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About this Episode:

In this episode of the Transformative Leader Podcast, I’m happy to bring you a conversation with advisor, consultant, and strategic planning expert, Kathy Bowman Atkins, about how to combine they key principles of leadership development and strategic planning for sustainable success and growth in any organization. Kathy is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Lattitude Group, which helps business leaders set the course for their businesses through a unique combination of strategic planning, business planning execution, and leadership development.

Kathy isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and ask the tough questions to get the right answers. Since 2002, her no-nonsense approach has helped clients in several industries manage their business strategies, finances, and led the way to success. Kathy doesn’t just plan, she and her team follow up and follow through, working with their clients every step of the way to ensure their future success and provide them with not only the tools they need, but the confidence as well.

Kathy spent the first couple of decades of her career in Fortune 500 companies, where she was known for her strong interpersonal skills and ability to build consensus among groups to handle complex business challenges. She has created and led teams that excelled in strategic thinking, business planning, communications, culture change, transition management, and personal leadership.

She doesn’t provide the cookie-cutter, feel good, run of the mill strategic advice. She warns her clients upfront; be ready to do some hard work and soul searching. She has perfected the processes for change, and she does something most consultants don’t—follow up and follow through. Her clients will tell you their businesses thrived as a result of working with her. They got clarity—and also the tools they needed to see where their businesses could go.

It was good to talking to Kathy in this episode, to get her perspective and insights on a topic that I think is often overlooked when it comes to leadership development and culture transformation, i.e. the need for discrete, objective plans, goals, and measures to guide one in the process of transforming oneself or one’s organization. Often when this is lacking, people get the impression that leadership development is all about “touchy feely“ stuff and not about real results, which couldn’t be further from the truth. In any case, I enjoyed our conversation, and encourage listeners to check this episode out.

Some topics discussed in this episode include:

• How Kathy discovered her passion for helping leaders and businesses find their “true north,“ and left the corporate world to establish her own practice.

• What to consider when you feel that your company is doing fine and doesn’t need any planning to succeed.

• The principles behind Kathy’s approach to business recovery plans, especially in light of COVID-19.

• How the principles of leadership development can be combined with those of strategic planning to create a whole more than the sum of its parts.

• And more…

Kathy Bowman Atkins left the corporate world to start The Lattitude Group 17 years ago to be home to assist her ailing parents. She discovered a love for helping businesses finding their true north and hasn’t looked back since. She combines her corporate and consulting experience to deliver sound advice, concrete plans, and processes, and sometimes a little tough love as well. Today, Kathy and her team deliver real-world experience, recognizing key pain points and partnering with business leaders with an eye on results. In her spare time, Kathy enjoys family time and is an avid political science aficionado and dabbles in interior design. Service to others is a mission for Kathy. She has been a caregiver for several family members through the years while serving on several boards for philanthropic as well as local business advancement. Kathy holds B.A. degrees in Accounting and Business Administration from Elon University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is also certified in CPIM with APICS.

Guest Links:

To learn more about Kathy and her work, you can visit her website, where you can also download a free business guide and schedule a free consultation by visiting go.lattitudegroup.com/. You can connect with Kathy on LinkedIn, or with The Lattitude Group on LinkedIn and by emailing info@tlgrp.com.

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