Results
Case Studies
These case studies will give you a better idea of how Accelus can partner with your company.
Client Success Story: Meador Staffing
Finding Strength in those who Find Opportunities for Others
Summary
- United team members and oriented them toward a shared goal and purpose
- Cultivated personal and companywide identity of strengths
- Established roles where each team member could excel and enjoy
Challenge
“Strengths add purpose and meaning to an organization”
Meador Staffing is a staffing agency that finds the right candidates for temporary, contract, and permanent work with a reputation for providing excellent service to employers and candidates alike. The firm was established by two former human resources professionals in the petrochemical industry in December 1968 and continues to thrive today.
With such a legacy of service, the most daunting challenge Meador faced was overcoming its employees’ age based misconceptions of each other. Half of the company are over 45 the baby boomers while the other half are under 30 the millennials. The boomers had laid the groundwork for the company before the age of the internet and had a traditional work ethic.
Their perception was that millennials in the company were unappreciative of the hard work the boomers had initially put in so the millennials could work at a successful company. On the other hand, the millennials felt that their hard work was underappreciated because senior employees did not account for the fact that the millennials were putting in extra efforts mobily.
Meador Staffing requested support to foster unity and a new found understanding between staff members.
Strategy
“If you want to grow your company in a successful way, it starts with people and understanding them and having them understand each other.”
We had a plan to bring coworkers and management to a level where they could see eye to eye through Organizational StrengthsCoaching™. Instead of allowing people to build walls between each other based on arbitrary attributes, StrengthsCoaching™ allows people to build bridges based on what they have in common and learn how they can work together in a meaningful way.
First, we met with leadership in the company to understand their short and long term goals, what obstacles lie in the way of those goals, and how team members interact and collaborate. To determine what unique insights and skills they bring to the table, a 45 minute StrengthsFinder® assessment was completed by employees in all 6 divisions of the company.
The next step was to have team members communicate their strengths with each other. Barbara, lead StrengthsCoach™, guided teams through exercises like “Love, Crazy, Envy” where members openly talked about the strengths they loved the most, the strengths that drove them crazy, and the strengths that they admired in others.
Games and exercises allowed team members at Meador Staffing to discover the drives and dreams they shared; they saw that their shared strengths such as Responsibility®, Achiever ®, and Belief ® were more important and central to their professional relationships and happiness than their age.
We then provided one-on-one coaching with members of leadership so they could use the information provided by an individual’s strengths to keep everyone excited about their work and keep them on track for continued growth and development.
We used the StrengthsFinder® Assessment to show the group that what united them was not age, but unique, individual viewpoints and skills that coalesce into effective, and productive teams.
Results
“Strengths gave us an identity: we’re problem solvers. We have a purpose and a mission and we have to get this done.”
The difference in performance and understanding at Meador was palpable. Each new project could be assigned to employees with the strengths needed to complete it. Employees felt their ideas and individual strengths were respected, and it showed in their work.
This new change was not only a breath of fresh air for the company but also demonstrated its value in the face of a direct business challenge in spring of the following year. In March of 2016, Meador experienced a major computer crash, losing all of its data from 2015 – 2016. This would leave many without a paycheck unless the situation was handled quickly and efficiently.
Fortunately, Meador team members were able to find the right strengths for the monumental task of piecing their data back together. Over the course of an entire weekend, those with the strengths of responsibility, achievement, and significance were able to get the information needed together to pay employees on time.
Whereas previously such a challenge might have hamstrung the company for a much longer period of time, employees were able to put their new skills and understanding into action to overcome this challenge and keep Meador on track.
StrengthsCoaching™ brings results in the short term, and success in the long term.
Client Success Story: The Advisor’s Resource
Summary
- Guided company in goal-setting process to finish around 80 disclosure documents over 5 months
- Identified founder’s and her employees’ strengths, so the company could use its people more effectively
Challenge 1
Approximately 80 disclosure documents on deadlineWhen Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, it brought on a new challenge for The Advisor’s Resource, Linda Shirkey’s customized compliance company for hedge funds, private equity firms, and investment managers. It was October, and she and her team of three had until the end of March to rewrite around 80 disclosure documents that would update the entire regulatory disclosure for each of their clients.
