The monthly member spotlight is an opportunity to learn more about a leader at one of our member companies and showcase the work they are doing. This month, we spotlight Nancy Annett and Laura Pavilonis, Founders of Flashpoint. Learn more about Flashpoint in our member directory.
Name: Nancy Annett and Laura Pavilonis
Title: Founders and Lead Consultants
Company: Flashpoint
We create high performance teams by helping them find passion in their work. We help organizations break down common people barriers that can have a direct impact on their bottom line, reducing turnover, absenteeism and increasing productivity. Our training and development services connect the unexpected by incorporating novel elements and physicality to create engaging and enriching learning experiences that produces creative solutions to problems. We offer on-site and off-site custom training solutions in the following areas: Communication skill enhancement; Team development; Conflict management; Human capital growth and productivity; Organizational development; Leadership training; Leadership and career coaching and Young worker training. We build on a foundation of over 20 years, credentialed Human Resource expertise to provide a unique experience that breaks down barriers and stimulates innovation. Our coaching approach guides the team as they develop concrete commitments and accountability to help them move forward. Our fun and engaging approach and a razor-sharp focus on people have driven results that go far beyond the short term goals that other methods achieve. Our solutions are immediate, powerful and create an energy that can take a team to the next level.
1. What are your roles, and what are your favorite parts of your job?
As the Founders and Lead Consultants of Flashpoint, we love the high energy that comes from facilitating teams, large or small, particularly by putting them into unique situations and environment. Seeing the transformation and positive change happen right before our eyes is amazing. We want people to go to work and be at their best, and watching a team become more open and shift their perspective over the course of just a few hours, can’t be beat!
2. If you could have coffee with any business leader or industry expert, who would you choose, and why?
We’ve been intrigued by the Red Bull High Performance Program, with CEO Dietrich Mateschitz. The program helps push people to dream beyond what they deem possible. Their approach is to understand deeply and passionately use techniques from varied disciplines that lift a performance from great to superior, thus shattering the limits of human potential. Like us, they have learned the simplest lesson: Once you’re comfortable, change it – step up and out of your comfort zone to gain results. For example, they took athletes from various disciplines and had them train alongside masters who mix circus arts with street entertainment. This completely different and unexpected adventure tapped into their emotional sides, and required a new type of performance from them. Suddenly, their next competitions seemed far easier than those few days they spent out of their comfort zones. Ancient Samurai warriors found that beyond the physical sword-fighting practice, equally as effective was focusing inward through meditation and soul-seeking. Red Bull applies this thinking to their athletes and musicians and artists.
3. What is the #1 business book/blog/website you would recommend?
The book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is a classic for people who work in teams, whether they be formal or informal teams. The scary part, is that you may not even know how dysfunctional your team is….like the day you’re lucky enough to get a new job or get assigned to a different team and realize “omg….so this is what it’s like working on a great team.” This book goes to the very heart of why teams, even teams you think are the very best, often struggle. Admitting that you have a team that needs work is the first step to superior performance. Like the book, we believe that strong teams spend lots of time together. And, when they take the time to do that, it actually saves time by eliminating confusion, minimizing redundant effort and communication.
4. Looking at your company’s future, what are you most enthusiastic about?
We are really excited about our approach to helping organizations leverage the values and beliefs of the younger workforce and use their energy, innovation and drive for autonomy to get results. Our approach is specifically designed to address the generational issues faced by organizations today.
5. What excites you most about the local tech community?
We love technology and the fact that it’s a growing industry in our own back yard. It sparks innovation and provides the tools to take organizations to a whole new level. Technology is an enabler, and can help people perform at their optimal level, clearly communicating vision, values and beliefs in a way that was not possible in the past.
6. What causes or community activities is your company involved in?
We both love volunteering with young people and are mentors with the aboriginal entrepreneurship program at Beal high school and the FIRST Robots Program. We travel to many schools offering assemblies that help youth find their passion and make the connection to career and work.
