About Us

Why Connect?

Companies hire Connect the first time because of our experience and expertise with change, including our ability to clarify key issues in a credible way, explain complex issues clearly, get key stakeholders to act and make changes that stick.

Clients bring us back again because we deliver results that work for them and their particular situations.

Connect delivers solid results because our approach and work are:

• Tailored—We use tailored, on-the-mark, practical communication and involvement strategies and tactics that fit you and your organization. Tapping into our extensive experiences, we’re able to help you reduce risks, avoid drama and build credibility and trust.

• Collaborative—We work by your side, coaching you to identify the best path for you to take and supporting you along the way. We build informal networks of internal champions, often across departments and functions, who take ownership of the change and ensure that it sticks. We also can help you develop indispensable, go-to change leaders who will help you make the change stick and be prepared to serve as your on-going change guide and strategic advisor.

• Nimble—We assimilate quickly into your organization, getting a sense of your culture and work demands, as well as the big picture of the problems and challenges you’re facing. We’re able to build rapport with team members as well as other stakeholders across functions, which helps us work with minimal supervision as well as run interference to get things done. We also recognize that companies have time and budget constraints so we work within our clients’ boundaries. Being fast, flexible and easy-to-work with means we are a low-maintenance, high-value solution to your change challenges.

By working with us, our clients enjoy:

• Improved relationships with their internal and external customers who stop complaining and start singing their praises.
• Achievement of their performance goals as well as goals for the change initiative, while staying on schedule and budget.
• Peace of mind and pride knowing they successfully completed a tough initiative.
• Enhanced skills to apply to future change initiatives
• Increased credibility, which often results in greater recognition and promotions.

Connect’s clients express relief that we turn ambiguous and chaotic situations into a clear path for change. Employees adapt and work with renewed energy and optimism for the future—which means you can meet and exceed your goals for your change initiative. You also can start to build more change capabilities inside your organization to give you greater peace of mind and speedier results.

Overview

Connect is an award-winning, independent and specialized management consulting firm focused on clear and credible change that sticks. Founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2004 by Liz Guthridge, Connect works with:

• Department leaders of organizations who need to introduce complex new initiatives to employees who are confused, angry or in denial about the change.
• HR leaders who want to develop greater change skills and experience inside their organizations so they’ll have internal staff members who can provide strategic counsel and support.
• Communication professionals who want to become more strategic in their work, especially so they can provide better counsel and advice to the leaders they support.

More than 80% of our business comes from repeat customers. Our clients come to Connect when they need to:

• Implement a new change initiative when the stakes are high.
• Get an objective perspective on a change challenge or emerging issue.
• Address employee or team resistance to change.
• Deal with low morale that’s hurting customer service, productivity and teamwork.
• Respond quickly to requests from leaders that will require new behaviors of them and their staff members.

Connect is able to cut through the clutter quickly, making sure our clients are seeing through their blind spots, hearing past their echo chambers and working above the internal politics.

We identify and articulate the real problem and work with you to figure out the most practical, effective way to solve it.

About Liz Guthridge of Connect

Liz Guthridge leads Connect, a woman-owned business. Liz has built the firm to reflect her core values. These include:

• Integrity—doing the right thing every time
• Empathy—walking in other peoples’ shoes and exploring issues from their points of view
• Candor—being sincere and frank, including speaking truth to power
• Respect—holding others in high regard, listening carefully to them and valuing their skills, opinions and time
• Accountability—Being responsive and responsible, including keeping promises and being discrete, especially with sensitive information.

Liz also is known for her ideas, insights, and relationships. If you’re also curious like Liz, you can read more about her.

Associates

We supplement our staff as needed with seasoned professionals. We also partner with a number of firms when our clients need services beyond Connect’s areas of specialty. Some of these firms include:

• Critical Metrics – helps clients understand what drives employee and customer success by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data.
• Integral Intelligence – uses a holistic model, or way-of-being, to help leaders enhance self-insight and intention to improve their leadership and business performance.
• Joining Forces – advises leaders on managing mergers, restructurings and other transitions.