The team had to draft each document, send it to each client for review, and then edit based on their comments. Linda, who was in charge of the project, wanted to be confident so that her team could be confident. However, she was nervous and did not want her team to know that she felt that way. So, she turned to her friend and executive coach Barbara Stewart for help.
Interim Goals and Visualizing Progress
“Barbara knew I needed to talk things through, and she helped me set a schedule and held me accountable to it; Barbara structured it in a way that I didn’t feel like I was beating up my team, because we were working horrendous hours,” Linda said.
In addition, Barbara helped Linda develop a project spreadsheet that showed the Advisor’s Resource team where they were on completing each of their clients’ disclosure agreements as well as the client feedback. This spreadsheet allowed Linda to easily track her team’s progress, ensure they were hitting their goals, and see that each disclosure document matched her client’s expectations.
Results
A stronger sense of controlThe interim goals Barbara helped Linda set gave her a greater sense of control over the project. That, coupled with the progress documented on the spreadsheet, led the team to not only finish all of the disclosure documents, but to finish them on time and provide her clients with quality work.
To this day, Linda considers the disclosure document re-write a project that helped her grow as a leader.
Challenge 2
A team pulling in different directions
The Advisor’s Resource had more than documents to sort out next. While Linda felt like that particular project had made her team stronger and closer, by the spring of 2014 she felt her team was not working together as effectively as they could be. She thought she was “pushing a string” with her employees, and did not know “how to give them incentives.”
“It just didn’t feel like it was running smoothly,” Linda said. “It didn’t feel like we were doing the best we could for our clients and pulling together as a team, and I didn’t know how to get us to pull together as a team. I felt like I was wielding a whip, and pulling the wagon, and I think we all felt like we were pulling the wagon in different directions.”
Strategy
A different kind of personality testTo further unite The Advisor’s Resource team, Barbara introduced them to the CliftonStrengths Ⓡ assessment.
The assessment, which maps out a person’s top five strengths across a board of 34 strengths, showed Linda how to focus on the positive, and how to talk to her employees about their skills and behavior in a neutral language.
Results
Finding new potential in old employees
Immediately, Linda saw that her team had strengths she did not. While Linda is strong on the strategic side, none of her top ten skills are on the execution side, the assessment revealed.
“That’s where my team is strong, and that was happenstance. I like to think it was brilliance, but I ended up hiring people that supplement my strengths in a way that makes us better as a whole,” Linda said.
However, the assessment revealed even more. For instance, one of her employees is a former proofreader and editor. The test uncovered that she has Woo™- the ability to easily win over others- in her top five strengths. Before taking the assessment she had been stuck working on manuals behind a computer screen. After learning her top five results, Linda arranged for the employee to market the company’s off site training program to clients, in addition to manual writing.
Giving that employee a new, hybrid role that had her interacting with people led to more business from existing clients.
“Once she understood the training programs – and understood what we were doing with them – she was comfortable pitching them, and she’s increased some of our relationships by 20% or more,” Linda explained.
The assessment also changed the way The Advisor’s Resource delegates tasks to its employees for each client. Whereas before, the company would have a point person handling everything for a particular client, now it divides up tasks. There is still a point person, but someone handles the registration process, another team member writes the manuals, and so on.
“We’ve shifted who does what across the board, both for job satisfaction and for effectiveness,” Linda explained.
Now, Linda has a team where each member understands her strengths. And because the Advisor’s Resource organizes how they tackle tasks based on their team’s strengths they have a focus and direction that allows them to grow their relationship with current clients, and effectively onboard new ones.
How Barbara Still Helps Linda
Linda still meets with Barbara once a month for personal coaching sessions, and even uses her StrengthsFinderⓇ service so The Advisor’s Resource and their long-term contractors get the most from their experience together.
“I think it’s helpful to anybody,” Linda said about the CliftonStrengths® assessment. “And it’s very helpful to me as the team leader. I want us all using the same language.”
