Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your role(s) at Bell Leadership?

A: The client experience is my number one priority. For all programs, my goal is to make sure that the entire experience from start to finish is curated in a way where our clients feel valued, heard, and like they are a part of the Bell family. We care about our clients, their organizations, and their industries - all of it to such a high degree - and no detail is too small or too big. Building and cultivating relationships is what I live and breathe daily. It’s about listening, paying attention, and taking the time to get to know our clients and their unique situations so we are prepared. We want our clients to have the best experience possible from the moment they begin working with us and throughout their learning and development journey. As part of the incredible team at Bell, I just want to do my part and contribute for the good of the whole. That means ensuring everything is running smoothly, from the setup to the participant experience to the company experience to the key contact experience. We want to do everything we can to earn our clients’ loyalty.

Q: Are there any key moments or challenges that stand out the most to you in your time at Bell?

I loved our 50th anniversary event. It was wonderful to celebrate and re-engage with all of our clients we’ve worked with and got to know over the years. Seeing how much they care about Dr. Bell, our company, and our mission was incredibly special. Some clients we hadn’t seen in quite a while, but they still came out to show their respect and gratitude for the work we’d done with them. I feel like it really spoke to the impact and longevity of what we do. It was 50 years for Dr. Bell and Bell Leadership and 20 years for me. I saw so many people I’d formed relationships with over that time and was able to share those moments with other long-time Bell Team members. It was a huge event and definitely one of the highlights of my time here.

Q: What Bell practices and principles do you find yourself turning to regularly to help guide your leadership year after year?

A: All of the listening principles are so helpful—I find myself turning to those again and again. A key example is how important it is to use someone’s name. It forms a connection right away and suggests you are listening and committed to them and the conversation. My family even mentions how I’m building this skill, and I have them on board to focus on it too! There are so many other listening techniques like Sherlocking, playback recording, getting into a listening position that all contribute to making lasting connections. Listening is really the key to what I do. The more I can listen the more I can truly understand the needs of our clients and best serve them. It’s also really helpful internally, whether I’m working with colleagues to plan a program or onboarding a new employee. It’s a teaching that definitely sticks with me and a skill I continuously work on and strive to get better at.

Q: How has Achievers affected your work at Bell as well as your life personally?

Achievers is so good! I’ve been through it personally and I’ve facilitated it many times, so I have the privilege of having frequent refreshers on the content. Being able to experience Achievers regularly reinforces where I am on the Achiever Model and reminds me to keep building my effective personality patterns and reducing my least effective ones. I have a bit of a hard time building my Competitor and reducing my Pleaser, so being around that teaching gives me continual reinforcement of the things that I am doing well and the things I need to improve and I think that’s a gift that helps keep me accountable.

Q: Are there hobbies or passions you have outside of your work at Bell Leadership?

All three of my daughters are avid riders, so my family is always at the horse barn or at a show watching them compete. We recently took a family trip to a dude ranch in Montana, and afterwards my family said “you really need to take riding lessons so that you can keep up with us (insert giggle).” You’re likely to hear people say, “If she’s not at Bell, she’s at the barn.” Outside of that, we’re involved in some wonderful charitable organizations. We travel to Honduras yearly and spend time at a group home for girls ages 0-18, and on a local level we volunteer at an organization based out of Durham called Open Table that provides services to the local community that is experiencing homelessness. It really addresses people’s basic needs, like helping them get a driver’s license or a phone. Basic needs that oftentimes we take for granted.

Q: What is a frequently asked question you receive at programs or from clients that you might share some insight on for others?

A lot of our clients will ask us staff members at programs where we are on the Achiever Model. I immediately go to my first one, which is Pleaser, and let them know that I've been at Bell Leadership for a long time, and I'm still a Pleaser, but with work and intentionality I have gotten better about it. They, too, can use the knowledge and tools from Achievers to build their effectiveness and reduce their ineffective patterns that get in their way. I try to share honestly and authentically because I think it helps people normalize their own results. It can be really challenging to get your feedback, so it’s important for them to know we’re all working on something. And it’s helpful for them to know that each person’s results are scored against other leaders, that they’re a leader amongst many, and getting better. As Dr. Bell says, we’re all great and getting better—and I’m right there like they are. When they ask, “What should I do now?” we help with action planning, encouragement and guidance for how to share their feedback with their teams and family to build an Achiever culture with others.

Q: What keeps you excited about your work at Bell Leadership?

I love our team, and I love our clients. I'm always learning something, so that makes me excited. I'm continually learning about personality styles, my own and others, and how to effectively work with other styles better. I love, love, love when we have a new client, and I get to know them, learn about their industry and their problems and opportunities. It keeps things interesting because no two programs are alike. I can get bored with routine and the same thing over and over, so the changing nature of working with different personalities and perspectives really fills my bucket. I like helping our clients find solutions and overcome challenges, and through Bell we get to share our learning and solutions with others.