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In August of 2021, Aspire turns 10 years old!
Effective August 1, 2021, Jennifer McNiven is president of Aspire.
Aspire has a fresh, new website (www.aspireleadwell.com).
Aspire is expanding its coaching services.
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Happy Birthday, Aspire!
In the summer of 2011, life at the McNiven household looked like this: Chris was working himself out of a job after leading a restructuring. He had also just negotiated the last possible extension for the dissertation of his doctoral studies in which he had invested the previous seven years.
In a discussion that happened over the dinner table around two small children, Chris and Jennifer decided that Chris would begin consulting with a couple of organizations to see if this would be something he’d be interested in pursuing after his degree was conferred. In what was really a compromise, they agreed to try it for six months and then revisit the decision.
Fast forward 10 years, plus a few more of those six-month compromises, Chris completing his degree, Jennifer joining the fun, followed by a lot of adapting and adjusting of services, and you have Aspire.
Aspire started as a firm completely focused on organizational development with a not-quite-clear mission (ironic, we know). Today, we are a strategy, OD, and coaching firm that helps organizations with three things: Purpose, People, and Performance.
Aspire focuses on these three elements because research and experience prove that they are what makes organizations successful, both in their performance and with their internal and external communities. Aspire is honored to walk with clients as they wrestle to improve and come out on top.
In 10 years, we’ve grown from a single entrepreneur to a team of 10 dedicated individuals who work tirelessly to provide real-world, customized services that help our clients live out their purpose with success.
Say Hello to Our Newest President.
While we help organizations, we recognize that Aspire is one too.
Throughout the past 10 years, Aspire has had the freedom and ability to be nimble and act like a start-up. This phase has been aptly led by Chris McNiven and his vision to create something from nothing. His unique skill set and tenacity have helped Aspire establish itself, adapt quickly, and become what it is today.
After 10 years, we are entering a new phase of the business life cycle. Aspire is a more mature, established entity, and as such, needs a different perspective to lead us into the future. Beginning August 1, Jennifer McNiven will shift from her current role as executive vice president to president while Chris will focus his efforts on serving clients.
Jennifer’s ability to foresee organizational needs and build the right systems and processes to meet it have been the backbone of Aspire for years.Yet it is her capacity to create space for people to engage authentically; her ability to hear past the noise, taking strong thinking from multiple perspectives and weave it into the best solution; and her focus on the end user’s experience (whether an Aspire team member or client) that truly positions Aspire for the next phase of growth and success.You can read more about her background here.
More Services for You.
Aspire has always provided coaching services, although it’s not something we’ve advertised. That changes now. Like much of who Aspire is, how we understand and make use of coaching as part of the change process that has evolved over the last 10 years. As such, coaching will be taking a more prominent role in the firm going forward.
We’re expanding and broadening our coaching practice. We’ve brought on more coaches and now provide a menu of services for both individual and group coaching. Aspire offers executive, leadership development (performance), and wellness coaching. We have customized packages that can fit your organization’s needs, whether for groups or individuals.
One coaching initiative we’d like to highlight is a segment of our Passages™ program that focuses on Middle managers. While Passages™ is an organization-wide leadership development program (frontline to C-Suite), we carved out a section for middle leadership, recognizing that they may have the most impact on both the current health of an organization as well as the future leadership. This group coaching curriculum leads small groups of supervisors, managers, or directors through a competency model that results in personal leadership growth and a demonstrated positive impact in each of their reporting structures. Check it out here.
Additionally, Aspire offers well-being coaching as a part of a larger well-being strategy. Stress and burnout and the need for resilience have all been brought to the forefront of life, and not just in the last 18 months. Developing understanding and awareness of ways to improve, and the skills to hone these characteristics, are all necessary for a strong workforce that is truly well. Check all these programs out on Aspire’s coaching page.
Thank You! Much to Come!
Most of all, we look back at the last 10 years and are filled with gratitude.
We are grateful for the clients who have partnered with us, been patient as we’ve stretched and grown, and those who have entrusted their organizations’ livelihoods to us. We love what we do, but we don’t take it lightly. Thank you.
We are grateful for consultants who have also partnered with us. Their time and expertise are second to none and have shaped and molded Aspire in countless ways. We are grateful that they have shared their experience with Aspire so it can serve organizations in a personal and holistic way. Thank you.
Happy 10th anniversary, Aspire! Thank you for being a part of it with us.
Let’s celebrate!