If you want your company to grow stronger, and aim to better understand your team and clients, give Barbara a call now at 713-877-8130 or email her at bstewart@endeavormgmt.com.
Client Success Story: RISK Inc
Challenge
We were hired to facilitate a ½ day workshop on Communicating with Style at the company’s three-day retreat. For RISK, the quality of work produced and client satisfaction depends on team members’ effectiveness in facilitating lengthy (up to two weeks) planning sessions to develop safety procedures. These sessions involve participants from all areas of a client company including executive leadership, management, engineers, safety managers and operators. Not only does this involve differing opinions on how to effectively manage safety and plan responses to emergencies, it involves hierarchy, education and experience levels, company politics and interpersonal relationships. RISK needed training for its facilitators to master the most basic yet challenging obstacle, effective communication. Adding to the complexity of helping the team develop communication skills is the fact that all employees of RISK work remotely, scattered across the United States and globally. With fewer opportunities to encounter each other on a daily basis, knowledge and best practice sharing around communication was limited. In fact, communication within the organization was somewhat of a challenge with multiple time zones and employees involved in week-long facilitations. Coming together for the company retreat in The Woodlands, Texas would mean that many RISK employees were meeting face-to-face for the first time.
Strategy
Beginning with a strategy session with RISK founder Rene´ Murata and key employees Janet Benaquisto and Randal Murata, we helped leadership identify the outcomes they desired from the workshop. RISK facilitators needed to be able to:
- Anticipate communication collisions within the groups they facilitate
- Read people and situations
- Develop “presence” to effectively manage the room and the facilitation
- Maintain and develop the relationship with the client, a key value of RISK
With different styles already present within the facilitators, Barbara Stewart, workshop leader, requested to interview several of the RISK facilitators to hear first-hand the challenges they encountered in facilitation. This would ensure that insight from all areas of the organization were considered. We provided a communication styles assessment to each RISK employee prior to the retreat. This assessment introduced the framework for communication styles in advance, familiarizing the RISK team with the concepts and language they would experience in the workshop. The retreat kicked off with an exercise designed to demonstrate the various styles of communication and the confusion or clarity that can be produced. The discussion that followed provided RISK team members with the opportunity to share their observations, get feedback and get to know each other better. It was an engaging start to the ½ day workshop. The workshop was supplemented by a 1½ hour virtual follow-up session ten weeks later. This structure provided team members the opportunity to use their newly acquired insight and skills in client facilitations and company communications. During virtual follow-up session, questions and challenges were presented and discussed, and best practices shared among all of the participants.
Results
The communication assessment and its results had a few of the RISK team members resisting the idea of being “characterized” by a specific descriptor of their communication style. Even after the workshop, with greater clarity around the communication styles framework and the ability to move between the descriptors, several participants still bristled at the characterizations. However, what RISK team members shared in the virtual follow-up session was an appreciation for the simplicity of the style characterizations. The framework worked! Rather than being confused or put-off by another’s communication style, the facilitators for RISK now use the style framework to explore the communication style of the other party. They adjust their own style of communication when needed and gauge the response of the other party. Adaptability is now an option and it does not mean giving up control of the room or the facilitation. Communication collisions are now foreseeable and avoidable. For new or returning clients for RISK, consideration is given to the client team make-up and identifying the “best fit” facilitator not only for skills and experience but also for the ability to best mesh with the client’s communication style. When a client or a facilitation becomes challenging, the RISK team collaborates on the issue, using a common language and insights they learned in the workshop to move the work forward. Equally as powerful as the results achieved in client facilitations are the changes within the remote group of RISK team members. As a direct result of the workshop, team members now know more about each other. Individuals who never worked together prior, now initiate partnerships and collaborate on projects without direction by Rene’ or the other leaders. With an understanding of what other team members can contribute, resources within the RISK team are better and more fully utilized. How could understanding the simple framework of communication styles help your team work better together? Find out in our Communicating with Style workshop.
