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We activate workplaces

Empowering your teams to deliver, develop, connect, & thrive

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Your talent is working hard. But what are they leaving on the table?

I need a speaker
Rachel Cooke | Speaker

Have a sales kickoff? A leadership offsite? Whatever’s coming up, Rachel will get your leaders inspired, informed, and activated.

Book Rachel
I need an activation blueprint
Activation Blueprint

Using our proprietary activation framework, we’ll lead some focus groups with your teams and leverage their insights to build you a custom blueprint to activation.

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I need a workshop
Lead Above Noise Workshop

Give a cohort of leaders an interactive experience to equip and empower them. Our workshops — in-person or virtual — are engaging and connective , delivering practice, confidence, and accountability.

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What is activation?

Activation is the magical intersection where business performance & results meet engaging employee experiences. It’s the set of conditions in which our teams can effectively deliver their best work (with efficiency & impact), develop new skills (feeling challenged & invested in), connect (with team, community & purpose), and thrive (be well, balanced, & recognized).

When we get these right, everyone wins. The organization gets “more with less” from its teams, employees that can take on greater challenges, collaborate for bigger impact, and whose health and wellness are cared for. And individuals enjoy more fulfilling experiences of work. They can achieve more, feel stretched and grown, feel part of a community, and feel like their wellbeing matters. Because it does.

For decades, employee engagement has been the workplace gold standard. And employee engagement matters. But ultimately, it measures a feeling – a sentiment. Further, we run a survey once every year or two because that’s how long it takes to meaningfully move the needle on engagement.

We don’t have time for that anymore! Your most engaged employees will leave before the next survey.

The thing about activation? It’s active! It creates movement in moments – small increments of change can deliver big, meaningful wins overnight. Moving teams beyond “table stakes” performance.

Performing teams do what they’re asked.
Activated teams are asked what they’d do.

4 Pillars | Deliver
Deliver

“I am equipped to get my best work done. Expectations are clear. I work without obstruction or inefficiency.”

4 Pillars | Develop
Develop

“I am growing new skills and capabilities. I’m challenged and excited. I receive feedback, coaching and opportunity.”

4 Pillars | Connect
Connect

“I belong here. I feel purpose, part of a team and community. My ideas are welcome to be spoken. All questions are welcome.”

4 Pillars | Thrive
Thrive

“My well-being matters. I’m recognized and appreciated. I set boundaries, manage my energy and feel respected.”

What outcomes can activation deliver?

Teams that lean into the activation journey have reported such wins as…

  • Greater efficiency — the ability to “do more with less”
  • Stronger collaboration within and across teams
  • Greater ability to “do the work I was hired to do”
  • More creativity and more frequent innovation
  • Stronger cultures including more thoughtful ways of hybrid working
  • Notably reduced overwork, overwhelm, and burnout
  • Greater comfort and confidence in speaking up
  • Stronger ties to the team
  • Increased feelings of trust, purpose, and belonging
  • Improved time, space, and quality of learning and development

What’s the activation blueprint?

It’s the custom roadmap we build for you following a Pulse Check with your team. We talk to your teams about their current, collective ability to deliver, develop, connect and thrive. What currently serves them, what obstacles they experience, and what would enhance their overall experience.

We use their insights, stories, and wishes to craft a blueprint for you which includes recommended solutions (big and small), action plans, communication plans, key practices, and so much more

We use our own “Best Practice” approach — a tried and true framework and methodology — to unlock the “Right Practices” for your team.

Learn more about how we use a Pulse Check to craft an Activation Blueprint here.

We also have an activation bootcamp

This is the interactive program we bring to you. Over the course of 3 live sessions (and some light homework in between), we get your leaders informed, confident, and equipped to move their teams into the activation zone.

Learn more about our bootcamp here.

We’ve partnered with amazing clients

Lead Above Noise has partnered with corporate brands in tech, finance, healthcare, retail and more. Check out our representative list of clients!

After months of spinning our wheels, Rachel came in, ran focus groups with our teams and left us with unbelievable clarity on what their key needs are and what actions we should take. We have a plan of action we know will resonate, and a partner for life in Rachel.

SVP | Healthcare Organization

We are so incredibly proud of this program — our leader participants have been raving not just about what they learned, but about what they feel truly armed and ready to do. We’re already seeing shifts in behaviors, and we can not wait to run our next cohort!

CHRO | Beverage Distributor

We reached out to Rachel with a need to build a change leadership capability. That is precisely what was delivered to my team.

CEO North America | Tax and Accounting Business

Months after her talk, our executive leaders are using Rachel’s language and tools in their everyday conversations. That’s how I know real transformation happened.

SVP, HR | Professional Services Firm

Rachel brings a fresh point of view, and some much needed simplicity to challenges we’ve been struggling to find our way through. After just one hour, we have so much more clarity on how to move forward so that we meet employee and customer needs!

Head of Sales Enablement | Media and Entertainment

Rachel was exactly the partner we needed for this event. She took the time to understand our needs and challenges, she infused her talk with examples relevant to us and she engaged with the audience like a pro.

SVP Executive Leadership Development | Financial Services Firm

Rachel loves to say that ‘content is table stakes’ and this workshop proved that to be true! She delivers great information, but her magic is in bringing to life through discussion, practice, action and accountability. One of our best investments of the year.

VP Learning and Development | FinTech Organization

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