Okay, so it’s the obvious question. Why would two growing, successful companies in their own right decide to join forces?
After all, we have both worked very hard to establish a strong brand and presence in the local Ottawa market and beyond. Both our organizations are getting results for our clients and gaining increasing momentum. Why would we walk away from that and form a new company together?
Well, before answering that, maybe I should pose a better question. After all, asking good questions is what I do. I am a coach after all. But before we explore that question, here’s a little back story…
Breakthrough Coach and Social Catalyst have worked together on a number of clients for some time now. Often, clients approached Trefor and his team for social media help in order to better engage their market. What often became evident was that these companies needed more than just help with their social media… They also needed coaching to build their leaders and transform their organizations. So we would be called in to lend support toward those ends.
Likewise, clients approached my team and I at Breakthrough Coach on a regular basis for help with growing their business. We often called Social Catalyst in to help create a more effective strategy for reaching the client’s target audience through social media and other means.
Our successful working relationship is well established. We have helped a number of clients and companies achieve great results. Our two companies complement one another quite nicely. But that’s not a compelling enough reason to bring our two organizations together. We could have simply continued to work together as we have in the past and accomplished some cool stuff together.
It was a dangerous conversation at Zak’s Diner not that long ago that led to the birth of Rhapsody Strategies. Trefor and I agreed to explore a very dangerous topic… Not so much “why would we merge our companies?” but more “why would such an organization exist?” In other words, what kind of mission and vision would drive a company like this? Before attempting to determine the WAY forward, we had to settle on a clear WHY forward.
It was during that dangerous conversation that the WHY emerged… A WHY that was so compelling to both of us that we reacted to it it viscerally. This new entity (which didn’t even have a name yet) would exist TO BUILD THE MOST SOPHISTICATED LEADERS WHO CHANGE THE FACE OF BUSINESS.
No, I’m not shouting… But I wanted to emphasize those words strongly. Read them again. Let them sink in. Ask yourself, “What does it mean for me to become a highly sophisticated leader who changes the face of business?” I know. Powerful, right?
As we sat there at Zak’s that day, we knew that we had stumbled onto something. Or better yet, that the universe was inviting us into something. A few dangerous conversations later, it became clear that the question to ask was no longer, “Why would we do this?” but instead, “Why in the world wouldn’t we do this?” This is the “better question” I referred to earlier. With our purpose clearly identified, and our values completely aligned, we made the decision to build something bigger together than what we could ever build on our own.
What is so clear to us now, and what inspired this bold move to launch Rhapsody Strategies (and more about why that name is so meaningful to us in a future post) is that we are able to offer so much more to our clients together as a whole than as two distinct companies. This is synergy at its best… 1 + 1 = 15 (or something like that!) The expertise, knowledge and training of our teams working as one to help clients build their epic story is nothing short of… well, epic! We look forward to unpacking that with you in the weeks and months ahead.
We’re excited about the future… And that future starts now. For us, the game has changed. It can change for you as well.
Eric Deschamps | Ottawa Business Coach
Co-Leader of Rhapsody Strategies
“Helping others succeed has always been my passion. There is no greater feeling in the world than coming alongside someone and empowering them to achieve their goals and dreams.” I work with individuals with a single and simple purpose: to help them define and attain their goals, one step at a time. Through the coaching relationship, I help business owners and professionals achieve more by delivering world-class growth strategies, tools and advice individually tailored to each owner and his/her business.