Client Success Story: Growing a Leadership Bench in Corporate Finance
Challenge
When Growth Outpaces Leadership
A Fortune 250 company’s Corporate Accounting, Audit, and Tax functions were full of managers who’d earned their roles on technical skill, the kind of skill that rarely translates into leading people well. As the organization scaled, that gap showed up in uneven manager behavior, inconsistent accountability, and engagement scores that told the same story. The Vice President and Corporate Controller was clear on the cause: this wasn’t a talent problem, it was the same gap most growing organizations eventually hit, technical strength promoted without the leadership skill to match.
Strategy
Breaking the Bottleneck
Accelus Partners worked in partnership with the organization to build a six-month cohort experience shaped around its specific leadership needs, where structure and repetition did the work: monthly sessions, individual coaching, and assignments tied to actual work kept twelve leaders accountable to lasting change. The cohort model also built something a workshop never could: peer relationships and a shared leadership language that outlasted the program itself.
Result
From Pass-Through to Force Multiplier
The impact was clear: 100% of participants reported becoming a more effective leader or manager, with real gains in communication, team productivity, and day-to-day collaboration. As one participant put it, “I learned to listen more (really listen) and communicate more clearly and effectively without assuming things.” The program worked well enough that the client extended it into an ongoing leadership roundtable. See the full case study for the complete story and results.
Client Success Story: Scaling Leadership within a Finance Team
Challenge
Talent Without Chemistry
A high-performing finance leadership team at a publicly traded logistics company could out-execute almost any deadline, one person at a time. But when the company set out to double in size, the model broke: “We lacked the chemistry to fully take advantage of a multiplier effect on the sum of the parts,” the CFO said. Trust hadn’t been built deliberately, hard conversations got avoided, and the CFO had become the glue holding it all together, at the cost of his own bandwidth.
Strategy
When a Title Isn’t Enough
Accelus Partners worked two threads at once: executive coaching to help the CFO lead differently, and team development to build the trust and accountability the group needed to operate without him at the center. Behavioral assessments and a validated team framework gave the team a common language for conflict, commitment, and results, and the honest conversations that followed did more than any org chart could. The team built its own purpose statement, charter, and scorecard, work durable enough that a new hire absorbed it seamlessly mid-engagement.
Results
From Bottleneck to Multiplier
Friction dropped, not because hard conversations stopped, but because the team stopped misreading each other. “We are performing at a level now that is higher than we were before,” the CFO said, reporting he’d freed up significant time on his calendar for strategy instead of refereeing. The purpose statement, charter, and scorecard are still in daily use today. See the full case study for how they built something meant to last.
Client Success Story: Building Leadership Readiness During Organizational Growth
Challenge
Success That Wouldn’t Scale
A high-performing finance leader at a Fortune 250 consumer retail company was on a trajectory toward significantly expanded responsibility: technically credible, operationally reliable, and highly respected for execution. But leadership success had been built primarily through personal problem-solving rather than through others. As the organization scaled and the leader’s team grew from eight people toward twenty-five, a 360 assessment and manager feedback surfaced a familiar pattern: strong technical decision-making alongside micromanagement under pressure, uneven delegation, and limited focus on developing future leaders. Left unaddressed, the organization risked diminished engagement, weaker succession readiness, and reduced influence for a critical function during a period of growth.
Strategy
From Control to Capacity
Accelus Partners was engaged for a six-month executive coaching engagement focused on leadership maturity at scale. Two months in, the leader was promoted to Assistant Corporate Controller, and the engagement extended to a full year to keep pace with the expanded scope. Rather than prescribing a leadership model, the work centered on three shifts: trading control for delegation and trust, building intentional feedback rhythms and communication clarity, and elevating the leader’s visibility across the enterprise. A peer leadership group reinforced the shift, expanding the leader’s cross-functional relationships along the way.
Results
The Multiplier Effect, Measured
Roughly nine months into the engagement, the organization’s annual employee engagement survey showed the shift was real: comfort discussing concerns with managers rose to 89 percent, a five-point gain, and confidence that managers do a good job managing people also rose to 89 percent, a ten-point jump. Confidence that current roles prepared employees for future success climbed sixteen points, as did recognition of employee accomplishments. As the leader put it, “I am relying more on my team and giving them increased autonomy and accountability. The work has changed how I empower others and how leadership shows up through my team.” See the full case study for the complete story and results.
