, enhanced leadership abilities, and empowerment to help build healthy communities. “I walked away from my cohort having experienced firsthand that truly authentic human connection is achievable in a virtual hybrid workplace.”

Connecting ERG Leaders in CircleSpace

Dumebi Egbuna and Toby Egbuna co-founded Chezie, a diversity, equity, and inclusion company that helps people find belonging in the workplace. They host an online community of 700 ERG leaders who collaborate on events and ideas, share best practices, and access valuable resources. To create inclusive spaces for the community’s monthly small group connections, Chezie began developing a partnership with Circles early this year.

When they turned to Circles to host a Black History Month round table in February, 25 black ERG leaders joined the Heritage Month Circle. Participants scored it 9.7 out of 10 and came away praising the intimacy of the session, provided by breakout rooms and other unique platform features. Dumebi reflected on the session’s success: “Circles’ unique design provides a space for people to share their voice and be celebrated for their inputs to a conversation.”

The Chezie team went on to host monthly ERG round tables in Circles all year, allowing leaders across organizations to collaborate and lean on each other. “I can’t even tell you how many people come to us, asking to be connected to other ERG leaders so they can learn from others.” CirclesSpace’s unique, inclusive design is helping Chezie unite and develop a community of 6000-7000 ERG leaders.

Takeaways

CircleSpace is paving the way for high-performing, healthy team culture that scales. Together with our partners, we’ve designed an interface that creates a refreshing experience and offers the transformative capability to take team conversations to another level.

We’ve built Foundations right into our latest product The Team Table as a result of the KLog case study. The Team Table offers continuous, powerful conversation templates for managers to use with their teams.

Ready to elevate your team? Experience CircleSpace for yourself: book your complimentary session in The Team Table here!

Janan Knust of Santiago, Chile spent the last decade building his logistics company KLog. Thanks to rapid growth, he recently shifted his focus to preparing for investors. As KLog expands into Mexico and Peru–with team members spanning countries–Janan sees the value in establishing a scalable, trusting culture that will ultimately provide a strategic business advantage. Because even the most talented teams get stuck in ruts, he knew he had to start by fine-tuning his executive team’s working relationships.

While discussing how to create a powerful offsite experience for his team with Endeavor President and Circles partner Adrian Garcia, Janan learned that Endeavor relies on Circles for virtual & in-person peer circles. Rather than relying on a traditional team offsite, Adrian suggested Janan also gather his executive team in CircleSpace sessions. Recalling the power of his previous Circles experience through his Harvard OPM network forum, Janan put a plan in place for a CircleSpace executive team offsite. Janan tells us that “Learning is great, but the real value of ideas is when they are put into action. At HBS, I learned that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Discovering Circles, I saw the potential for real transformation. It offers a unique opportunity to put this theory into practice and change any organization’s culture.”

With the widespread adoption of hybrid and dispersed work, companies need spaces to elevate their teams through powerful, high-value conversations. Here’s KLog’s story of building team trust in Circles.

Laying Foundations of Trust

Almost ten years ago, the KLog executive team began as startups do: a core group of leaders, small enough to function hands-on, operating without a framework that scaled beyond themselves. Over time they added digital SaaS execs to their team, grew rapidly, and dispersed across Latin America. This growth coupled with the need to prepare for investors presented the opportunity to quickly build trust as an executive team, while simultaneously putting a plan in place to scale that culture.

When Janan suggested that a Circl.es facilitated program be incorporated into his team offsite, KLog CFO and Chief Strategist Igal Meirovich knew it was the right move. “In professional dynamic environments, getting personal can look weak. So you have to be intentional about opening up with each other. That’s when you realize authenticity is a strength, not a weakness.”

Together with the Circles team, Igal put a plan in place for the executives to step away from the grind and go deep, using Circles’ Foundations of Trust (FOT) program. FOT teaches teams how to listen to each other, through equitable conversations honoring each person. Using a three pillar framework of openness, accountability and shared purpose, a facilitator guides teams to establish norms while prompting deeper questions, both of which invite teams to open up in ways they typically haven’t before.

KLog’s exec team gathered for their initial session in CircleSpace, with a facilitated agenda framed around openness.  That session introduced strong small group norms that set the stage for powerful in-person sessions discussing accountability and shared purpose, guided by Circles Certified Guide, Jami.  Each conversation made space for reflection, honesty and problem solving – necessary components to building trust on their team.

