Executive forum | Thursday, November 12, 2pm Eastern | Garrett Boss, CIO, LaserficheRegister

We help CEOs and tech executives turn infighting, confusion, and death by meeting into collective results, clear priorities, and decisive action

Leadership team offsites  |  C-suite advisory  | 
Executive coaching

Patrick Lencioni’s frameworks for executive teams, since 2015

Take the self-check
Michael Sullivan presenting Cohesion, Clarity, and Cadence to a room of leaders

Selected clients

See more
  • Alation
  • AllStripes
  • American Society of Civil Engineers
  • Asper AI
  • Autonomic
  • BellRing Brands
  • Carbon 3D
  • Cerus
  • Chime
  • City of Dana Point
  • Crunchyroll
  • Fractal Analytics
  • Francisco Partners
  • Humaculture
  • Hyperfine
  • In My Shoes
  • InfluxData
  • Legatus
  • Litera
  • Lumen Academy
  • MarVista Entertainment
  • nvision Glass
  • Pair Eyewear
  • The Plex
  • Premier Protein
  • Procore
  • Purdue University
  • Pure Storage
  • Quantcast
  • Red Robin
  • Reno Aces
  • RobbJack
  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg
  • Sacramento SPCA
  • SeekOut
  • SIM San Diego
  • St Agnes Home
  • Sumo Logic
  • Yolo County DA
  • Zendesk

Results

Fortune 50 technology company

IT and security end a five-year fight in 5 months

Problem

IT and security teams fighting for five years.

4 VPs refereeing every fight.

Programs stalled; contractors hired to keep work going.

“Worse than a terrible marriage.”CIO

Solution

Interviews with leaders and engineers on both sides.

Took the VPs out of the meetings.

One day together, in person, one issue at a time.

Result

$1.5Ma month lost, by the CIO’s own estimate, for a $121B company.

4 VPs back to their own work: the teams settle issues themselves.

“I really thought we couldn’t bring these two teams together. You guys did.”CIO

Architectural glass company

Leadership team 50% more effective

Problem

One branch had run out of projects.

4 of 5 team behaviors scored low on our first assessment.

“Completely disconnected.”The CEO

Solution

Drafted the rally cry with the team, and scored progress every week.

Reassessed the team before every offsite.

Four offsites, and weekly tacticals until the team ran them.

Result

$3.1Msigned by that branch, 35% over last year.

0 of 5 scored low four months later.

“That whole thing triggered the turnaround.”The CEO

Healthcare provider

Leadership team cuts losses on care in half in one year

Problem

$1.69M lost on care the year we began.

Team assessment 3.37 of 5, all five behaviors at medium.

“There were little cliques, and there wasn’t that trust.”The CEO

Solution

One goal at a time: agency staff, margin, staff retention, residents.

Commitments tied to assessment items, reviewed at the next offsite.

Weekly tactical, led by us, then handed back.

Result

$830Kof that loss closed in one year, for a $9.6M-a-year organization.

Team assessment 4.10 of 5: trust, commitment, and results now high.

“They feel that they can trust me and trust each other.”The CEO

What clients say

“Michael delivered a measurable impact on how we communicate, set priorities, and collaborate. Michael has a unique ability to create an environment where honest dialogue, accountability, and healthy conflict can take place, strengthening trust and alignment. We have seen clear improvements in cross-department communication, goal execution, and team cohesion.”
Scott EaganPresident and CEO, nvision Glass
“Michael Sullivan is a passionate and trusted advisor. He has led multiple workshops at FOX that delivered tremendous value across the enterprise. From my perspective as a senior technology executive, Michael’s impact on our leadership culture was clear: he is an exceptional teacher. Any organization looking to drive high-performance culture would be lucky to have him.”
Garrett BossCIO, Laserfiche, formerly EVP, FOX
“Michael has an extraordinary understanding of what it takes for executive teams to work effectively and the role each individual, given their unique character, can play. From personal concerns to organizational dynamics, his coaching method provides clarity, healing, and direction to senior executives lonely at the top.”
Mrunali Majmudarthen Chief Practice Officer, Fractal Analytics

Book a call

Our experience

The record

11years of
this work
99leadership
teams
165leadership
sessions
1,700leaders
worked with

Our clients

31CEO
clients
25clients over
$1B revenue
82%repeat
client work
14engagements with one
Fortune 50 client

Top five times clients reach out to us

  1. 1

    Infighting between two of your senior leaders cut quarterly results, and now their teams won’t work together either.

  2. 2

    Your leadership team has turned over 20% in six months, and the people who are left are waiting to see who goes next.

