This week is “week one” for my full time employment with T.A.S. The past seven weeks have been packed full with setting up a business, website, social media, logo design and many other necessary details for starting a small, woman-owned consulting business. All in my spare time I might add. On top of this, I was closing out a chapter of a ten-year career serving the employees of Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). In this DSHS chapter I planned facility moves, designed office layouts to optimize lease dollars, conducted organizational assessments, facilitated customer feedback, managed several projects and initiatives, planned and led process improvement teams, built agency capacity with existing, motivated staff as lean practitioners, and designed and implemented a leader development program. Specifically these past three years provided me the forum to demonstrate my organizational development repertoire.
What a bitter-sweet transition. Obviously the relationships and casual passing of the incredible people I have met will be missed. As with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (employed 1989 – 2001), the mission of the organization is undeniable (DSHS- Transforming Lives, FHCRC– Elimination of cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death). Both of these institutions employ a cadre of people who clearly are committed to making a difference in others lives.
A couple days before my send-off at DSHS, a kind soul asked me “do you know what you are doing?” This question caught me off guard. “Of course, I’ve done this sort of thing before,” I replied. And he further explained: the change of certainty, the lack of a retirement package, the details of sole proprietorship, to name a few. Short answer: yes, I am fully ready to take the courageous risk to leave a reliable paycheck and retirement package without any guarantees. I intend to help many organizations, leaders and vision-seekers pursue their fullest potential or optimize the employee and customer experience…to me, this sounds ducky!
So here it goes! I made this choice to start T.A.S. because:
- there are too many places where staff are disengaged from their company mission
- Washington government is on the cusp of greatness using Lean process improvements, yet many agencies don’t have all the supports they need
- Organizational culture is real, and must be intentionally sculpted
- Leaders need self-awareness and the tools to make the difference
- Too many “should haves” or inactive plans; our proactive response includes planning, communications, and follow up all the way to completion
- There is untapped potential on our teams, everyone wins when staff develop
- We are human, which means we need connection, reinforcement, challenges and like to be held accountable for our actions. The workplace needs humanity.
My motives are– I want to be in service to great leaders who want to do great things, and they simply need the transformation tools and strategic game plan to activate their organization into its very best!