How to Address Defensiveness When Giving Critical Feedback

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to give critical feedback in the best of circumstances. So, when somebody gets defensive, it’s tempting to give up. But it’s the leader’s job to the provide the necessary feedback even if the person gets defensive.

Why People Get Defensive

People rarely become defensive because of what you say; they become defensive because of why they think you are saying it.

The topic being discussed is usually not the issue, it’s a person’s perception of your intent that drives their response. Their perception hinges on two axes: do they believe you care about what they care about, and do they believe you care about (or respect) them. These are what I like to call the “ingredients” to psychological safety. Unfortunately, if a person has been surrounded for years by others who don’t respect them or their viewpoints, they may seem to “be on the defensive” all the time.

At the outset of an accountability conversation the other person is assessing whether you mean them harm and whether are you capable of carrying out that harm. If you don’t make it clear that you respect them and have good motives, they will likely assume the worst—they will perceive you as a threat.

When people feel psychologically unsafe and threatened, they resort to silence or verbal violence. Their fight-or-flight response kicks in and the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for rational and deliberate thinking, takes a back seat to the amygdala, the instinctive part of the brain concerned with survival.

We’ve all experienced this: we feel attacked, and then we act like a complete moron in an important moment, though we feel like we’re acting brilliantly. When we look back on the moment after having calmed down, we often wonder, “What in the world was I thinking?” The truth is this: you weren’t thinking very hard, you were just trying to protect yourself.

When people feel unsafe, they focus on the threat and their motives become short-term. They are likely to get defensive, and this can make them appear short-sighted and selfish, which can evoke more defensiveness (or attacking) and an escalated response.

There are some mental disorders that can contribute to defensiveness too, but I’m not an expert in that area.

Do’s and Don’ts

Here are some do’s and don’ts to help you provide criticism in a way that will reduce defensiveness.

Don’t Forget to Praise

Make sure to mention the things this person is doing right. Offer both praise and criticism so that the person hears both. Separate is often more clear than the “feedback sandwich.”

Do Emphasize Your Intention to Be Helpful

Your goal is to demonstrate that you are on this person’s side. Try saying something like, “I want to help you improve,” or share a story about a time when you made a similar mistake and somebody’s feedback helped you fix the problem. Choose wording that feels authentic, and make sure your mindset going into the conversation really is focused on being helpful. There’s nothing worse than an insincere lead-in followed by a kick in the shins.

Don’t Criticize Reactions

Telling somebody not to be defensive is a waste of your breath—this person probably already knows that’s not the best reaction.

Do React With Understanding and Compassion

If this person does react defensively, try saying something like, “I can see that you’re frustrated. I’m sorry. Is there a way I can say this better? I’m trying to be helpful.”

Don’t Escalate the Situation

Reacting to your employee’s defensiveness with frustration will only make things worse. This person is having a hard time hearing what you’re saying. Saying it even louder or more clearly won’t help. But don’t backtrack either. There’s a world of difference between saying, “I’m sorry you’re upset,” and “I’m sorry I said that.”

Do Be Open to a Conversation

Perhaps this person legitimately disagrees with what you’re saying. Remember, feedback’s a gift in one of two ways: Either it helps the person fix the problem or it helps to fix your misperception of the problem. Don’t forget to ask, “What do you think?”

Don’t Criticize in Public

When you do that, you’re much more likely to trigger a defensive reaction.

Do Pay Attention to Time and Place

In general, I recommend giving feedback immediately (you help the person fix the problem faster!), but it doesn’t help to give criticism when emotions are high. Also, give difficult feedback in person (Physically or virtually) so that you can pay attention to body language and avoid potential miscommunications.

Don’t Criticize Personality

Avoid saying things like, “You are negative” or, “Everybody hates working with you.” The purpose of criticism is to help somebody change and improve, not to bring him or her down.

Do Use the Situation-Behavior-Impact Model

Instead of saying, “You are negative,” say, “In the meeting (situation) when you described how difficult the problem we are trying to solve is (behavior), everyone felt discouraged instead of inspired (impact).”

Giving feedback to someone who’s defensive is hard, and unfortunately, I can’t change that. Criticism often stings in the moment, and there’s simply no way around that.

Even so, it’s the leader's job to say these things. Fortunately, if you react to the hurt with compassion, you can help the person improve while also also deepening your relationship.

