Our Clients

At the brink of recession and with the aggressive re-entry of Pepsi into their market, Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI), Coca Cola's South African bottlers, was about to radically downsize. This would put thousands of employees out of work with little to no chance of finding new employment. Instead, ABI engaged Lapin to help it energize its diverse workforce and align it to a purpose-driven strategy for growth. Working with leadership teams and over 1,000 employees across all levels, Lapin helped ABI hone its strategy and revitalize its culture. Not only were no plants closed nor any employees retrenched, but ABI also embarked on a significant growth trajectory for many years, ultimately forcing Pepsi to withdraw from South Africa.

Case Study

"Lapin saved our company."

—Trent Odgers, CEO

GE was struggling to reduce the cost of raw materials purchased and processed in the emerging markets of Asia. The company engaged Lapin to diagnose the reasons for their challenge in these markets, and to help them design a solution. Using its proprietary Three Cultural Lenses Model for cultural intelligence, Lapin worked with the GE's Global Sourcing leaders from the Pacific Rim. Lapin taught them new ways to communicate, negotiate, contract, and build trust across cultural divides. After implementing the lessons learned during the engagement, GE's costs reduced and efficiencies improved.

“The measurable results [Lapin International]’s work shows on taking cost out of our business are significant.”

—Doron Grosman, GM

The Heinz organization was about to embark on a period of rapid growth and transformation. New leaders would need to be identified and developed with new tools and skills for a new environment. They would have to be agile and able to inspire employees across functions and geography. Lapin was engaged to develop a cadre of high-potential leaders with our values-based leadership development methodology. In workshops and in one-on-one executive coaching, Lapin developed hundreds of leaders, many of whom continued to play senior roles in Heinz's subsequent transformation.

“David's coaching allowed me to interpret the decisions I have made in my life in such a unique way as to establish and fully understand my personal values and principles that guid my leadership abilities on a professional level and also assist me to connect with all of the important people in my life. The session I had with David was enjoyable, thoughtful, highly personalized, and extremely energizing.”

—Stephen Shubat, Director of National Retail Sales

Truworths was losing their dominant market position when they engaged Lapin as strategy consultants. Lapin worked with Truworths leadership to question the very soul of their purpose, both as individuals and as a business enterprise. Lapin probed the underlying reasons that people paid a premium for fashion and made sure that going forward Truworths would be addressing these intangible reasons as well as providing customers with the clothing they sought. Lapin stimulated Truworths leaders to think about their industry in ways no one else had yet. As a result, they built a new culture that was unimitable, a vital component of its strategy to deliver a differentiated offering. Still today, Truworths attributes a significant part of its 20-year growth trajectory to the deep and innovative work it did with Lapin.

“I unconditionally recommend Lapin International. David’s work helped us change the standard on which we ran our business. We would not be where we are today without David. He gives you the confidence to walk in a complicated world.”

—Michael Mark, CEO

Walmart acquired South-African retailer, Massmart. Knowing the complexity of the cultural environment in South Africa and how different it was from that of the USA, Walmart asked Lapin to provide the leaders responsible for implementing the acquisition with insights and training that would prepare them. With Lapin's knowledge of cultural complexity in general and South Africa specifically, Lapin created a one-day experience for Walmart leaders which gave them the frameworks and lenses they needed to succeed in this new and different market. The seamless success of the Massmart acquisition is testimony to the Lapin work in cultural intelligence and competence.

Raytheon's missiles can be significantly more costly than those of many of its competitors. The main reason is its massive investment in the technology needed to sharpen accuracy and avoid collateral damage to innocent people in high-conflict areas. Many of Raytheon's customers in the Middle East and Asia, however, did not share the American ethic regarding the avoidance of collateral damage, and were unwilling to pay the premium Ratheon required for its rockets. The global sales team engaged Lapin to use its knowledge of global cultural intelligence to train leaders in negotiating and contracting with cultures with different values and ethics. Lapin's frameworks gave the team new language and methodology with which to approach these customers, and their interactions together improved significantly during the life of the project.

