Corporate Programs - Strozzi Institute

Who We Are

Hear from some of our clients and from the President of Strozzi Institute about our work with organizations by watching this three-minute video.

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Strozzi Institute has developed and delivered innovative programs in leadership development and team building for over 30 years. Our research shows that great leaders are distinguished by who they are and their ability to inspire and mobilize others. When all else is equal, those that have a mastery of self and an embodied leadership presence are the most successful. This is the focus of Strozzi Institute. Our approach is built on the pioneering work of Dr. Richard Strozzi-Heckler whose in-depth studies in psychology, linguistics, philosophy, martial arts, and somatics resulted in a methodology that develops leaders who are confident, centered, authentic, and skillfully execute on their commitments. We have worked with clients from a broad range of professional sectors - Fortune 100 companies, entrepreneurs, non-profit professionals, political leaders, Olympic and professional athletes, physicians, educators, the Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and the Marine Corps. Our programs have demonstrated that leadership is a skill that can be learned, embodied, practiced and integrated within our lives and organizations. We are recognized for developing leaders that inspire trust and galvanize people into action - leaders people want to follow because they are inspired and mobilized by them, not because they are told to follow.

What We Do

At Strozzi Institute, we assist executives, teams, and emerging leaders to excel to their next level of success, purpose, commitment, and leadership. We offer custom designed programs based on the objectives of individual client organizations and can work both with the individual leader and their team. The programs range from a one or two day conference to multiple conferences over time depending on client requirements. Through dialogue and feedback we mutually assess what is required for their success; we then design programs and practices that allow the individual and team to embody this potential.

How We Do This

Our offer of leadership and team development is distinguished by our emphasis on embodied practices. Contrary to what we are accustomed to, learning new skills and behaviors does not occur by reading a book, listening to a tape, watching a DVD, or attending a lecture. While these are useful for gaining new knowledge, they do little to produce new actions. Our research has clearly shown that sustainable change and transformation occur when we engage in recurrent practices over time. The practices for the development exemplary leadership include the specific conversations, actions, and issues they are dealing with in their organizations. One does not learn leadership in a vacuum as an intellectual exercise for its own sake. Leadership is a social phenomenon. So while one learns the fundamental embodied practices of an exemplary leader at Strozzi Institute, they are doing so as they take care of the business at hand.

The proverb, “Knowledge is only a rumor until it’s in the muscle” reflects well our commitment to embodied leadership. Embodied learning is the foundation for the consistent success we produce with our clients. The practices we design are directly connected to the professional roles, commitments, tasks, and conversations that the individual and team are engaged in at the workplace. Our clients learn practices that allow them to take new actions, not just collect new data. This produces leaders that are confident, focused, authentic, and successful in executing commitments from a deep sense of value and purpose.

Embodied Leadership means a person engages in recurrent practices in order to achieve mastery in their roles and way of being. When we see this level of embodiment we trust and believe in their competences. This level of presence and leadership transcends an idea or wishful thinking. For example, athletes do not read how to swim or pole vault and then go out and do it. They train with focus and intention, they have a coach or mentor who provides them with feedback, and they place themselves in a constant game of learning.

In this way, leaders, managers and teams are just like athletes. They are training to gain skill and mastery to be the best. A coach and place of training guides your team by observing them, directing them into new practices, pointing out their ineffective habits, encouraging them to do better, and moving them to excel into areas they didn’t think were possible.

Our historical methods of education, deriving from a scientific model, are quickly being replaced with experiential learning environments. Leadership trainers know that people learn much quicker through experience. Developing a leader, manager, or an efficient staff of any kind, is no longer simply about tips and techniques or sending them off to read a manual. It is about embodying the practices of exemplary leadership.

Through the work I have done with Strozzi Institute, I am able to develop more effective assessments about employee potential. I am now able to make more effective targeted decisions about hiring, promoting, and employee development. The results are faster hiring decisions, higher employee retention, and more satisfied employees by placing them where they are most competent.

My company was failing. Strozzi Institute was instrumental in turning the company around. In the two years that Strozzi Institute worked with us, the market value of my company grew 90 fold. Revenues grew 11 fold; heavy losses became strong profits; and morale was at its highest level in the company's history.

It offered a huge leap in trust among team members. It offered a way to have difficult conversations with mutual respect, careful listening and growth. It offered a way to center oneself in the raging storms of change and stress in which we all find ourselves. It provided techniques for profoundly improving our effectiveness when practiced regularly and applied.

Strozzi Institute can customize programs around the goals and needs of your company, working with individuals or teams. We also offer one-on-one coaching for corporate executives and upper level management. Want to learn more?