 If you know someone who is prone to defensiveness, share this post with them: How to Learn and Grow from Feedback, Especially if It's Constructive (5 min)

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile: 323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

Adaptability Is Essential for Leading in a VUCA World (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambigious)

 

 

 "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." --Charles Darwin

Adaptability Defined  

Adaptability is essential for leading in a VUCA world — that is, one characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Adaptability is the ability to read and respond to change with a wide repertoire of complementary skills and behaviors.  For instance, some circumstances call for leaders to take charge, force difficult issues, and make tough decisions, while others require leaders to enable, support, and include people. 

Similarly, organizations sometimes need leaders to focus on their future strategic direction and at other times to focus on day-to-day operations and execution.

Note that when paired, these leadership behaviors, like the Taoist concept of Yin and Yang, are opposing and yet complementary: Forceful and enabling provide a balanced blend of interpersonal behaviors for influencing others, while strategic and operational provide the range needed to address a host of organizational issues. One approach without its complementary approach is incomplete.

Adaptable leaders deftly toggle between opposing behaviors. They can step up and make a call just as easily as they can bring people together to make group decisions. They can read the room and adjust their behavior accordingly, from asking questions and listening with an open mind to pushing an unpopular view one more time. 

They can also zoom out and envision change in big-picture terms and zoom in on the tactical details of implementing change.

Adaptability Is a Meta-Skill  

This leads me to the conclusion that adaptability is not just another leadership skill but rather a meta-skill. That is, it reflects a balanced and well-rounded pattern of skills that suggests an underlying capacity to master specific skills and behaviors and enable the continual learning of new ones. 

I see it as a higher-order capability that emerges when leaders develop competence with a wide array of specific skills and behaviors, learn how to appropriately balance the opposing and complementary ones, and cultivate the wisdom and situational judgment to know when to use which behavior — and to what degree.

As leaders develop adaptability, it facilitates the acquisition of new skills in a virtuous cycle. As they expand their perspectives and repertoires, it becomes easier to continue expanding them. On the other hand, leaders who build their careers around their innate talents and playing to strengths have a narrower range and limited ability to expand it. 

When the game changes, in the words of Eric Hoffer, "they are at risk of finding themselves fit for a world that no longer exists."

Developing Adaptability

There are different routes to adaptability for different kinds of leaders, but three principles apply to all. First, adaptability requires understanding your tendencies — which behaviors come naturally and which ones do not — and this understanding can be gained with a personality assessment like the Predictive Index. 

It also helps to get feedback from coworkers regarding your behavior and its impact. This is useful for calibrating what you are doing effectively and what you could do to be more effective by adding new skills and behaviors as well as being more selective with those on which you may over-rely.

With self-awareness becoming more adaptable involves learning how to do what does not come naturally and learning how to prevent strengths from becoming weaknesses through overuse. The best way to learn these lessons is through a variety of challenging work experiences — especially those that stretch you out of your comfort zone. 

There is little learning in the comfort zone and little comfort in the learning zone. And it is not enough to go through the experience; the experience has to go through you. Reflective, humble, and nimble learners seem best able to absorb the lessons of experience.

Finally, becoming more adaptable also involves an evolution in your self-concept or identity, the story you tell yourself about who you are. Leaders who lack adaptability tend to define themselves in a polarized way — for example, “I am a hard charger, not a soft pushover” or “I believe in power through people, not power over people.” 

They over-idealize the virtue in the way of leading that they identify with while simultaneously distancing themselves from the complementary side, which they often portray in extreme, caricatured terms. The side they turn away from becomes their blind side.

In contrast, those who develop adaptability come to see themselves in a more nuanced, differentiated and yet integrated way: “I am a hard charger who believes in power through people.” They grasp the necessary interdependence of opposing ways of leading and can imagine doing both in a way that feels authentic and genuine, something they can feel good about. This mindset shift allows them to become a better, more expanded, and capable version of themselves.

No one knows what our disruptive world will throw at leaders next. They don’t know, either. 

I do know, however, that those who possess a wide and balanced repertoire of complementary competencies, skills, and behaviors — and the wisdom to know which one to use in a given situation — are likely to be most effective at leading their people, teams, and organizations through the turbulence. And we know that this meta-skill — adaptability — can be learned, coached, and developed.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile: 323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

Ask More. Tell Less (Sales version)

 

 

 

 

Ask more. Tell less

It's a simple way salespeople can keep the conversation focused on the customer.

