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Dr. Kit Tennis has been consulting to and managing business, government, academic and nonprofit organizations for 35 years. As a result, he has developed a consulting philosophy that blends practical realism with a compassionate commitment to building effective, ethical, high performance teams and organizations.
Kit focuses both on enhancing the management and life skills of organization members and on broadening the competencies and perspectives organizations need to successfully face the challenges of our rapidly changing environment. His most contemporary work concentrates on global diversity and inclusion, leadership development, appreciative inquiry, team building, strategic planning, organizational cultural renewal, large systems Read more
I work with leaders for as little as one hour to multi-year engagements, depending on their need. My approach is always grounded in discovering and leveraging the strengths of the client or organization, with clear results-oriented goals.
Recent clients include:
• Barry-Wehmiller Company
• Phillips Listens
• Xcel Energy
• WACOM
• St Thomas University
• Hospices of Northern Colorado
• The Nature Conservancy
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Goodwill Industries International
• Hewlett-Packard
• Naropa University
• GH Phipps
• DuPont
• Moss-Adams
• Xerox
• University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
• Bocconi University of Milan
• Pioneer Hi-Bred International
• National Association of Independent Schools
The simple, single most powerful thing a leader can do to create a happy workplace is to listen to employees. Treat them like the most important individual in the world by stopping by their work station, empathetically listening to them, and demonstrating you really heard them by reflecting back both the words and the feelings they expressed and then taking action to make the changes in the workp... Read more
My philosophy for inspiring and engaging work environments can be summed up in the term "conscious organizational evolution", by which I mean a continuous, interactive cultural development process focused on creating a workplace where people love to come to work on Monday and are still energized at the end of the week.
Essential elements include:
1. Ongoing inquiry into what is working well and ... Read more
As someone who both leads virtual teams and trains leaders in communication, I have two primary, interlocking strategies for keeping the team engaged and aligned.
First, develop a personal relationship between every member of the team. Ideally, this is through an initial face-to-face meeting where very specific attention is given to building interpersonal connections between team members. Whe... Read more
Like my colleagues, I can't ethically direct you to a diagnostic instrument, when such an instrument is apt to reinforce your issues, rather than offer a solution path.
While you identify real problems in your operating culture, focusing only on the problems will not create a foundation for a healthy and thriving organization. I believe that our work in creating vibrant and life-affirming cult... Read more
My experience suggests that there are usually some essential central cultural standards, stories, and themes that need to be understood and absorbed across all of the businesses. At the same time, some of the cultural strengths of the acquisitions could be energizing and provide needed new perspectives to your manufacturing genes. For instance, my friend, Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry Wehmiller Comp... Read more
I find the simplest solution is having team members conduct reciprocal appreciative interviews with the people they are least connected to / most likely to underestimate. The key question is "Tell me about a peak experience, a high point in your work life, a time when you were most alive, energized and committed, a time when you were proud of yourself or your work" Ask them to be specific about... Read more
