People are the foundation of every business. People are at the center of every outcome. To maximize productivity, creativity, and innovation within each organization, organizations must do the following:
1- Source and hire people using an inclusive and replicable process
2- Pay fair and equitable compensation
3- Amplify employee outcomes by executing thoughtful onboarding and defining what success looks like for them, their teams and the organization
4- Identify opportunities for continuous learning and development
5- Create conditions for engagement, which include supporting employee wellbeing and fostering a work environment where employees feel they can belong
The key is for each organization to not only understand its business needs, but also to understand who its employees are, what they need, why they need it, and how and when to deliver it. Leaders and managers impact everything that happens and does not happen within an organization. They must build their personal capacity by building their skills AND by building their wellbeing practices. Doing so directly impacts how they will lead and inspire others.
Every PLC engagement is unique. Each one begins with a needs assessment and a clarification of desired outcomes and ends with value creation.
Transformational change takes time and intention, commitment and accountability. Combining consulting and advisory services along with training and facilitated discussion sessions, we facilitate large-scale transformational change initiatives at universities, nonprofits, private and publicly traded companies. Our areas of focus include leadership development, employee engagement, and building and sustaining inclusive culture.
We have expertise in strategic and operational human capital management, as well as in organizational effectiveness and development. We will clarify your organization’s needs and level of buy-in in collaboration with the executive/senior leadership team, and develop a strategy and/or plan to increase your organization’s outcomes.
Our perspective on training is that it must always be coupled with facilitated discussion. No one wants to be “talked at” for an extended period of time. Aligning around key concepts, reflection time and participants engaging in dialogue makes learning sticky. We assess the effectiveness of every session to learn what is working and where there is opportunity to iterate and enhance future sessions, as well as gauge participant learning and commitments to action.
EXECUTIVE + LEADERSHIP COACHING
Through individual coaching sessions, leaders explore their vision for the future, identify the pathway to get there, and make commitments to action. Each session creates tangible outcomes. Therefore, each engagement, whether short or long, creates tangible outcomes.
Engagements are primarily focused on being great in the world of work. And, as we know, we are humans, not bots. What happens in our lives outside of work impacts how we are being, so coaching into personal challenges is also on the table.
Our perspective on coaching is that feelings are data that impacts how we view challenges, opportunities and potential solutions. So, be prepared to walk away from sessions more in-tuned to how you feel about what you are up to.
KEYNOTE SPEAKING + AD-HOC WORKSHOPS
We support organizations with short-term engagements, such as conference keynote speaking, serving on panels, or delivering ad-hoc workshops that are tied to larger initiatives not stewarded by PLC.
ALEXANDER KOTLER
Shamis led an interactive conversation and keynote presentation on the importance of community and belonging at our annual user conference for RubyApps clients and marketing technology professionals. She prepared extensively, collaborated thoroughly with our team, and facilitated a highly engaging and meaningful session. I would recommend Shamis for any of the variety of services she offers.
Chief Marketing Officer, RubyApps
R. THURMAN BARNES
Shamis was a featured guest in my graduate level course on leadership and management and was simply exceptional! Her ability to be in the moment created a safe space for the students—a group of mid to senior level public health professions—to openly challenge beliefs about themselves as leaders and take ownership of their personal/professional well-being. Shamis’ ability to draw on knowledge learned, to include lived experiences, while simultaneously reading the room made for a dynamic and engaging learning experience.
Associate Professor - Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
EMILY O’RYAN
Shamis Pitts was an incredible keynote speaker at our MiTek Women Employee Resource Group’s conference held the week of International Women’s Day. We pursued her services because of the research and practices she shared on empathy, mental health and wellness, and the ways we can feel seen within our professional and personal lives. She equipped us with a toolbox of tips on how we check in with ourselves and with our teams. She reminded us that compassion is not just intended for others, but to remember ourselves for the purpose of being our best in our work, in our lives, and for our families.
Co-Chair of MiTek Women, User Experience Designer, MiTek Inc.
BARBARA AUGUSTIN
Shamis is a tremendous coach! She has an innate ability to listen empathetically and ask insightful questions that challenge and provoke. Our work together helped me overcome my inner critic, reimagine the possibilities, and explore opportunities that I would never have considered. Each session with Shamis was focused and purposeful. Our sessions created space for me to hope, breathe, and dream bigger.
COO, TechBridge
DEVO HARRIS
While working with Shamis, I dramatically reduced my personal roadblocks and my business flourished in ways it never had. Shamis has an uncanny knack to not only divine what’s affecting you internally but also, as an executive herself, she knows the practical aspects of navigating the workplace and keeps it real. She cares and wants the best for her clients and I love her approach to helping improve one’s whole wellbeing and lifestyle, with improved work performance and leadership being just one result.
Founder + CEO, Adventr
DENISE PALAVICINI
Shamis is gifted. To describe her any other way would be insufficient. She is called to this work and is truly walking in her purpose. Shamis has a unique ability to help you get out of your own way. I went into my first session with her one way and came out another. I look back over my sessions and the growth I’ve experienced is truly amazing. I underestimated my impact and what I brought to the table. She helped me identify my areas of genius. She challenged me in ways I’ve never been challenged.
Principal Leadership Development Consultant, Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence
JILLIAN WHITE
I met Shamis at one of the most challenging times in my career. My personal activism and professional life began to collide and so too did my emotions. Shamis helped me to disentangle the competing thoughts and feelings around the work that I was doing. She was a safe space for me to be seen and to strategize my next steps. Together we developed an action plan around what to do when tensions got high and my patience got thin. And most importantly, she reminded me to celebrate the wins!
Technology Executive
ILANA TOLPIN LEVITT
We hired PLC for a training and development project to enhance leadership capacity and increase teamwork. Smart, thoughtful, and impactful are the three top words I would use to describe Shamis and the amazing work that PLC does. Shamis’ wealth of experience presents itself at every turn, bringing a data-focused, operationally sound foundation to complex and nuanced material and dynamics. She has a keen cultural sensitivity; easily relates to very diverse audiences and her communication style is strong, warm and without judgment.
Senior Director Organizational Development, Office of Human Resources, The New School
KATHRYN HASLANGER
Pitts Leadership invested time and care to understand our organization and tailor an engaging program to increase the sense of belonging among our diverse staff. PLC’s data-driven approach to assessing their performance and our organizational progress measurably advanced JASA as an inclusive organization. JASA program leaders now have tools for continuing to strengthen our organization as a result of our experience with the thoughtful and creative PLC team. In addition, Shamis has provided invaluable support to me in her executive coach role.
Chief Executive Officer, JASA
AMY ORLOV
Forté has a go-to speaker, trainer, facilitator, and consultant, and her name is Shamis Pitts. We trust Shamis and the PLC team to provide quality engagements for college and MBA students, mid-career professionals and our corporate partners. When thinking about the common denominator among the presenting, writing, designing, strategizing, and all the other work Shamis has provided for Forté, it comes down to her ability to empathize. She has the unique ability to diagnose and understand what the client, as well as the end-user, needs, creating magical works that play out Forté’s vision, while speaking directly to the audience.
Forté, Director, Professional Programs