In short, when you feel the urge to share some dry, valueless factoid about your product with your customer (TELL)...STOP. And pose it as a question instead (ASK.)

Tell less. Ask more.

Instead of telling the customer "Our product can do ABC..." rephrase it as a question and ask them "What would the impact be on your business if your system could do ABC?"

That keeps your focus on the customer.

As a salesperson you are competing for the time and attention of your busy customer.

To earn their attention you need to make yourself interesting to the customer.

The easiest way to make yourself interesting to customers is to demonstrate an interest in them.

Asking someone a question about themselves, or something they are interested in, is the way to make that happen.

What happens when salespeople try to dominate sales conversations with their words instead of asking more questions and listening to their customer? They make it all about them...instead of the customer.

For those who are relatively new to sales, inexperience can sometimes get the best of you.

It's completely normal to be a bit anxious when you talk to a prospect.

This often results in a salesperson (I.e., you) talking too much to cover up their nerves.

You're afraid if you stop talking it will give the customer a chance to ask a question you don’t know the answer to. Or, to tell you “we’re not interested” or “no.”

For more experienced salespeople, there’s another reason they talk too much. It’s the urge to show off.

To be the smartest person in the room. To parade their hard-won knowledge and expertise in front of customers.

In other words, they fall victim to their vanity. The opposite of humility.

Vanity rarely impresses a customer. More often than not, the need to show you're the smartest person on the call has the opposite effect.

Your humility will resonate more with your customers than your self-romance.

It will help you build and sustain the connection with your customers that results in winning more deals.

Good selling,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, facilities management providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth--even in disruptive times.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

 

 

6 Tips for Leading When an Unexpected Event Rocks Your World

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living with uncertainty doesn't just test our smarts; it tests our character. We cannot control events, but we can control how we respond.

Leading in uncertainty requires us to embrace our vulnerability. It’s the perfect opportunity for being humble, not arrogant, and collaborate with others rather than seeing them as competitors.

We can wait for the storm to pass and go back to doing business as usual. Or, we can turn it into a growth opportunity. Here are six tips to help you lead when  unexpected events rock your world.

• Lead yourself first. It’s a truism that the first person you need to lead is yourself.  As is the case in the rare instance of an emergency on board a plane, you put on your oxygen mask first, and then help others. Nurture yourself and your family's well-being. Get enough sleep. Do things that bring you positive energy. Take care of yourself, so you’re in the best position to lead others.

• Help people sort through their emotions. A little care and empathy can go a long way. We’re seeing a lot of people understandably react very emotionally to these uncertain times.  How might you as a leader help others sort through their feelings and “own” them? Empathy is about reflecting genuinely on what others are feeling: “That sure sounds like a difficult situation.” “Times like this can sure feel scary.” When you help others own their feelings – even the difficult ones – you help them reduce the likelihood that those feelings will control them. What’s more, dealing with the emotional content first will help the rational and more logical part of their brain kick in. Logic can help lead to calmness and a more steady hand at the wheel.

• Establish a daily/weekly communications cadence. With more and more people working virtually or hybrid, think about what your new rhythm is to stay in touch with your team, with key players, with your boss, and other influencers. What’s your plan for every day this week to stay connected with key stakeholders like employees and customers?

• Know you can’t not communicate. Know that others are watching what you do (even virtually) in addition to what you say, and are deriving meaning from your actions based on their lens. Share your motivation and intent so others are less likely to read into your actions; rather, tell them what your intention is, and what the benefit is to them: “I’m sharing what I know since I think it would be helpful for you.” “I’m sharing these facts so you can be understanding of your colleagues at the plant, and how we can be sensitive to the difficult situation they’re facing.”

• Share what you know, when you know it. What employees want in times of uncertainty is to know what you know, when you know it. They understand in these changing times that you don’t have all the answers. They don’t expect that. But they do expect to be kept in the loop on what you do know, and as important, what you don’t know. When you don’t know something, say so, and then find out the answer.

