Danny Woodard - Specialists in Corporate Transformation

Danny Woodard
Principal, Strategic Change

•	Executed dozens of transformation initiatives for clients in the public and private sectors
•	Specialist in bringing structure and focus to transformation
•	Management consultant since early 1990s

‘Common Values’

How do you see your role as a transformation consultant? It’s my job to a create sense and order out of what can seem like chaos. To enable and support clear decision making. To identify what has to change and how, to bring clarity to the process. You need the ability to measure your progress—and a way of knowing when you’ve arrived at your destination. Without performance measures, you run the risk of losing focus and generating work without value.

What do clients take the greatest confidence from, in your experience? That comes from the trusting relationship you establish with them. It comes from being present, being available and listening. Showing we’re there to support and help them succeed—which we are, fully. We go the distance. This is what sets us apart, I think. Many other management consulting companies at some point apply a cookie-cutter approach. We listen. We ask questions. We work closely with our clients to draw from our extensive frameworks and methods to develop a tailored solution. One client said, after a transformation project was completed, that we at Totem Hill recognized his organization’s fundamental right to be unique.

What makes Totem Hill a good team? Common values. We’re all very experienced in our own areas. We have a lot of history. That gives us a practical context to draw on—to share, support and challenge. We’re passionate. We enjoy our work. All of those things we have in common. It’s our culture.

That brings up a good point. How important a factor is culture in transformation? It is pivotal to any transformation. Many clients don’t quite appreciate this at first. They typically focus on the process, the material steps to take. In these cases, we work closely with the leaders to help them appreciate the important role that culture plays in their organization.

If you couldn’t do this work, what would you do instead? I’d probably teach. I enjoy working with people, being able to share what I know, my experience. I believe that teaching also includes learning. I am interested in continuing to learn and grow through shared experiences.