Herbie Hancock on Miles Davis

One of the most fruitful places to look for evidence of creative practice is obviously in the arts.  Jazz musician Herbie Hancock is one of the most articulate on this topic. Many years ago, he was interviewed about his relationship with Miles Davis and what he learned from Miles.  He tells a story about playing with Miles and making ‘a big mistake’ during one of their performances.  Miles didn’t see it as a ‘mistake’ and simply worked with it, without reacting to it as a problem but essentially just another creative opportunity.  This moment can be translated into life directly again and again and is one of the most important creative habits, seeing challenges as simply another opportunity to look at something from a different angle.  

Herbie Hancock on Miles Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6fVZtp9vGQ

Team of Teams

General Stanley McCrystal, who led American troops in Iraq under President Obama, reinvented methods for collective sense- and decision-making in highly volatile, constantly changing conditions.  He has since left the military and consults with companies around the world who know that older leadership models have become increasingly defunct and new ways of leading are required for these times. 

McCrystal’s approach focuses on developing coherent team dynamics with the highest levels of trust, pushing decision-making much closer to the level of execution, and the practice of transparency by senior leadership to be much more forthcoming with the information needed for everyone to make better decisions.  Sharing information on a ‘need to know’ basis was no longer working.  Transparency has become an essential pathway to growing organizational resiliency.  This methodology aligns very closely with my approach to team building and leadership development.

Team of Teams: https://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/docs/default-source/playbooks/team-of-teams-summary.pdf?sfvrsn=8f00a506_7

Van Yahres Tree Company

As part of my culture assessment and team building work with the Van Yahres Tree Company, I supported several senior staff to make changes in how they considered themselves and their habits of leadership and collaboration. Some of these leaders have described the individual coaching work as transformative and different from any other kind of coaching they have received in the past.

“I have invested significant time for many years in my own growth and development, both as a participant and a leader in my professional and personal life.  Lisa's process is unique from other coaches that I have worked and I found myself challenged in ways that I did not expect.  She identified many deeply held beliefs and behaviors of mine that I had been operating under for years. I was unaware of the power these roadblocks had in keeping me from achieving a greater level of communication, collaboration and leadership.  Her coaching caused something of a quantum leap for me both professionally and personally.  I jokingly say that most coaches come through the front door, sit with the client and have a chat that eventually causes change.  Lisa finds a back door and rearranges the furniture that the client has been tripping over for years, then begins the work.  Her support and insights have been life-serving and life-changing, not just for me but for the team around me, making our work together increasingly effective and joyful.”

—Stacy Moren, Sales Manager, Van Yahres Tree Company

Van Yahres Tree Company

Van Yahres Tree Company in Charlottesville, Virginia has been serving their region for over 100 years. It’s been run by descendants of the family since its inception. Five years ago, Jake Vahres and his sister Shana Clarke purchased the company and continued its long tradition with new ambitions and creative ideas for its next phase of growth. They had some concerns about the company’s culture and how fractures within the operations crew were impacting their ability to deliver well on mission. Creative Ground was hired in 2024 to shape and implement a scope of work to support their goals.

“We hired Lisa to be a thought partner in learning more about how to improve the culture of our company and push the decision-making process closer to the level of operations.  Lisa spoke with several employees and senior managers including us as owners and developed a set of recommendations to consider.  Lisa was extremely collaborative and keenly listened to our needs each step of the journey.  As a result of Lisa’s unique learning process, I’ve witnessed all of us make significant changes in how we collaborate in a transparent way, the secret sauce to any successful team endeavor.  I have so much more confidence about this senior team’s ability to model trust, excellent and coherence going forward and it’s inspiring to witness."  

—Shana Clarke, Co-Owner, Van Yahres Tree Company

The Enneagram

I have used the Enneagram framework for more than a decade and have never had a client who does not discover its value for his or her growth and development.  The Enneagram is a leadership assessment framework used in a variety of fields for a broad range of purposes.  The framework is especially valuable for establishing a person’s core tendencies and dispositions when under stress or operating from fear.  There are 9 core styles that describe how we seek freedom, value and security.  I utilize a test developed by David Daniels, a psychiatrist at Stanford University, to identity someone’s core style.  I also pull from Roxanne Murphy-Howe’s resources for more background on each style, both their gifts and blindspots.  

To learn more about its history and use in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, leadership and organizational development, link here and discover a broad new landscape of learning.