• Think about what people can hear and digest. As you share what you know, when you know it… think about what people are able to hear, digest, and do something with. Being respectfully authentic isn’t about saying everything that comes to your mind. Before you communicate, think about what is helpful for employees, and that’s information they can process and digest as relevant to them.  Feeling afraid might be accurate, but there’s nothing productive that employees can do with that information. Instead, it can further exacerbate their feelings of fear and uncertainty. You might be thinking that it’s helpful to know that we’re all in this together; yes! But the way to do that is to acknowledge a collective reality – that “it’s natural for employees to have a myriad of feelings during uncertain times,” and that you “want to focus the team on what we can control and impact.” And bridge to that larger conversation about what the team can do to weather the storm.

In the end, we will weather this storm together. Not sure what to do next? Take a nod from one of the centerpiece songs in Frozen II – do the next right thing. Much of this uncertainty might seem insurmountable and overwhelming. It can feel more manageable if we think – what’s the next right thing to do here? And then the next. And the next.

And before we know it, we’ve figured things out. With calmness and courage – one step at a time.

 

Check out a related post: 7 Mistakes When Communicating Organizational Change  (5 min read)

Plus, two posts to share with your team members:

 6 Steps for Dealing with Change

 Six Magic Words to Lower Stress and Increase Influence

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, facilities management providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth--even in disruptive times.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

How to Boost Team Performance By Generating MOMENTUM

 

 

 

 

 

Momentum is the force or speed of movement that propels us forward, helps us push through barriers, and keeps us going even when things get tough.

In sports, momentum is often called "being in the zone." It's the feeling teams get when performing at their best and everything seems to go their way. Momentum is a powerful motivator driving us to push harder, perform better, and ultimately, win.

We often associate positive momentum with periods of high performance, such as a winning streak. However, a change of direction can also work wonders for team motivation.

A precipitating event, like an interception in football reshapes players' perception of the possible outcome. This event triggers an emotional reaction that renews optimism and trust.

Science uses the term psychological momentum to describe "the tendency for an outcome to be followed by a similar outcome." It not only refers to the energy and progress but also the emotional change caused by an event that can alter our competitors’ perceptions, performance, and even the outcome.

The problem is when teams get caught up in inertia.

Imagine a football team that, despite having skilled players and a competent coach, finds itself on a losing streak. The players are disheartened, the coach is frustrated, and the fans are distraught – everyone feels disappointed.

Nobody knows how to break the cycle. The players lose faith in their abilities, the coach questions his strategies, and the fans blame everyone.

So, how can they break free from team inertia?

There are two ways: a big bang or baby steps.

Many leaders want to make sweeping changes all at once using a "big bang" approach. However, this approach fails to change behavior and makes things worse.

Instead, building momentum through small wins and continuous experimentation can be more effective, as research shows. When people experience progress toward a goal, they become more interested in it and put in more effort.

This notion is known as the progress principle, introduced by workplace dynamics researchers Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. In their book, they argue that the most effective way to motivate employees is to facilitate and celebrate progress.

Having a sense of progress can make people feel happier and more engaged. This is true even if it's a small win – a minor step forward towards a more significant, meaningful goal.

Momentum is not just an energy booster but the antidote to team drama and blame. Building a consistent cadence will keep your team in 'the zone,' breaking through stagnation. Energy grows stronger and faster with time – momentum keeps teams going.

4 Ways to Build Momentum and Break Through Stagnation

"The inertia of the mind urges it to slide down the easy slope of imagination, rather than to climb the steep slope of introspection." – Marcel Proust

Here are four actionable strategies that both leaders and team members can follow to build momentum and get the team back on a winning streak.

1. Aim for Quick Wins

Quick wins are small, achievable goals that can be accomplished in a short time frame. They're crucial for building initial momentum because they provide immediate evidence of progress and success.

A quick win could be as simple as improving a small part of a process or resolving a minor issue that has been causing frustration. Quick wins boost team morale, increase engagement, and create a sense of achievement. Start by identifying small, manageable team issues that you want to improve.

When Dave Brailsford took over the British cycling team, the challenge was far from easy. With only a single gold medal in its 76-year history, the team was stuck in a rut. While it may have been tempting for the new coach to choose a big-bang approach, he instead focused on quick wins by aggregating marginal gains. This led to a dramatic turnaround.

Brailsford, a former professional cyclist with an MBA, believed that, by identifying every element that goes into competing on a bike and improving each one by 1%, the team could achieve a significant overall increase in performance.