  3. 3

    Your AI initiative spans several divisions, and the board wants to see ROI this quarter.

  4. 4

    Your best technical leader just lost two senior engineers, and you need him to become a people leader before you lose another one.

  5. 5

    You have re-orged twice in the last eighteen months, and nothing’s working.

Where does your leadership team stand?

Ten questions, two minutes, instant score

Two requirements for success

Smart

No longer differentiates

  • Strategy
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Technology
  • Operations
  • Sales

Healthy

Last remaining advantage

  • Minimal politics
  • Minimal confusion
  • High morale
  • High productivity
  • Low turnover

Our approach

Cohesion, Clarity, and Cadence as one weekly cycle

Infighting → collective results

Cohesion

Overcoming five dysfunctions of a team

Five dysfunctions of a team: Trust at the base, then Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, Results at the top

Confusion → clear priorities

Clarity

Answering six critical questions

  1. Why do we exist?
  2. How do we behave?
  3. What do we do?
  4. How will we succeed?
  5. What is most important, right now?
  6. Who must do what?

Death by meeting → decisive action

Cadence

Running meetings that end in decisions

Four meetings: quarterly offsite review, ad hoc strategic, weekly tactical, and daily check-in

From Patrick Lencioni: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Advantage, and Death by Meeting

We run itWe coach youYou run it

Our offerings

StartSet
baselineTeam and organization
Q1Unify
leadershipExecutive team
Q2Create
clarityExecutive team
Q3Cascade
to leadersSenior leaders
Q4Roll out
org-wideAll employees

Flagship

12-Month Engagement

Four 90-Day Sprints, each building on the last

A successful organization

A two-day offsite each quarter.
Six critical questions answered.
Meetings led, then self-sustaining.
Executives deliver clarity to all staff.

  1. 1AssessLeadership team and organization
  2. 2DebriefWhat we found, ranked
  3. 3CommitThe next 90 days

Rapid response

30-Day Diagnostic

The first step

Where you stand

Organization and leadership assessment with debrief.
The one number that matters this quarter, measured at the start and end.

Start here
Five dysfunctions of a team: Trust at the base, then Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, Results at the top

Rapid response

90-Day Sprint

Alone, or as the first quarter of the 12-Month Engagement

A cohesive leadership team

Executive offsite: trust, conflict, roles, and the top priority for the next six months.
We lead your weekly tacticals until your team does.

Leadership team
Their team
Their team
Their team

The six critical questions, one level down

Ongoing advantage

Next-Level Leadership Teams

One quarter per team

Clarity, cascaded

Direct reports run this with their own teams: offsite, tacticals, and the six critical questions.

  • Developing the leadership team
  • Managing direct reports
  • Having difficult conversations
  • Running great team meetings
  • Communicating repetitively to employees

Ongoing advantage

Executive Coaching & C-Suite Advisory

Monthly for 6+ months

Confidential advisory

Five responsibilities leaders cannot abdicate.

Who you work with

Michael Sullivan

Michael SullivanLinkedIn

CEO and Founder, Sullivan Practice

Serving executive teams nationally
Fluent in English, Italian, Spanish

  • Certified Working Genius facilitator
  • Certified Myers-Briggs practitioner
  • Trained Co-Active professional coach
  • MA Counseling, Philosophy, Theology
Working Genius certifiedMBTI certifiedCo-Active Practitioner

I lead and deliver every session myself.

Rebecca Sullivan

Rebecca Sullivan

Director of Operations

Rebecca runs the operations behind every engagement: scheduling, travel, offsite logistics, contracts, and invoicing.

Before Sullivan Practice, she spent ten years in public schools, including New York City, where she ran state testing and launched a grant-funded program.

  • MA, Hunter College
  • Certified school leader
  • Fluent in English, Spanish

[email protected]

Executive forum

Every other month, we host a 45-minute executive forum

Next: Thursday, November 12, 2pm Eastern, with Garrett Boss, CIO of Laserfiche, formerly EVP at FOX

Nov 12Jan 14Mar 11May 13

Register
Executive forum invitation: How to Tell Whether Your Strategy Is Understood Three Levels Down, Before It Costs You a Quarter, with Garrett Boss and Michael Sullivan
Michael Sullivan leading a weekly tactical meeting with a leadership team

Where we go from here

  1. 1

    Executive forum

    45 minutes, every other month

    Register
  2. 2

    A confidential call

    30 minutes
    Bring your hardest team issue
    Leave with a clear next step

    Book a call
  3. 3

    30-Day Diagnostic

    The one number that matters this quarter

    Start here