Coaching
It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.
Madeleine Albright
U.S. Secretary of State, 1997-2001
Personal Profile Assessments
Whitesell & Company consultants are certified to use more than two dozen personal profile assessments and instruments. During the past three decades, we found that only a handful of these personality tools consistently meet our high standards for validity, reliability, clarity of feedback and, of course, usefulness in real life situations. Whitesell & Company, through the application of our healthy skepticism has carefully examined the veracity of the psychometric properties of the tools that we recommend.
Personality theories and instruments have existed since the days of Hippocrates but many of the tools developed during the last 100 years were developed through observation — albeit extensive study in some cases like MBTI — but they were not based on scientific methodology and they have outlived their usefulness in a 21st century world that relies on evidence-based, reliable solutions .
No instrument can completely represent every aspect of a person but accurate feedback regarding the behavioral or emotional characteristics being assessed can be as useful and effective to people as the information that a pilot's instrument array provides during flight.
The following three personal profile assessments vary in cost but not in their value based on the information that can inform the personal and professional behavior of our clients in impactful ways:
Our three strength-based instruments can be used effectively for individuals or during workshops in situations such as coaching, conflict resolution, person/position compatibility, learning style preferences, recruiting and selecting, leadership training and many other personal and professional growth contexts. In organizations, personality profile assessments can help support strategy and change initiatives while building and strengthening teams at all levels including frontline workers, supervisors, managers, executives and board members.
Whitesell & Company is highlighting these three assessments not just because they are the best in class but also because they can be completed online from 5 to 45 minutes depending on which tool is selected, their PDF reports are comprehensive, understandable and meaningful and the information can be immediately applied.
Career Coaching
WriteOnResumes® (owned and operated by Jacki Turner) is a subsidiary of Whitesell & Company that is included as a discrete service offering in the Coaching platform. Write-on-Resumes offer services in content development, resume writing, LinkedIn Profile management, networking and interview coaching.
Organizational Assessments
Systems Thinking — iThink® & Stella®
The art of scientific inquiry lies in asking important questions that frame the “problem” in a way that provides context at the same time that it allows the questions to identify its manageable pieces. This requires a combination of curiosity, knowledge, insight and skill. The ability to probe vertically and see horizontally while connecting seemingly disparate bits of information. It allows the consultant to help others see what may not be immediately obvious or definable upon initial examination of the problem. Probing deeper into the unknown creates new information that can challenge and change what is 'known'. This approach can overcome obstacles, create knowledge and, potentially, illuminate the world…or, at least, your world.
John Whitesell has been a certified instructor of systems thinking and modeling since the late 80s when he worked on the beta version of the iThink® and Stella® software. These products are based on practical applications that enable people to increase their capacity to think, learn, communicate, and act more systemically. iThink® by isee systems is the world leader in Systems Thinking software with substantial global reach in business, education, and government markets. iThink® provides unparalleled value during the strategic planning process.
iThink® is to modeling complex social systems what Doppler Radar is to weather forecasting. As an example, Doppler accurately modeled both the route and intensity of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 prior to making landfall on the Gulf Coast. With iThink®, we have the capability of going from logic models and flow charts to dynamic modeling based upon actual data that interacts with other elements and variables programmed into the model. SWOT is still a valuable exercise and it is one of the information sources for the iThink® modeling. This goes far beyond the linear and inconsistent interpretation of spreadsheets or going by historical accounts about “the way we have always done it here".
The use of probabilistic simulations — such as the illustration of the Housing Crisis example — provides random sampling for predictive performance parameters of a system for “scenario planning” while demonstrating the Theory of Constraints in real time. The key output of a simulation is the likelihood of any specified outcome, i.e., when considering the water constraints that the State of California is currently experiencing, a simulation can reveal that the probability of the existing infrastructure meeting water needs of any region in California during the next five months or five years. Simulations can predict how systems evolve over time and inform decisions that will impact their future behaviour.
Using iThink® reduces the risk associated with changes in policy direction or system constraints and it helps to identify key leverage points for improving system performance and related outcomes. The modeling provides a realistic representation of the system to build confidence when making enhancements or testing alternatives with ‘what-if’ scenarios — contingency planning — to inform decisions, manage risk and accurately estimate system capital and operational investments.
Finally, iThink® helps to develop shared insights and understanding for all stakeholders and can support the implementation of Balanced Scorecards or other tracking systems following the formal strategic planning process has been completed.
Case Studies - Coaching