"Responsible for Business Development of a $5b global business, growing the international business was essential. Lapin provided Raytheon with a unique and streamlined process that allowed those leaders responsible for obtaining and retaining the international business to become more effective much earlier. Lapin understands the cultural complexities of building and retaining customer relationships across the globe." 

—Dennis Carrol, VP Business Development

For many years, Follett led the market in providing books and educational solutions to schools, libraries, colleges and universities nationally. With the aggressive penetration of Amazon into its markets and the proliferation of digital books, Follett faced declining revenue for the first time in its history. Under its new CEO, it needed to significantly reshape its business structure and strategy. Lapin led the executive team to discover its strategic distinction by developing a purpose-driven strategy and leadership philosophy that would distinguish Follett for a modernized future of innovation and growth.

Wave, launched in 2010, provides free accounting software for millions of small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers around the world, simplifying the ways they make money, spend money, and track money. As technology start-ups scale and become larger, structured organizations, they need new leadership skills and strategic thinking. Wave engaged Lapin to hone its growth strategy. We focused the company on its customers and expanded its vision. Together with leadership, we agreed appropriate structural changes and the values by which leadership would need to live in order to execute on the strategy. Through both group sessions and one-on-one coaching, Lapin helped Wave develop the leadership capacity it would need for the journey ahead.

"You've helped us unlock deep, core insights about ourselves and our business that were evident but not findable on our own. You've then facilitated conversations to begin the process of harnessing those insights to achieve business results."

—Kirk Simpson, CEO & Co-founder

Before diversity training was fashionable, American Express embarked on a program with Lapin and its partners at the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance to learn about global cultures and to develop the skills and insights with which to lead diverse teams of people. Lapin's Three Cultural Lenses Model was pioneering for that time and set the organization on course to master challenges that others had not yet identified.

“Without doubt, the finest educational experience our organization has pursued.”

—Gary Lloyd, VP

Cromwell, Australia's leading Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), was planning a five-year growth and globalization trajectory. The company needed a clear strategy driven by a common purpose to align and inspire the entire organization. It also needed to fundamentally change its thinking and its strategy about who its primary client was and how best to serve them. Lapin worked with the senior leadership team in Melbourne, Australia . In this process, Lapin helped Cromwell paint a clear picture of the group of people who would benefit most from its unique capabilities. This enabled a clear vision of whom to design and fund for, propelling unprecedented growth for the organization.

Case Study

"Using the Lapin work set us on track for an amazing 5-year period of growth as we implemented the work they did with us. Our business expanded from Australia only to 15 countries globally, and we increased our headcount from 100 to 370 people. Our funds under management increased 550% from A$2b to A$11b and our market cap increased 163% in the same period. We intend to plan our next 5 years with Lapin again."

—Paul Weightman, CEO

Lapin's work with Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) began shortly after it acquired First National Bank (FNB), a bank many times its size. Together they formed one of Africa's four largest banks. Aware of how few mergers deliver added value, CEO Paul Harris engaged Lapin to build a purpose-driven philosophy for the merged entity around which the entire leadership of the new bank could rally. The result was not only that value was not lost in the merger, but also that significant value was added to the new entity and their cultures, where appropriate, successfully merged. Subsequent to the merger, Lapin has enjoyed a 20 year relationship with RMB, working with the executive team to continuously adapt the Bank's strategies to the ever-changing environments in South Africa, Africa, and India. Lapin guided the Leadership team through the development of the RMB Purpose and Leadership Brand and trained more than 350 leaders in 16 cohorts, to activate Purpose while being faithful to the Brand. Additionally, Lapin has worked with the executive committees of each of the business units to differentiate them from competitors and align their strategies to RMB's Purpose. When the FNB Corporate Bank was incorporated into RMB's control, Lapin helped the Corporate Bank to modernize its strategic thinking and redefine corporate banking for the future.

Case Study

"If I had to try a strapline to explain it I would say 'Lapin is the honest grandmother of the family.' Seen a lot, done a lot and able to connect with the leadership and engage on the tough family matters in a very practical and sensible way... [Lapin understands] the organization culture and then each of the leaders' strengths and weaknesses and [pushes] our boundaries around these to ensure a better outcome for the business."

