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You need an Intelligence + Design + Coaching formula
because getting it right requires all three disciplines.
We have worked with Erin Sedor of Black Fox Strategy since 2019 and it has been an amazing experience. Erin continues to professionally guide our board and senior management staff to meet the ongoing challenges our organization faces, while at the same time helping us recognize our inherent strengths and tremendous progress. She is a skilled facilitator, who can synthesize varied sources of information and input in real-time. Erin produces strong visual and written products, which guides our organization in the form of our strategic plan. We value our partnership with Black Fox Strategy and look forward to many more effective planning sessions.
~Dr. Jessica Black, Fairbanks Native Association Board President
Service Engagements At-A-Glance
Your challenges are unique, so we will build your engagement based on the problems you need to solve and the outcomes you want to achieve. Explore the Services Page for more detail on what working with me could look like for you.
Strategic Planning & Design
Prepare yourself and your team to navigate whatever comes next.
Strategy fails and fails consistently. We need to make a fundamental shift in how we think about strategy design and planning that recognizes the complex adaptive nature of the organization. This requires an integrated approach to strategy, risk and resilience competencies that balance the internal needs of the organization and its people with the external needs of its clients, partners, industry, and stakeholders. This is where applying quantum and complexity science to strategy design can break the notorious cycle of ineffective and strategy.
The foundation of my approach to strategic planning and design is to create a balanced focus on purpose, growth, and evolution, incorporating the principles of both quantum and complexity science to solve challenges in creating highly adaptive and sustainable organizations. This approach puts existing strategy into new perspective, and creates an embedded mechanism to prioritize time, energy, and resources for the greatest good of the organization. This quantum-intelligent approach emphasizes a deepening of strategic thinking discipline over static plan writing.
Welcome to Quantum Intelligent Strategy.
A powerful vision must be matched with an equally powerful strategy design.
The Four Rules of QI Essential Strategy:
1. Purpose must be internally compelling and contribute to a cause greater than the entity itself.
2. Growth is not Growth unless it can (also) be measured by the benefit provided to the stakeholders both in and outside the organization.
3. Evolution requires active anticipation of the changing needs and wants of both those who support and those who are served.
4. Purpose, Growth & Evolution are inherently connected and must exist in a state of Equilibrium for the health and sustainability of the organization.
Strategic Performance Analysis
Gain the deep organizational awareness you need to solve the right problems right now.
Getting to the root of a problem is never as easy as we would want it to be. The interconnectedness of every system, process, person, understanding, influence, and environmental driver creates a mesh of relationships and networks that must be considered holistically when assessing strategic performance. We must also recognize the complex quantum nature of every organization - no two are alike and every change dynamically changes the whole. Meaningful analysis requires deep awareness of this natural entanglement, and asking the right questions of the right people is critical to resolving core problems over symptoms.
The most common mistake leaders make is applying a familiar solution in a new environment. It doesn't work that way.
Information is power. Experience informs the way you lead, but even "tried and true" approaches can fail when applied to an unknown environment. The very nature of the complex human organization and the related systems, relationships, and learning praxis requires no assumptions.
The QI 360 Model, anchored by the purpose/growth/evolution foundation of Essential Strategy, was designed to support the identification of key performance drivers from the inside out. It leverages deep expertise in enterprise risk, resilience planning, and strategy design to give you a holistic view of what is - and is not - driving positive strategic performance. You don't need to be told what you already know, and you don't need answers for problems you don't have. The smart design of QI 360 identifies those areas that are critical for performance at the stage of growth you're in. You get to see the mesh of interconnected people, systems and drivers that need immediate attention, as well as the path for moving forward.
First, we look at the Business Core, using more than 70 data points to understand performance drivers across four quadrants that include the Business Model, Human Asset, Programs & Systems and Learning Praxis. We are looking for the gap between formalized expectation and operational reality.
Next, we will look at Operational Discipline, focusing on how the Business Core supports the development and execution of interconnected QI disciplines of Strategy, Leadership and Performance.