Testimonials
Linda, Founder & Owner, Compliance Consulting Firm
I hired Barbara as my company was facing an imposed and short deadline for many of our clients. I needed help managing the process and keeping the team motivated as we climbed this steep mountain, and quickly. The coaching process gave me an outlet to express my fears and trepidations without endangering our company’s morale. Barbara and I closed every call with specific management tools and “to do’s” to achieve the short and long-term goals. Every call left me feeling encouraged and armed. We made our deadline, created work that made us all proud, strengthened our team, and accomplished more than we ever thought possible. I would absolutely recommend others use Barbara, who provides the needed skills: how to listen, focus on the important (and often unsaid) issues, and a complete understanding of the business/finance world. Her use of humor is an added bonus.
Mike, Founder & Owner, Management Consulting Firm
I hired Barbara Stewart as a coach at a time when I was having difficulty thinking strategically about my future due to a multitude of current, unresolved issues. I was unable to get past the little things in order to focus on longer term goals and objectives. I gave little thought to how I wanted my life to be both now and in the future. Barbara helped me begin to think and operate in a different manner that made it possible for me to resolve the current issues and to develop a clearer vision of my future.
Barbara’s coaching process is very professional, productive and personal. She is always well prepared for our phone conferences and schedules our appointments at times that work best for me.
I heartily recommend Barbara to anyone who is truly interested in resolving issues and creating a better life and future for themselves.
Vice President, Lending
Working with you exceeded my expectations. I hired you because I was unfulfilled professionally and wanted to do something about it. You provided a fresh perspective and a holistic approach to achieving happiness, both professionally and personally. Thanks for the objectivity, challenging me to think outside of the box, and your genuine interest in my success.
Janet, Marketing Director, Global Safety Consulting Firm
I have worked with Barbara in both team and smaller three person management coaching sessions now. She is a not only a fantastic presenter, she is an excellent coach and outstanding facilitator who knows the questions to ask to help you move in the direction you want to go. She has helped me see more clearly how to use my strengths to work with the strengths of my team so each person is able to operate on a higher level.
Lawrence, Client Relations, Global Safety Consulting Firm
Barbara is amazing in her delivery and understanding of the content. She provides valuable insight as well as creative ideas that helped to stir the pot and get the ball rolling in one of the most productive team meetings I have ever been a part of. Thanks, Barbara!
Leah, Chief Criminal Justice Strategist
From our first conversation, I knew that Barbara was the right person to provide me coaching as I entered an executive level position in government. What I came to learn over months of working with her, is that Barbara is as kind and generous as she is smart and motivating. Barbara is able to help one build a grand vision, and where others might see barriers, she helps you find opportunities.
Bryan, Internal Audit, Automotive Industry
Barbara is excellent at helping you achieve personal and professional goals. She is also very knowledgeable and provides guidance on tough decisions and poses questions you may not have thought about. I am very thankful to have worked with Barbara a few years ago and still bring it up from time to time with people on how she helped.
Communicating with Style Workshop Participant
I have a much better understanding of what’s important to differing personality types and how to more effectively work with them at a detail level that is meaningful to them.
Yvonne, Tax Manager, Accounting Firm
I was spending hours a day managing emails and jumping around to different projects until I attended Barbara’s Time Management workshop. Barbara’s presentation style engaged the audience, allowing us to tailor the tools and tips she provided to our firm and individual needs. I learned that my head is not the best place for list making, and that clearing it, as well as the clutter on my desk, brings clarity and focus. My day is more organized and productive as I break down tasks into manageable pieces. I accomplish more and have increased my billable hours! I recommend this workshop to any team or group.
