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Meet Katharine Halpin of The Halpin Companies in Museum District/Midtown

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Katharine Halpin.

Katharine, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a 5th generation business owner. I had to overcome some early challenges in my family in Mississippi. I took the methods I developed on my own journey with my family and my Dad’s CPA firm and after an unsatisfactory career as a CPA, I built my consulting firm. At The Halpin Companies, we work with leaders that want to grow their people and their teams in order to accelerate the growth of their company.

I’ve been doing this work since 1995 and for me, it does not feel like work. I feel like we are facilitating important, strategic discussions and processes with important people about critically important topics. Our clients typically see growth of 2-3x quickly by getting the right people in the right roles, focused on the right initiatives. When they replicate this process consistently, the corporate growth is exponential.

I was able to escape from Mississippi 37 years ago and after 12-years in Dallas was transferred by my firm to Phoenix in 1992. We have loved being in Phoenix every day for these past 25 years.

I’m also a speaker and an author of several books. Alignment for Success: Bringing Out the Best in Yourself, Your Teams and Your Company was published in 2014. I have several e-Books that help leaders get out of the victim role, constantly reacting to the ‘challenge of the day’ and every email and phone call. My methods allow the reader to get into a proactive, strategic mindset so their actions are directed and consistent with what’s important to them. If anyone finds themselves in overwhelm, my methods can bring clarity and focus within about 20-minutes.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like everyone, I am my biggest obstacle to success.

After going to work at my Dad’s CPA firm at such an early age, I replicated his approach to work and during my CPA career worked lots of evenings and weekends. Since then, I’ve broken those bad habits and also take a lot of time away from work to broaden my perspective.

Because of the early family challenges, I still take responsibility for things that are not my responsibility on a regular basis.

My core value of continuous improvement has caused me to occasionally become indignant over the years.

For me, self-care is the key to self-management and self-leadership. Without daily self-care, I can easily get myself into a frenetic mode over-promising and setting myself up to under-deliver.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Halpin Companies – what should we know?
What we are known for by our clients over the past 23-years is helping them get the right people in the right roles, focused on the right strategic initiatives and priorities.

What sets us apart from our competitors like McKinsey and the Boston Consulting Group is our soft approach. We help leaders build in substantially greater accountability without any Performance Improvement Plans or “crucial conversations”. Our clients create work environments where everyone feels encouraged, engaged and empowered by using our proven methods. If someone is not successful in their current, they most often, step up or self-select off the team. When they self-select off the team, they retain their dignity.

We have worked in technology, healthcare and with professional services firms. However, we are not the subject matter experts in any industry. We are the ‘people’ experts.

We are most proud of our 23-year tenure, surviving the dot.com bust and the great recession. We are also proud of our blue chip client list.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Excellent question! I believe my love of people is my #1 asset. I tell the clients that they can send me to the basement of the building to work with the snarkiest person in the company and after a 45-minute interview, I can come back and educate them about this person’s strengths and most importantly, the proper role for them to be successful. I love everyone.

Another key strength is my ability to see patterns and trends. When we have a trend, we have an opportunity for either a greater commitment, more skills development or simply more structure.

My team and I share a very high degree of empathy. This creates an environment where clients and even prospective clients feel safe to share their deepest concerns and biggest obstacles.

We have two key Halpin methods that the clients love. We are able to help others see the role they’ve played in frustrating situations and take responsibility for this lack of success. When a leader does this, it gives their colleagues permission to feel safe and be more authentic about their own role.

The other key method is to celebrate successes. We believe it is so much easier to build on what is working, instead of beating ourselves and each other up with what is not working. In most organizations, teams are pushing to get to the next project. As a result, they rarely take even a moment to celebrate or articulate the factors that drove these great results.

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Image Credit:
Josh Power Photography, Tina Celle, Collins, Diane Veres, Phoenix Women’s Chorus, Sue Glawe

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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