November Star Clients Series with Executive Advisor Lauren Welsch
Effective partnerships are the foundation of meaningful work, especially in spaces where outcomes have the potential to create lasting impact in a community. At their best, partnerships are much more than professional arrangements—they are collaborations fueled by trust, transparent exchanges, and open dialogue. The ability to truly hear one another, embrace new ideas openly, and challenge assumptions creates a space where innovation thrives, and progress becomes inevitable.
In our ongoing series centered around the importance of the foundational relationship between a consultant and client, Executive Advisor Lauren Welsch reflects on the question, “What makes a good client/partner?”
“At Star Insights, we have the great fortune to work with many inspirational leaders who care passionately about making a profound impact on people’s lives and making Los Angeles a really special place for all of us. I find that the most effective ones share similar character traits. While they’re extremely bright, these leaders are not afraid to let others into their process, even if it means showing vulnerability. It’s counter-intuitive, but by acknowledging their weaknesses, they actually appear even stronger. This mindset engenders more loyalty for them and their organizations in the long run. It becomes a virtuous circle.
These leaders are also life-long learners and believe good ideas can surface in the most unlikely places. The smartest ones believe they can always learn more and realize that they probably don’t know what they don’t know, and are therefore open to our iterative process. This allows for flexibility when our Discovery uncovers and calls for a new direction to be taken than was originally planned. It takes intestinal fortitude to champion a new direction with internal stakeholders, but we’ve witnessed some of the best leaders make the realization and then make the hard decision to veer left when they had originally set out to veer right.
Due to my particular background in Marketing and Branding, I always advocate for a strong brand identity. Therefore, it’s been gratifying to see leaders who realize somewhere early in our process of working with them that they need to take a step back and think about their organization’s mission and vision, and related brand identity before they move into strategic planning. It’s a “hallelujah” moment for me when a client realizes that this work can help them to locate their North Star, guiding them in their subsequent decisions. In so doing, stakeholders (internal and external alike) are more clear on what the organization is, what they do, and who they do it for, because everything that follows is on-brand and on-mission.”
These qualities strengthen the foundation for informed decision-making, ultimately driving long-term success and lasting impact.
Is this you? We invite you to get in touch to discuss new opportunities to create, contribute, and collaborate with leadership teams in the social impact sphere. We welcome any questions or inquiries you might have.
Lauren Welsch works with senior leaders in the social impact sphere to develop compelling narratives and positioning to strengthen their brand’s unique DNA.