CircleMakers

As the pandemic brought forth an unprecedented demand in the organizational development space, certain service providers are standing out because of their extensive experience and unique capabilities in the domain. CircleMakers is one such maven that is on a mission to help leaders, teams and organizations navigate and endure the change that lies ahead. Todd Garretson, the founder and CEO of CircleMakers, says, "We are empowering leaders and business executives to build resilient organizations that are agile, quick, and adaptable to change."

Prior to founding CircleMakers, Todd spent 20-plus years in several corporate leadership roles as well as having been a 3^rd Generation owner and family executive of a mid-size company. He has firsthand experience leading different size organizations through various change and developmental stages. Since 2013, Garretson has been providing consulting and advisory services for a variety of organizations in the areas of strategic growth, leadership, and team development.

Since 2013, CircleMakers has expanded its capabilities to provide its clientele with a rich portfolio of services, including facilitated retreats, workshops and meetings, a widely anticipated online leadership development platform, and access to a robust suite of proprietary tools for workforce development. Amidst building for the future, Garretson reminds us, “while we seek to help clients build total organizational health, our initial impact is helping clients build clear strategy, which may just happen to be one of the biggest challenges presently.”

Garretson makes a recent observation in his work with clients, “It’s very tempting in times of change, ambiguity, and uncertainty to keep doing what you’re doing regardless of the environmental shifts around you.

However, simply driving harder through these periods, or doing more of the same, is usually counterproductive. Thus, an important mark of resilient businesses is the willingness to step back, reevaluate and closely examine their overall strategy and direction. And, in times of uncertainty, they do it frequently.”

We help leaders and business executives build resilient organizations that are agile, quick, and adaptable to change

In a recent strategy article, Garretson writes, “If I were to step out on a busy street corner and ask ten people what is strategy, I would likely get ten different answers. This also explains one of the primary reasons strategies fail due to little or no alignment regarding what the strategy is or should be. The lower you go in the organization, the picture, unfortunately, gets even bleaker. According to Gallup’s State of the Workplace (2019) report, only 22% of employees agree that their leaders have a clear direction for their organization. It’s likely much worse as we fully emerge from the pandemic.”

Garretson encourages leadership to set aside regular, protected time for important strategy discussions. If not done carefully, the day-to-day pressures can take energy away from the need for executives to be strategic and creative. He recommends executives rely on an outside facilitator who can serve as a guide through these conversations as well as help to navigate any trust hurdles or misalignment that might exist within the team.

Garretson reminds us “that all great strategies start with even better questions. In the end, the time you spend collaborating in these conversations develops strategic thinking abilities, team cohesion, enhances relationships, and ultimately prepares you for the sharp turns and obstacles that lie ahead.”

For 2021, CircleMakers has launched its Resilient Wins campaign, which provides businesses with three, done-for-you development service packages in the areas of organizational strategy, cohesive teams and individual leadership. These packages can be experienced in-person or virtually and can be prioritized depending on need. Whether it be 10 to 20 point jumps in customer experience ratings, revenue growth, employee engagement or even, business valuation (one such client saw a 30% increase in total firm value), CircleMakers has the client track record to prove that their process gets results.