The Enneagram in Corporate Settings

Many of my clients are unsure at first about focusing on their own leadership vulnerabilities.  They are used to pointing out the vulnerabilities they observe in others and within a company’s organizational processes.  To help executives understand just how relevant their own growth and development is to the success of their organization, I often share this article– it includes several examples of leaders who incline towards a few of the more assertive Enneagram types and how their fears can undermine healthy culture and effective leadership. Learn more about how the Enneagram framework has been applied within the corporate setting and its results for its senior executives in ‘Giving Fear a Seat at the Table’ by principals at FMG Leading.

The Secret of Highly Successful Groups

Daniel Coyle’s 2019 book The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, is replete with case studies of high-functioning teams and their leaders from every field of endeavor.  Coyle is able to distill the essential elements shared across these teams that contributes to their success.  So often it has to do with trust and the pyschological safety of its members, similar to the findings of Google’s multi-year research project on high-functioning teams.  Once again, when team members are less focused on managing other’s perceptions and freer to test run new ideas and challenge others, they will outperform other groups time and time again.  

Google's Aristotle Project

In 2012 Google launched a research project to study what contributed to their highest performing teams.  The research was conducted over 5 years and included hundreds of teams and a storehouse of data.  The biggest take-away from the project was that the highest performing teams exhibited what Google described then as psychological safety.  When team members felt safe to be themselves, spend less time managing perception of others and work through conflict directly, they delivered more effectively on their mission.  What most often contributed to this team attribute is the leader’s willingness to own his/her mistakes, reveal intent, share context and lead with authenticity (ie., more vulnerability).  

PATH

PATH is a global NGO based in Seattle with offices in many developing countries.  Creative Ground was hired by a newly ascended Director to support her in her new position and bring her global team together for the first time after the pandemic.  This team had not previously been convened with the goal of becoming better strategic thought partners and decision-makers, so their group muscles were less strong.  I conducted an assessment of the Division’s leadership culture, facilitated several in-person retreats and several sessions to work through conflicts between individual members of the team.

“I had the pleasure of working with Lisa Fitzhugh when she was hired by our division to conduct a leadership evaluation within our team. Lisa made efficient use of our team's time, ensuring the process was streamlined and respectful of everyone’s schedule. What truly sets her apart, however, is her unique ability to go beyond the standard interpretation of the data.  Lisa pays close attention to each individual, bringing an intuitive understanding to her process that amplifies the impact of the results. Her keen insights helped us not only understand each other better but also unlock new potentials within our leadership team. Having been through many evaluations as a leader in Fortune 50 companies, I can confidently say Lisa's approach achieved a level of depth and impact that I’ve rarely experienced.  I highly recommend Lisa Fitzhugh for any team or organization looking to benefit from her extraordinary combination of data-driven analysis and intuitive guidance.”

-Pat Lennon, Global Program Leader, PATH

Seattle Center's McCaw Hall

Leadership at the City of Seattle had invested over $100 million in renovations of their Opera House, renaming it McCaw Hall in honor of their largest philanthropic contributor.  A decade later, the leadership team of the building, led by its General Manager, was fraying at the seams and needed space and support to find more coherence to deliver on mission.  The team engaged Creative Ground in a 6-month process to identify the trust fractures and implement a road map to rebuild their team and its relational resilience.  The process resulted in a leadership change facilitated by the staff’s clarity and collective vision for new leadership required for them to succeed.  

“Creative Ground triggered major change in our team by providing a safe place and encouraging honest discussion without destructive judgment.  We felt heard and it gave us the courage to acknowledge our own voice in a manner that was constructive to the team as well as to us as individuals.  Lisa helped us remember we all have something to contribute.  We all have the same goals in mind.  Further, we all have a voice in whatever success we realize.  We so appreciate her help in putting us all back on track that is not only successful but filled with continual learning, openness and fun.”

–Michael Lowe, Seattle Center, McCaw Hall Facility Lead

League of Conservation Voters

Ed Zuckerman, Senior Vice President with League of Conservation Voters, hired Creative Ground to support his senior team in LCV’s  Washington State office.  The team was facing numerous challenges internally and externally and needed greater clarity around their strategic purpose and new practices to build more resiliency in their relationships within the team.  I was engaged in the process for 6 months, facilitated several team retreats and supported key staff to lean into their ‘groan zone’ and to adapt to the many changing conditions that were challenging the organization at that time.  