These intentional spaces allowed the KLog executive team to talk about the hard stuff, resulting in significant breakthroughs.

Playing by Heart

Igal knows you can’t build a high-performing team without openness, accountability, and shared purpose. He likens it to a successful soccer team. “Down here in Chile, we play soccer. If you pass the ball, you need to be able to trust the teammate you’re playing with, like when you throw a pass, he’ll be there 100% to receive the ball and execute the next move. We call that kind of trust playing by heart.”

He says playing by heart is also like a dance: you can’t build trust without getting personal, yet you can’t get personal without building trust.

Foundations of Trust makes room for that dance, and gave Igal’s team the tools to have tough conversations. “In one session, my teammate brought up a monthly report I’m responsible for that is never on time. He reminded me that he relies on that report for his team to function.” That conversation prompted Igal to grow in team accountability.

Jami guided them through the process, identifying and drilling down on significant discussions that naturally arose. Igal says she was key to the process. “We’re a busy, demanding, intense team, and she crossed cultures with us, helping us have those tough conversations.

Igal sees the importance of continuing their CircleSpace journey. “We must meet regularly in CircleSpace to continue that dance between getting personal and building trust. That’s how we can go deeper as a team and play by heart.”

Keeping Promises: A Team Breakthrough

KLog’s very first Foundations of Trust session showcased the power of the experience to CTO Alvaro Serrano. “We could not have had the same dynamic in person, or using a different platform. Circles is a strategically designed space with a moderator that guides the whole conversation.” He noticed how the design and features allow everyone to engage equitably. “In Circles, the CEO is one of us, and that is a highlight. There weren’t differences based on competencies or experience or organizational level.” The session icebreakers also stood out to Alvaro, who commented “They are not fluff: they give way to real vulnerability.”

That vulnerability quickly built the trust that allowed KLog’s executive team to engage in hard conversations–which in turn built more trust, like the dance Igal described. Those difficult but necessary conversations opened the door to accountability; Alvaro mentioned one session where the first ten minutes covered keeping promises, a subject he realized applied to him. He says Jami expertly facilitated important conversations. “She helped identify my case as a discussion point, and everyone asked questions and really got me going into an introspection.

Since becoming KLog’s CTO six years ago, Alvaro built a team of 25 engineers from scratch. Over time, he delegated writing code to the team, yet his passion for the craft kept him writing code instead of managing his team better. “The decision I made during Foundations of Trust was to stop writing code. I can’t do that and manage 25 engineers at the same time. I came away with two priorities: keeping promises, and managing my team.”

After completing Foundations of Trust, Alvaro says the executive team made a commitment to each other: “If nothing carries forward to our teams from this offsite, then we will have failed. We must effectively communicate out what we’ve learned, scale it, and share it with our teams throughout the organization.” He says Circles will scale their core company values and give them a competitive edge in the field of logistics. “I think what differentiates us in the logistics industry is our empathy, authenticity and transparency. We want those values to be reflected in sales, operations, and customer service and success. We need to translate the Circles experience to the rest of KLog.”

Scaling Powerful Teams

KLog.co’s Executive Leadership Team strengthened the way they operate with a high level of trust, improving the quality of their strategic decisions and acting as a model for the rest of the organization. Ultimately, scaling that culture will allow them to continue serving their customers and reaching their goals in a way that’s true to their values of empathy, authenticity and transparency. In phase two, the Circles team will customize the off-the-shelf program, translate it into Spanish, and train KLog leaders & HR business partners to deliver it to their next layer of teams.

Conclusion

CircleSpace is paving the way for high-performing, trusting team culture that scales. We’ve worked with and distilled best practices from management, thought leaders, and social learning experts like Harvard Business School, The Aspen Institute, and Young Presidents Organization. Together with our partners, we’ve designed an interface that creates a refreshing experience and offers the transformative capability to take team conversations to another level.

Foundations of Trust is the perfect way to begin a Team Table experience of ongoing high-value conversations–in fact, we’ve built Foundations of Trust right into Team Table as a result of the KLog case study. Going forward, Team Table offers continuous, high-impact conversation templates for KLog managers to use with their teams.

Stuck in a rut with your own team? Experience CircleSpace for yourself: book your complimentary session in The Team Table here!