Springboard began by listening. We conducted targeted staff and leadership interviews to better understand the organization's culture and team dynamics. We also worked with NAICU's President to articulate her vision for the organization and used Everything DiSC Catalyst to give staff a shared language for understanding communication and working styles.

Those insights shaped a highly interactive staff retreat focused on the President's vision, communication, cross-departmental collaboration, organizational priorities, and how individual and team contributions connected to the organization's broader direction.

The retreat also revealed where additional work could make a difference. Staff valued the opportunity for open dialogue and the shared language created through DiSC, while also expressing a desire to translate those conversations into tangible changes in how the organization operated and how its leaders worked together.

Springboard's work therefore expanded from a staff retreat into a broader leadership development engagement focused on strengthening NAICU's executive team and its capacity to translate organizational vision into coordinated action.

From Conversation to Leadership Practice

The next phase began with an in-person leadership development retreat designed to help the executive team establish a stronger shared identity and operating rhythm. The team worked through role clarity, decision rights, collaboration, accountability, and how disagreements and decisions would be handled. The retreat culminated in a practical team charter defining how the leaders would work together.

Rather than allowing the retreat to become a one-time event, Springboard then embedded development into the team's actual work. We supported weekly executive team meetings to establish a more disciplined meeting rhythm around prioritization, decision-making, problem solving, accountability, and execution. As the team developed greater consistency, Springboard's role was designed to shift from facilitation toward observation and coaching, helping NAICU build its own internal capability.

Individual executive coaching complemented the team development work, giving each Vice President dedicated support for individual leadership growth connected to team and organizational priorities. Quarterly reset sessions were also designed to give the team structured opportunities to evaluate progress, revisit its charter, update its scorecard, and realign around priorities.