“Working with Lisa as our team building consultant allowed both our team and me to confront old paradigms of how we operate. It also allowed us to reach closer to our highest potential for work and leadership. The outcomes were stunning for all of us. We accessed a much greater understanding of the shifting landscapes we work within. I could not be more pleased with Lisa’s support to bring us to these new levels of awareness and reflection. The end result has been a new ability for me individually as well as for our team to meet the pressures of the seismic shifts within our working landscape. “
—Ed Zuckerman, former Senior Vice President, League of Conservation Voters

Annual Arts Conference Keynote

Sarah Davis invited me to Johnson City, Tennessee 25 years ago seeking to learn from my experience creating Arts Corps, the non-profit arts organization I founded in 2000 and led as Executive Director for 8 years.  She asked me to be the keynote for their annual arts conference and invited me back again a few years later.  Catalyzed by Arts Corps’ success and my encouragement, Sarah launched a similar program in Johnson City.    

“For 14 years, I’ve seen Lisa in numerous professional situations—motivational speaking, retreat facilitation, community visioning, and leading. She is a deep listener and sows seeds for change that resonate long after she has left the room. Witnessing participants reconnect with their own creative rocket fuel is something to behold! Her authentic spirit leads us to new places where we can tap into our full potentials and see the vision for a world healed and enlivened by collaboration and creativity. Lisa IS the rocket fuel that everyone needs.”

–Sarah Davis, Board Member, Going Elemental

City of Melbourne

In 2008 Kim Dunphy from the City of Melbourne’s Cultural Authority organized a speaking tour for me around the state of Victoria on the value of arts in education.  I had just left Arts Corps and had many stories to share about what made Arts Corps so successful and how we sustained this innate but often untapped learning for young people over time.  

“Lisa's keynote speeches for a series of conferences across Victoria, Australia, in 2008, were incredibly inspiring and motivating.  Her messages about creativity and powerful learning, delivered with warmth and passion, provided an excellent starting point for our events that sought to encourage creative connected communities. Our delegates were unanimous in their positive feedback about her.”  

--Kim Dunphy, Conference Director, Cultural Development Network, Melbourne, Australia

Invest in Schools Not Prisons

In 2008 Seattle was on the verge of closing many local public schools and at the same time considering building a new prison.  I knew that the State of Washington planned for prison construction based on 4th grade reading scores, so we are essentially planning for failure.  I joined a campaign to put the decision to build a jail on the ballot and joined together with several activist folks including Tim Harris of the local paper Real Change.  We held a fundraising breakfast for the campaign and they gave me a chance to speak on the choices in front of us as a community.  I was definitely on fire for change.  That year I also wrote an op-ed which gave me yet another chance to communicate the inequities of our decision to plan for failure rather than invest in success up front.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTdgcLKTAJE

Internal & External Coherence

Andrea Hiott, the creator of the podcast  Love and Philosophy, interviewed me early on. It was one of the most personal conversations I’ve ever had publicly. It is a deep dive into what has shaped me and how it’s formed my view of the world and my ‘waymaking’ within it.

Listen to the interview here:

https://lovephilosophy.substack.com/p/internal-and-external-coherence-with-306?r=esa7d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true  

Hugo House

Leadership for the Hugo House in Seattle was seeking to weave together several groups with very different needs and ambitions so they could make better decisions with limited resources going forward.  I was not able to interview all the participants of this half-day session, but we broke through some very stuck places anyway and found more synergy by the end.  

“Lisa is an excellent retreat facilitator, particularly gifted at helping groups of people navigate through fraught situations.  She has an uncanny ability to ferret out the source of tension – which can be unvoiced yet palpable in a group – then adeptly address the anxiety, resentment or dissatisfaction in a way that does not accuse, shame or lay blame on any individual.  Lisa’s calm and generous demeanor conveys to groups wrestling with difficult situations an optimism that inspires people to work together on finding a way forward that includes everyone.  I cannot recommend her highly enough.”

–Tree Swenson, Director, Hugo House

Lifelong Recreation

Brenda Kramer was poised to retire after many years as Director of the Lifelong Recreation Division.  She was looking for a consultant who could work with her team – a team with great passion for their work but at the same time needed to heal and just focus on themselves.  We spent the day with that as our primary intention.  

“Lisa and I worked together on a possible agenda for the day leaving room for spontaneity.  To lift the lid on our ‘over thinking,’ Lisa got us using our creative and imaginal intelligence. We cried, we laughed and found meaning in the symbolism hidden in the stories told through our art projects. Lisa led us to a safe space where we felt anchored as a team.  I am so grateful for Lisa’s ability to really listen and respond to our needs in such a creative and graceful way.”

–Brenda Kramer, previous Director, Lifelong Recreation & Special Populations, Seattle Parks Department