What is your talent strategy?

Truths

This week we are excited to celebrate the two-year anniversary of Senior Engagement Manager Laura Noonan's work with Setser Group. Laura is very adept at leading a project as well as managing a broader talent squad of consultants at Setser Group. She combines experience and expertise in ways that leave clients feeling valued and deeply invested in the change and innovation work ahead of them.

Laura has been doing strategic or management consulting work for the bulk of her nearly 20-year career. As an economics major at Duke, she joined a management consulting firm right out of college. While enjoying the intellectual challenges and the diversity of work across sectors, she soon jumped at the opportunity to continue building her consultant skillset while also having a positive social impact, working for a firm focused on the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

After earning a Master's of Public Affairs at Princeton, she spent several years working within the K-12 education sector, which, being surrounded by a family of educators, has always been an issue she has been passionate about. These experiences, including a joint role with the Colorado State Department of Education and a supporting nonprofit, as well as being part of a team working to open up a new school of choice, has given her a much deeper understanding of the multifaceted issues and challenges of education from both a statewide and local community perspective.

I absolutely love being a consultant with Setser Group! I get energized by the chance to be consistently challenged as well as the opportunity to work alongside thought leaders and incredible change-makers across different organizations and areas of expertise.

Having a background working for a few different consulting firms, one of the things I especially enjoy about my work at Setser Group is our collective focus on innovation, which is one of our core values. Every member of the team is dedicated to helping our clients envision the future of learning and work. We’re not content to just solve the problems of today, but are constantly asking ourselves where the field might be headed next, and pushing each other to think bigger and bolder.

I most enjoy the process at the very outset of a project, which I believe is also where most of the work to set a new engagement up for success happens. Too often, strategic endeavors fail because there isn’t clarity or alignment on what you are setting out to achieve, and what success (or failure) would look like. I love the early work of digging in with the client to understand the current state (in all its messiness), and helping the team to emerge with a clear view of the challenges we need to tackle, along with a game plan to get there.

Tools

The following are some of the tools and resources Laura utilizes in her work at Setser Group.

As a consulting firm that is itself a nonprofit, part of the mission of The Bridgespan Group is to share research, best practices, and innovative ideas to advance the social sector as a whole. Its Knowledge Library contains a wealth of helpful articles, tools, templates, and other resources to support nonprofit organizations of all types.

We frequently leverage tools from The Management Center when helping clients through organizational and management-related challenges. They feature hundreds of practical tools in their online resource library on topics like effective management, hiring, and equity & inclusion.

The Alliance for Nonprofit Management also offers informative webinars and other events to continuously learn and develop as a professional, especially those committed to centering equity and inclusion in their organizations and communities.

Triumphs

Learn more from Laura with the following interview excerpts to help you triumph in your daily work.

Setser Group: What’s your advice to other consultants doing similar work?

Listen Deeply. I believe what sets mediocre consultants apart from great ones is the ability to fully grasp what keeps your client up at night and to start to see the world from their point of view. My coworkers can attest that I love to talk as much as the next person, but I also know that the fastest path to building trust, creating loyalty, and ultimately making an impact comes from active listening.

Be Honest and Authentic. Whether it is challenging clients (kindly) on difficult issues, or asking questions/making suggestions when you aren’t sure how they will be received, I believe that being vulnerable and fully candid, while often challenging in the moment, is what helps us move past challenging issues and together solve the biggest problems.

Under-Promise and Over-Deliver. One of Setser Group’s values is “wow experiences”. We are always on the lookout for ways to not just meet expectations, but to exceed them. One of the biggest pieces of advice I’d give anyone providing services is to be hyper-realistic when scoping projects and deliverables, while actively looking for ways to go above and beyond along the way.

SG: What have been some of your most satisfying projects? One that you’re most proud of or had the biggest impact on people?

One of my most satisfying projects involved the opportunity to work with a client through multiple stages and phases of work. My very first project as part of Setser Group was developing an in-depth SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis for the North Carolina Retired Governmental Employees’ Association (NCRGEA) in the fall of 2020. They then asked us to facilitate a process with their board and staff to develop a comprehensive strategic plan, and I have been a part of the Setser Group team that has continued to support the organization in the last year as key implementation partners, even leading the organization as it transitioned leaders with Executive Director-as-a-Service support. Helping this small but mighty organization evolve, grow, and transform itself over the past two years to better serve its members has been incredibly satisfying, and I look forward to continuing to watch their progress in the future.

Check out the video below to learn more about our work with NCRGEA.

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