Finally, we translate the cummulative findings to define a baseline QI Enterprise Maturity across six key attributes of Aspiration, Alignment, Intelligence, Deciciveness, Navigation, and Adaptation.
Supported by the core tenets that foster successful complex adaptive systems, and designed to compliment QI Strategy design and Leadership, this process provides the kind of deep organizational intelligence that you need as a leader to make the right move at the right time.
It’s not that you don’t know the business, but you find disconnects between operational and strategic priorities that you didn’t even know were there. No one else is teaching strategy this way.
~J. Jarvis, Business Owner
More than organizational health check or version of SWOT, the QI 360 paints a vivid picture of what is and is not working within the systems and structure of your organization, how learning and adaptation manifests, and how these things play against relevant external influences.
You can apply the QI 360 across the entire organization or use it more surgically within specific function or division. The tools I use depend on the problem you are trying to solve and will build on what you have already done.
But none of this work matters unless there is a practical plan to address the findings. So we will collaborate together on the findings and the path forward, supported with prioritized recommendations for the next steps, and scheduled check-ins to make adjustments as needed. The project isn't successful until you see the improvements taking hold and an increased QI discipline unfolding.
Erin’s ability to get at the root of a problem and then support a team in crafting the solution is exceptional. We worked with Black Fox Strategy in 2019 to gap assess an issue we had affecting client capture in one of our groups. From the start, we thought we knew what the problem was and that Erin would simply confirm our suspicions. We were enlightened when her analysis revealed that what we thought was an issue wasn’t one at all – we actually had a completely different problem. She then worked with our team to create an action plan to get the group back to an optimum level of performance. The results have been extremely successful – we couldn’t be happier!
~Lydia Griffey, Senior Principal at Stantec
Executive Strategy Coaching
You have a vision. I can help you get there.
You operate in highly dynamic and complex environments – you need a holistic solutions-based approach that fits your needs, your culture, and level of organizational maturity. Most of all, you need real conversations with someone who not only understands the world you operate in, but who believes in you and your vision as much as you do.
The more time I spent with CEOs and EDs to create purpose, growth, and evolution for their organization, the more I realized they needed to do the same for themselves.
I am a Strategy Coach – my focus is to improve strategic performance of the most senior executives and their teams so they can successfully lead the organization.
I do this by helping individuals challenge perceptions of themselves and others, and to break through communication barriers using science to inform and dynamic learning to build powerful, trusting and cohesive teams.
Explore my approach and philosphy on QI Leadership.
Individual Executive Coaching
One-on-one individual coaching is designed for senior leaders charged with leading and executing strategy. Engagements are whatever makes sense for you. Typically, they run six months with options for twelve (12) 60-minute sessions or eight (8) 90-minute sessions. The workplan is client-driven and based on desired outcomes you define at the start. Investment may vary based on other bundled work, and includes a personal PGE Inventory, as well as our core PrinciplesYou and ECHO assessments.
Executive Team Coaching
Team coaching is designed to identify key disconnects that are getting in the way of effective collaboration and strategy execution. This work may be incorporated as part of a strategic planning retreat, or as a follow-on of performance analysis work. The investment may vary based on other bundled work and the size of the team. Events include both individual and team leadership working using the PrinciplesYou assessment.
Discover a partnership where your team’s potential is not just realized but amplified, bringing forth a future where success is sustainable, growth is assured, and performance is nothing short of extraordinary.
Erin's combination of warm approachability and laser focus make her an outstanding coach. During our sessions, she expertly and gently guided me to uncover truths, connect dots, and overcome obstacles - whether external or of my own making. She has an intuitive sense to ask just the right question at just the right moment, and her quick intelligence and ability to read (and listen) between the lines are what truly set her apart. Working with Erin has propelled me forward both professionally and personally, and I would recommend her as a coach without reservation.
~Nina B. Executive Attorney
