We know the impact you have in your organization will be because of your hard work and dedication to doing what’s right for your people and organizations. We can clearly play a role in that transformation, but we believe that our role is to partner with you, not to lead for you or bring answers down from the mountaintop. Being “fuel” for your journey is what we are most proud of and what we continue to nurture as a firm. We nurture this by coming together four times a year in what we call Valence Labs – critical days to think about our clients, think about the future, and to play as a community.
First, we spend time talking about and with our clients, both past and present, to stretch ourselves to understand where we succeeded and where we missed the mark. We work to grow our perspective and intellectual capital so that we can continue to provide you with new and innovative ideas and help you solve the issues that keep you awake at night. We also look forward to the future and debate “what’s next” for our clients, their industries, and their leadership.
Then we play together. And we play hard. If we could show you the pictures from our fireworks show or bocce games or water sports, we would! In Essentialism author, Greg MecKeown, says, “Play doesn’t just help us to explore what is essential. It is essential in and of itself.” We agree and believe strongly that our own play, and the bonds and relationships formed within Navalent during that play, sets the tone for our relationship with you.
This past week at one of our Valence Labs, we reflected upon our journey (preparing to celebrate ten years as a firm this fall) and pushed ourselves to go beyond what the first ten years has brought to our clients. Much of this work you’ll see very soon, including our new book Rising to Power, and a new offering focused on escalating and acclerating organization transformation through executive development in cohorts.
While productive for the firm, these Valence Labs and their time commitment take us away from you (and our families) for a few days. But since the beginning of Navalent we have known that investment is worth it. Refueling our own creative juices can only have postive impact on those we serve – and that’s you.