Manager & Strengths Workshop Participant
The Strengths Finder training has provided insight to our team’s individual personalities in positive ways that we may not have picked up on before. Before the training, it may have seemed a team member was controlling, or another too quiet, or another may have been too eager, etc. After we spent a few hours understanding the deep rooted traits and characteristics of each team member these personality traits can now be seen as positive contributions to the team’s success. We are seen by each other with understanding eyes as opposed to judgements on our personalities. Our team often publicly points out another’s strength’s when it’s noticed and we all have a good laugh at the memories and fun we had during the training!
Alden & Tim, Owner & Manager, Personal Services
We were amazed at your ability to engage our group. They can be a tough crowd. Taking time out of their day to learn about strengths means taking money out of their pockets. What they learn had best be worth the investment. Not only did they listen and participate, their smartphones were nowhere to be seen. The mix of conversation and activities kept them engaged, moving and learning. Thank you for a great kick-off to our Pow Wow and connecting our strengths to our goals.
Terry, Financial Advisor, Wealth Management Firm
I hired Barbara to help me with my transition when I changed firms and It was one of the best business decisions that I made. She is extremely knowledgeable in the field of financial management and has the ability to share that knowledge for the benefit of her clients. I recommend Barbara to financial professionals who want to take their practice to a more efficient, higher functioning level.
Lisa, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Retail
Working with Barbara has been wonderful! She deftly guided me through my elaborate list of excuses to the core issue. Barbara helped me face my fear of making a career transition with a calm but direct questioning technique. I am still amazed at how quickly she coached me to my own “a-ha” moment! I would absolutely recommend Barbara!
Sasha, Founder & Owner, Professional Services Firm
As a solo-preneur I needed a sounding board and brainstorming partner to help me grow my business. When I first met Barbara she was so easy to talk to and had very key thoughts and suggestions; I immediately wanted more! Her process is real and authentic; she gives whole-hearted thought to the next actionable steps to help you achieve your desired goals. If you are ready to accelerate your business then I highly recommend you meet with Barbara; you will be taken by her presence and personality.
Mark, Senior Sales Representative, Employee Benefits Firm
I enjoyed working with Barbara. From our discovery visit to each phone call, I can tell she was engaged in the conversation and asked the perfect questions to get the creative thoughts flowing. I appreciated her energy and excited each and every time we had a meeting. Barbara helped me take a step back and look at the big picture. She challenged me to chase my dreams and to think differently about my path to the future. I cannot say enough nice words to say how much Barbara helped me during our sessions.
Vice President, Lending
Working with you exceeded my expectations. I hired you because I was unfulfilled professionally and wanted to do something about it. You provided a fresh perspective and a holistic approach to achieving happiness, both professionally and personally. Thanks for the objectivity, challenging me to think outside of the box, and your genuine interest in my success.
Mike, Founder & Owner, Management Consulting Firm
I hired Barbara Stewart as a coach at a time when I was having difficulty thinking strategically about my future due to a multitude of current, unresolved issues. I was unable to get past the little things in order to focus on longer term goals and objectives. I gave little thought to how I wanted my life to be both now and in the future. Barbara helped me begin to think and operate in a different manner that made it possible for me to resolve the current issues and to develop a clearer vision of my future.
Barbara’s coaching process is very professional, productive and personal. She is always well prepared for our phone conferences and schedules our appointments at times that work best for me.
I heartily recommend Barbara to anyone who is truly interested in resolving issues and creating a better life and future for themselves.
Linda, Founder & Owner, Compliance Consulting Firm
I hired Barbara as my company was facing an imposed and short deadline for many of our clients. I needed help managing the process and keeping the team motivated as we climbed this steep mountain, and quickly. The coaching process gave me an outlet to express my fears and trepidations without endangering our company’s morale. Barbara and I closed every call with specific management tools and “to do’s” to achieve the short and long-term goals. Every call left me feeling encouraged and armed. We made our deadline, created work that made us all proud, strengthened our team, and accomplished more than we ever thought possible. I would absolutely recommend others use Barbara, who provides the needed skills: how to listen, focus on the important (and often unsaid) issues, and a complete understanding of the business/finance world. Her use of humor is an added bonus.
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