Imagine walking into your role as a people leader, excited but overwhelmed by the questions swirling in your head: How do I build a high-performing people team? Navigate the complexities of remote work? Craft a meaningful performance review system? We've all been there.
That's why I embarked on a transformative journey with a group of fantastic leaders from Series A companies within the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact (AmFam Institute) portfolio.
Prior to our launch, we laid the foundation for an immersive six-month coaching journey. I worked closely with the AmFam team to identify the ideal mix of similarly staged companies, design a comprehensive curriculum, and customize sessions for what's most top of mind for people leaders today. The end product? A carefully crafted program that brought participants together for monthly group learning and coaching sessions over six months.
Throughout jam-packed sessions, we dove into many key aspects of people leadership, culture building, and remote-first success. We tackled topics like:
People Team Hiring & Roadmap Planning: We shed light on the "who" and "when" of building your people team, ensuring you have the right support at every stage of growth. Plus learning how to prioritize people team programs.
Building Remote-First Culture: We explored strategies for fostering connection, communication, and productivity in a distributed world and designing your remote-first culture with intention.
People Tech Systems Roadmap: We demystified the ever-evolving landscape of HR tools and helped companies identify the perfect tech stack at each stage of growth.
Career Leveling: We understood how great leveling guides daily conversations employees and managers have around career growth, building trust, and equitable pay practices.
Performance Management: We said goodbye to the dreaded annual review and embraced the tenets of a continuous feedback culture, empowering managers to guide their teams toward success.
Compensation: We established clear frameworks for developing a compensation philosophy and building a compensation program - the key driver in attracting and retaining talent.
This wasn't just a one-way street. The true magic happened in the open discussions, peer-to-peer learning, and follow-on action planning. We celebrated wins, tackled roadblocks together, and emerged as a group of more confident, equipped leaders.
Was it just talk or were there actionable takeaways? Each session included my playbooks and templates so attendees were equipped with the operational next steps to bring these concepts to life at their organizations.
The results? We saw a tangible shift in mindset and action. Participants shared:
"As a people team of one, I crave learning and development opportunities. Participating in Shelby's cohort program was a great opportunity for me to learn from Shelby's expertise plus network with my peers." -- Carrie Bryant, Head of People @ Ivy Energy
"Shelby's program came to us at just the right time. We're building out our people function and feel far more confident we're setting our people foundation and culture up right from the start." -- Stephen Wall, COO @ NurseDash
"I can't thank you enough for all this great information! This was exactly what we needed since we don't have a people leader on staff yet. We need to set everything up correctly from the start so the time with Shelby has been invaluable." -- Linnette Mancuso, Director of Customer Success @ EnGen
"We really enjoyed working with Shelby. From the planning stages through the execution of the program she was incredibly intentional every step of the way, which was reflected by the feedback we received from our portfolio companies. Everyone loved the tactical resources she created and the opportunity to work with someone with such deep expertise." -- Jenna Borowski, Head of Platform @ AmFam Institute
Their takeaways and success leave me motivated to support as many people leaders as possible. It's not just about metrics -- it's about making a meaningful impact on your professional journey. Moments like these fuel my passion for coaching and mentoring the next generation of people leaders.
So, is this the end of the story? Not at all! If you're a people leader seeking to navigate the complexities of today's workforce, remember this: you're not alone. There are communities eager to share learnings, resources waiting to be tapped, and advisors like me ready to support you.
I'm here to help! If you're looking for support in building your career as a people leader, I'm here to help. Let's build and grow your career together.
Here are three ways I can help:
Schedule an "Ask Me Anything" micro consulting session to get 1:1 advice
Buy a Remote Work Playbook to leapfrog your progress
Advisor to your leadership and people team to build a strong people operations foundation and best-in-class employee experiences
Are you a Venture Capital firm looking to build a similar group coaching program for your portfolio companies? Reach out directly to chat!