Team members began by experimenting with a wind tunnel to improve aerodynamics. They were meticulous about food preparation and brought their own mattresses and pillows so athletes could sleep better every night. The team searched for small improvements everywhere and found countless opportunities. They even hired a surgeon to improve personal hygiene and avoid illnesses during competition.

Brailsford's strategy paid off. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his squad won seven out of 10 gold medals available in track cycling, and they matched the achievement at the London Olympics four years later. Brailsford now leads Britain's best-ever professional cycling team, which has won three of the last four Tour de France events.

2. Turn Quick Wins into Big Wins

Building momentum in a team involves a strategic combination of both quick wins and big wins.

Quick wins, which are relatively easy to achieve and require minimal effort, are instrumental in initiating momentum. They provide immediate evidence of progress, boosting morale by creating a sense of accomplishment. However, the impact of quick wins is often short-lived and can only get you so far.

On the other hand, big wins tackle more significant structural issues, requiring substantial time and effort. Although they may take longer to materialize, big wins have a profound and lasting impact which is essential for sustaining and accelerating momentum.

I recommend a balanced approach to selecting initiatives. For example, two of three initiatives should be quick wins, and one should be a more strategic or challenging big win. This approach ensures that momentum is focused on long-term goals.

Spotify's Discover Weekly was initially developed as a side project by software engineer Edward Newett and a colleague. The idea was to create a better way for users to discover new music they'd never listened to before. The engineers didn't want to commit much time to the project until they were convinced it was worth doing.

So, they changed Spotify's engineering approach to include more user tests and used machine learning tools to generate personalized playlists. The engineers tested the feature by quietly pushing it out to the Spotify accounts of all company employees. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

Encouraged by the growing momentum, the engineers rolled out the feature to one percent of the user base and received a similarly enthusiastic response.

Finally, Discover Weekly was rolled out to the rest of Spotify's customers, becoming its most popular feature.

3. Celebrate Progress

Celebrating small victories is a powerful way to build momentum in teams and organizations. Recognize and celebrate quick wins along the way. Communicate these wins to the entire team and even the broader organization. This recognition not only motivates the individuals involved but also shows others that progress is possible.

A study found that the frequency of small wins mattered more than the size of the win to boost morale. The researchers found that people who experienced a high frequency of small wins, no matter how minor, reported higher overall happiness.

Pursuing small victories is a better way to quickly boost motivation and trigger a chain reaction.

When Satya Nadella took the reins of Microsoft, he made it clear that the old, aggressive culture was no longer welcome. He worked hard to promote a culture of curiosity and learning. Nadella had to rebuild the culture – to shift Microsoft from a "know-it-all" to a "learn-it-all" mindset.

Nurturing a learning environment didn't happen overnight. Microsoft had to let go of a perfectionist culture and turn competition into collaboration. Sharing both small wins and losses was crucial to creating a snowball effect.

Nadella instituted a space for executives to talk about their experiments and innovations, encouraging them to try new things instead of maintaining the status quo.

Its annual three-day hackathon is an evident celebration of experimentation. Teams work on projects outside their daily tasks while Nadella tours around, trying demos. Thousands of employees from different Microsoft departments work together to experiment, learn, and build. All projects are celebrated, even though most will never see the light of day.

4. Focus on Meaningful Work

Contrary to the common belief that high pressure and fear lead to achievement, we are more creative and productive when our inner work lives are positive – our emotions, motivations, and perceptions throughout a workday. Experiencing a positive state makes us more committed to our work and more collegial with those around us.

A study by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer found that the most important motivator for workers was not money, recognition, or job security, but rather the sense of making progress in meaningful work.

When people perceive their work as meaningful, they are more likely to be engaged, happy, and motivated.

Meaningful work is not about glory or prestige but about having a sense of purpose and personal fulfillment. It's the belief that one's work makes a difference and contributes positively to something larger than oneself.

The Transformative Power of Momentum

By implementing these strategies, you can build on the momentum gained from both quick and big wins to spread this positive energy throughout the organization. Momentum not only leads to more success but also spreads confidence and positivity across your culture.

Managers should foster an environment where employees can achieve regular, meaningful progress. Small wins boost morale and motivation, leading to more wins. Over time, this will create a positive cycle.

Check out two related posts:

Calling a Timeout and Getting Aligned is an Essential Skill for High-Performing Team

 How to Lead a Struggling Team

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile: 323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, third-party maintenance providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.