We are passionate about strategic change and how you can develop the game plans for it, increase the pace of it, and leverage it. We believe that there is no one “right way”, transparency is instrumental and constant communication and stakeholder management are vital.
We believe that the best organizations are those where alignment on the most critical work is clear and engagement is widespread. We’re also convinced, on the basis of empirical research as well as our own business experience, that change starts from inside; and to build more effective leaders to lead change you have to start with a person’s thoughts before you can improve skills and behaviors.
If this sounds a little “soft and fuzzy”…it isn’t. Tap your full strategic change potential and that of the people around you, and you will experience measurable improvements with all of your critical metrics (e.g., revenue, profit, productivity, customer satisfaction, on-time delivery).
Our Team
We have an exceptional core team and draw from a talented, diverse pool of affiliates depending on a given project’s unique requirements and time lines. Here are three key people we’d like you to meet.
Laura Stone
Founder + Chief Executive Officer
Laura Stone founded Stone + Company 18 years ago. She currently leverages her extensive expertise helping top leaders and their teams in Fortune 500 companies define and deliver superior strategy. Formerly a faculty member at Crotonville, General Electric’s Premier Leadership Center, Ms. Stone has spent much of her career working with leaders to develop high performance teams as well as designing and implementing change in complex organizations. Based on the great results and strategic themes derived from this work, Laura and her team developed The Planned Advantage,™ an integrated strategic planning process that develops, aligns and implements the critical work only teams can accomplish. The process applies research and development tools to quantify superior leadership attributes. Her clients represent a broad range of industries and sectors including manufacturing, retail, pharmaceuticals, financial services, energy, consumer products, and non-profits.
Laura has also published articles in major business journals including Strategy & Leadership Magazine, Women’s Business Magazine, Indus Business Journal, CEO Refresher, Consulting Times and Providence Business News. She currently has new articles under development that have been requested by Pharmaceutical Executive Magazine, Business Strategy Magazine and Employment Relations Today. Laura has also been quoted extensively in a major Harvard Management Update article on the topic of “Diagnosing and Fixing Dysfunctional Teams.” She was also a featured guest on the popular Fortune 500 podcast “The Imaging Executive” where she discussed how to cultivate a “nimble” organization.
Laura currently serves on the board for Bailey’s Team, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to support individuals, families and organizations who either have or support those with autism. Laura has also served as CEO and President of the Massachusetts Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation and as Chair of the foundation’s corporate Board. She is a former advisor to the City Year Rhode Island Social Entrepreneur Fellowship program. Laura is a Badger, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her current professional affiliations include the Organization Development Network, Society of Human Resources Management, the American Society of Training and Development, the Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Association for Internal Management Consultants. Laura is a water sports lover and is passionate about playing on and in the ocean with her husband Lee and two children, Sophie and Jackson, and her English Yellow Lab, Bella. She is also a former U.S. 50-ton U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain and enjoys doing triathlons in her spare time.
Jessa McIntosh
Consultant
Jessa brings a background in coaching, team building and change management experience to our clients. When approaching project engagements, Jessa draws from both her business knowledge as well as her psychology training to help client leadership teams align and enhance their performance and strategic capabilities to deliver on expected goals. At Stone + Company, Jessa plays a lead role in managing complex projects as well as designing and delivering client deliverables.
Jessa is also author of the article “Launching an Outsourcing Project with Partnered Relationships” which appeared in Industry Week Online. Prior to joining Stone + Company, Jessa worked at Deloitte Consulting in the Organization and Change practice. Jessa focused on change management strategy and planning as well as designing and implementing business transformation activities.
Jessa holds a B.A. in Psychology from Middlebury College, a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Boston University, and is currently a candidate for her doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology also from Boston University. Additionally, Jessa is a board member of a Rochester, NY based philanthropic foundation, the Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation.
In her free time, Jessa and her husband are avid sports enthusiasts and enjoy running, skiing and golf.
Kathryn B. Earle
Senior Consultant
Kathryn Earle is a seasoned consultant, facilitator and coach specializing in executive leadership development, alignment and integration of business strategy, corporate culture and organizational systems. Kathryn uses a broad range of creative and disciplined approaches with management teams and individuals to help organizations obtain substantial improvements in financial performance, customer and employee satisfaction, and product and service quality. Her clients represent a broad range of industries and sectors including financial and professional services, pharmaceuticals, energy, manufacturing, communications, nonprofits, and a variety of federal government agencies.
Kathryn is also author of the article “Mistaken Assumptions of Business Leaders,” which appeared in Providence Business News. Kathryn is a member of the board of the Latham Centers and has served as a senior examiner with the Massachusetts Quality Award (based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award). She has created a wide range of customized materials for specific clients, including a system for improving the management of expatriates and other employees in cross-cultural transitions. In addition to professional consulting and raising a family, Kathryn is the founder and chair of Sustainable Cohasset. Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Smith College.
Rob Hartz
Consultant
Rob Hartz is an organization consultant with 20 years of experience in growing businesses through planned change, leadership and team development, executive coaching, and strategic consultation. Rob has consulted with business leaders in North America, Europe, and Asia as an employee of two industry leaders: Fidelity Investments and Digital Equipment Corporation. In 1998, he began his own consulting firm focusing on leadership, teaming, and organization development. Rob is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and has a Master’s Degree from Minnesota State University in Experiential Education. Rob has consulted in the technology, financial services, higher education, healthcare, advertis-ing, and public relations industries.
History
Stone + Company was launched in 1991 by Laura Stone who has been the sole owner of the company. Originally named StoneWorks Strategic Consulting, Stone + Company’s identity was born in late 2005 to reflect the company’s maturity and growth.
The company’s growth and success has increased in scope since inception. Laura Stone’s work at Fidelity, teaching in their Management and Organizational Development department for several years, gave her incredible exposure to and understanding of various management and leadership training philosophies and enabled her to hone her consulting and facilitation skills. This, in turn, led to teaching at the esteemed G.E. Crotonville educational center. After returning her attention solely back to her consulting work the projects continued to grow. The evolution in consulting was a natural response to increased experience, exposure, education and results.
Elizabeth LaPierre partnered with Laura on a complex business process review project during the summer of 2003, joined the company full time in March 2004. She brings an educational proficiency to the company with her undergraduate degree in psychology and her master’s degree from Suffolk University in adult and organizational learning.
We are proud of our growth and looking forward to collaborating with both old and new clients in the future to help support performance improvement and change management strategies.
Community
Stone + Company is proud to be a good citizen. We are actively involved in our community and encourage volunteering. Each year we dedicate a percentage of our time to support a range of philanthropic endeavors.
Past and current volunteer activities include:
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society – Central New England Chapter
- On Your Feet Project – Boston Chapter
- Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership
- National Alliance for Autism Research
- Strategy development for curriculum renewal in Cohasset, Massachusetts
- Coaching Sophie and Jackson’s soccer teams
The groundbreaking research of David Burnham and the late David McClelland forms the theoretical underpinning of our practice. Burnham and McClelland created the first effective tools to quantify superior leadership, and developed a “thought-based” methodology proven twice as effective as behavioral techniques for improving leadership performance.