At PAIRIN, we are so lucky to work with people and organizations making BIG impacts in their communities every day. This month, we are excited to highlight one of them. We interviewed Penelope Jones and Meg Poag of Mission Squared to learn more about how they are “transforming organizations by transforming people.”
Q: What does your organization do?
A: We transform organizations by transforming their people, helping our clients achieve purpose-driven cultures and ambitious visions.
Mission Squared is an organizational development consulting firm that helps small to medium-sized organizations maximize their impact by transforming the workplace in to a mission-aligned, fulfilling place to work. We partner closely with our clients to shift the way work is accomplished and empower the people who do it.
We deliver custom services that deliver on our promise of transforming organizations by transforming people. These custom services include:
- Organizational Transformation
- Master-Mind Groups
- In-House Leadership Transformation
- One-on-One Executive Coaching
- High-Performance Workshops
- Strategic Planning
- Talent Acquisition, Development and Retention
Q: How many employees do you have, and where are you located?
A: We have 5-10 employees in Austin, TX.
Q: What is one thing you are proud of about your organization?
A: Our clients report dramatic improvements in employee morale and engagement as evidenced by case studies and post-engagement organization assessments. We are data driven to make work JOYFUL!
Q: What is your organization’s Top Driver?
A: Mission Squared’s top driver is ACE ACHIEVER! This absolutely suits our team. The definition is “Let me accomplish something difficult. Let me invent, build and stretch for success. To me, impossible means ‘I’m possible!’”
Q: How long have you been using PAIRIN, and what products do you use?
A: We’ve been using PAIRIN Pro since October 2020.
Q: What is your favorite thing about PAIRIN?
A: We believe “The most transformational shifts start with transformational awareness.” Mission Squared uses The PAIRIN Survey to show leaders their super powers and their blind spots. One client described it as “a bomb of self-awareness!”
Q: How has PAIRIN positively impacted your organization?
A: As a marketing and business development tool, it’s creating a BIG buzz with potential clients. Through our website, we are offering a free PAIRIN Survey. Those interesed can register to receive a link and instructions to take the survey free of charge. They receive their Top Quality report AND a short personalized video giving them a “sneak peak” of even more powerful insights. They can then sign up for a $50 consultation to learn about themselves – and how Mission Squared uses PAIRIN to help clients transform.
We have been using PAIRIN in six out of the seven services outlined above, and we focus on using it for:
- Pre-hire screening to assess a candidate’s fit for a position and their overall social/emotional skills
- Employee self-awareness, growth and development
- Leadership development and coaching, including 1:1 executive coaching
- Cultural snapshots of teams/organizations to show mostly highly shared attributes across groups and proactively shaping an organization’s culture
- All-staff trainings to deepen awareness in their unique strengths, styles and approaches for better communication, collaboration – and connection!
We like to partner with our clients to custom design a program that will get big results, and also aligns with their parameters of time and budget. We can design different intensity levels of the various possible services depending on the goals and constraints for that team.
We can take a cultural snapshot of a team and look at the attributes that are common and high in intensity for that team, and likely really shape the culture of the team, reflecting the team’s values, styles, approaches to work, people, and shared motivations.
We run individual PAIRIN reports and review results with clients either individually or as a team (with results remaining anonymous) to help team members with self-awareness and goal setting. These reports reveal their superpowers, blind-spots, possible key areas for growth, and help them better understand what is influencing their thinking and choices.
We can facilitate a series of group sessions focused on PAIRIN, understanding the results, using the results to set goals for personal growth, and working together better as a team.
We also facilitate 1:1 coaching sessions in addition to group sessions.
And finally, we LOVE to help our clients hire better, helping to create strategic targets for work-style attributes and soft skills using PAIRIN to screen candidates, shape tailored interviews, and identify the best fit for their open positions.
Q: You work with lots of people! Tell us about an individual that has benefited from your organization using PAIRIN.
Meg Poag recently coached an high-level executive director. They started the journey by analyzing her PAIRIN results along with the 360-degree feedback received from six reporting staff. Using the results, Meg and the client identified key areas of growth and development. In bi-monthly coaching sessions, they moved from awareness to intentional skill-building in emotional intelligence, principles of high performance and high performing leadership. Specific tools included a Leadership Practices self-assessment, Individual Development Plan, and Discovering My Higher Self. Post-survey results showed that the client moved the needle in ALL of the targeted PAIRIN attributes PLUS strengthening many of her imperatives and other social-emotional skills.
BONUS QUESTIONS
- Name someone you look up to.
Stacey Abrams (Penelope)
Brene Brown (Meg) - What is one skill you are currently working on developing?
Engagement (subset of Curiosity & Inquisitivenss) for less preferred tasks. I tend to go to Duty-driven instead of leaning in and fully engaging in its not something I’m personally curious about or interestsed in. I know it can affect my personal and work relationships when it looks and feels like I’m just going through the motions but would really rather not be bothered. (Penelope)
Self Restraint. It’s the one imperative that I am lower than the desired range. I’m very excitable and an ‘idea person’ and I tend to think and talk very quickly, often hampering engagement from those around me. I am working to be very aware of my inclinations to talk, especially when I’m excited, and am intentionally asking more questions and slowing down my engagement in group conversations. (Meg) - How many times a day do you log in to PAIRIN?
About 10-15 times a day. Clients are keeping us busy!! - What do you think the future of work will look like?
We intend to continue to find ways to use PAIRIN in all our services. We also intend to create customized reports in PAIRIN for our clients who are learning and using our unique self-coaching protocol to use their PAIRIN results to be able to focus on a few key attributes that they want to strengthen to reach their broader personal growth goals. - What did you want to be when you were a child?
A back-up dancer to Paula Abdul (Meg)
A dolphin (Penelope) - What’s one of your bucket list goals/dreams?
Any and all travel (Meg)
Traveling around the world, with endless opportunities to explore and learn (Penelope)