On Bringing an Executive Team Together through their work with Karen Mathews…

Sherry Pulvers
HR Manager
IP LOCKS

With Karen Mathews we created a more supportive work environment.
Karen Mathews presents a powerful model of how individuals differ in their self-awareness and their awareness of others. In learning about how we were different, and in finding that we benefit from those differences, we came to support each other as we never had before. It is a big moment when team members stop trying to change each other and apply diverse strengths to shared challenges.

We developed clearer communication.
“Everyone processes information differently” is something we all seem to know about but no one seems to know what to do about that in daily interactions. That is, until Karen Mathews. We learned that we got a much better, fuller picture if we actively sought different views. In the process we got good at crystallizing our perceptions so others could understand our perspectives and build on them. Our team now looks for ways to have more ‘well rounded” views of the world.

The Values Exercise that Karen Mathews lead our Executive Team through helped them to surface underlying issues so that they could be addressed.
We had a lot of talented individuals, but each person was pulling in their own direction. No one intended it, yet over time, we each went underground, with our feelings and often our objectives, when we felt unappreciated. The key for our team was in each person being seen for what he or she brought to the table and for us to look together at what was getting in the way of our collective success.

The benefit to the company in smoothing out the Executive Team’s interactions was gained through our better understanding of each other and the dynamics within the group.
A great delight in our work with Karen Mathews was in realizing how much we had in common in terms of values. We didn’t realize how much we were on the same page about where we were headed and what we treasured as ways of doing business, our company’s reputation, and the like. Karen Mathews helped clarify our shared values as a team.

Karen Mathews help was pivotal as we were about to determine our common goals, vision and focus. We came to understand that the more we were aware of ourselves and our needs, the more it served us to make room for others and to understand their needs. It became a direct next step for us to collectively envision our goals and to choose our focus. Karen’s work with us has made it easier for us to work together and to be more effective.

It was a shared desire for extraordinary performance that motivated us to find Karen Mathews. I don’t want to leave the impression that our Executive Team was a mess. In a sense that would have been better…we would have had to get help sooner. Instead our differences and our lack of knowledge around team communication and dynamics got in the way. We were neither terrible nor effective. We were hanging out somewhere in between. The thing is with talented team members that is never satisfying. Thank goodness. And thanks to Karen Mathews, we can truly build our future…as a team!