Delta Catalyst Lab
An advisory firm for CEOs and founders whose organizations have outgrown the founder’s capacity to hold them together.
What We Are
Delta Catalyst Lab works with leadership to align purpose, priorities, and people. The result is high-performing teams and workplaces.
We are not a training provider and we do not run programs. We diagnose what is actually breaking, we guide your teams to install the structures that fix it, and we test whether it holds without us. Engagements are scoped after the diagnostic phase, not before.
The Method
We do not apply an out-of-the-box method.
We work with you to determine where the breakdowns are occurring, how to shore them up from the inside and help you create the structures that will best support your vision.
Purpose
The work starts with purpose. Companies that have taken the time to identify, articulate, and align around a common mission have reported amazing results. Not only do their employees enjoy more positive cultures, and their customers experience better service, but productivity rises, profits increase and other measurable results stack up.
And it’s no surprise. Get everyone on the same page, believing in the same thing, and working together for the same shared purpose, and you’ll be able to achieve amazing results.
Gary Ridge, former CEO of WD40 was quoted as saying, “The will of the people times the strategy equals the outcome”. It was his commitment to aligning around purpose that took a $300M company selling oil in a can and grew it, resulting in 93% employee engagement, a market cap that rose to $2.5B, representing 1,369% shareholder return.
Priorities
Alignment flows from shared priorities. Decisions are made faster, leaders act with confidence, opportunities don’t get missed, and risks are apparent and easily mitigated because everyone knows what is a priority – and what isn’t.
From choosing priorities, to assigning accountability and determining what success looks like, we’ll guide your team in developing plans that are realistic and challenging.
We’ll happily work with the system you prefer (EOS, OKRs, proprietary), or we’ll work with you to find or create and implement the right system for your needs. That could be a formal blueprint, or something less formal – what matters is what will keep “first things first” and your team heading in the same direction.
People
It all comes together with people. You, your executive team, the other members of your strategic layer, and the future strategic leaders in the Middle.
Throughout the process, we’ll use a people-first approach to ensure that the methods and materials we present are helpful and practical.
As we develop a plan for your organization, we’ll identify how specific teams and individuals can be further developed to support the plan and future growth. We’ll be available to provide that development with one-on-one goal achievement programs, leadership skills training, and group workshops.
Our Practitioners
Client work is delivered by practitioners certified in our method.
Founder
Rachel Honoway
Twenty-five years in executive roles, including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Product Officer, before founding Delta Catalyst Lab. ICF-certified and Simon Sinek WHY-certified. Leads the firm’s method and its most complex engagements.
Handpicked Professionals
Based on each organization’s unique needs, a slate of professional coaches and consultants is handpicked and presented from Rachel’s network.
How Engagements Work
Every engagement begins with a diagnostic. What follows is scoped to what the diagnostic finds, because a ninety-day problem and a three-year problem should not be treated the same way. Some of our work runs a month. Some of our engagements run across years.