—Markos Davias, CFO

Standard Bank is one of South Africa's biggest banks. After investing a large quantity of time and effort into creating a set of corporate values, Standard Bank's executive team called in Lapin to help excite its operational managers about the Bank’s new values and to generate sustainable commitment to their implementation. Through vigorous initial analysis followed by the development of Standard Bank's business philosophy, Lapin positioned the Bank to achieve its financial and growth targets for years to come.

"What is most striking is that your very deep values-based approach to profitable business brings the very best out of people. I didn't think it was possible, but the process you have used has got our disparate group of executives to see themselves as a team with a values-based commitment to managing the bank with singular purpose."

—Bob Tucker, Director of Banking Development

During 2018, several environmental factors, such as increasing complexities, regulatory change, emerging automation, and increased competition fundamentally changed the banking landscape. This change required strong leadership and an increased level of partnership, cooperation, and ability to connect the dots across the different functions in the risk organization of TD Bank. Lapin created the Leadership for Distinction Program to improve decision-making, strategic agility, cross-team partnerships to effectively manage emerging risk issues and strategic priorities as well as solidify leadership distinction around purpose. The effort supported the optimization of the Three Lines of Defense in the Bank and allowed leaders to reimagine how to succeed in the future.

"To me, there is a trifecta at work here. First of all, the key value is for the individual. The individual improves his/her leadership capabilities tremendously. Secondly, we see teams perform much better when they go through the Lapin approach. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Lapin approach creates actual, measurable business results."

—Stephan Schenk, President & CEO

Lapin has worked with Banner Health in three areas. The first was to optimize its merger with the University of Arizona Health Network in 2015. The second was to craft a new purpose-driven. customer-centric strategy for Banner Health that would set it on a new trajectory of growth, service standards, and efficiency. The third was to develop a values-based leadership capacity that could deliver on the new Banner Purpose and Vision. The merger work entailed coalescing disparate academic and administrative leadership teams around a single, overarching purpose for the combined entity. The purpose set the organization on a course to do for healthcare what neither party could have done on their own and what few other organizations nationally were even attempting. Work-streams were created and tasked to activate the purpose statement in measurable and highly visible areas that would accelerate transformation. The strategy work with Banner's Senior Leadership team moved the team into a new era of collaboration and introduced a vital new focus on the customers and their needs. The leadership development work then inspired senior leaders to understand themselves and the customer deeply so that they can deliver efficiently and compassionately.

"When we started working with the Lapin team, our Senior Leadership team was not aligned. We all had different strategic vision and mixed priorities for the future. Not only were we out of sync, but we weren’t courageous with each other to have the right conversations. After just a couple of sessions with Lapin International, this changed. The facilitators knew how to bring a very different group of leaders to a common solution. The development of our purpose statement and the identification of our customer, Sofia was the most valuable product. Currently, we are doing leadership transformation/training on how we bring our purpose to life and this work has been revolutionary for us... During my career, I’ve worked with many consultants. Only a handful have been as impactful as the Lapin team. The difference is with how the Lapin approaches a problem and solves with a balanced approach of art and science. Unique- Life Changing- Reflective- Flexible—all words to describe the Lapin team."

—Naomi Cramer

In anticipation of soaring healthcare costs, Cedars Sinai, one of California's premier healthcare organizations, engaged in a new drive for efficiency and cost-saving. The clinical and nursing staff became concerned that the initiative could inhibit the clinical excellence and superb patient care for which Cedars was known. The talk in the corridors was that "businesspeople had taken over the hospital, and bottom line was all that mattered." Cedars engaged Lapin to help create a philosophy capable of eliciting the passionate commitment of both the administrative and clinical sides of the organization. By agreeing the higher purpose and the values that would govern the transforming organization, a platform for collaboration between the clinical and administrative staff was created. The value of efficiency to the sustainability of Cedars' caring approach and its reach was clearly understood, and the hospital became aligned to serving its patients and the healthcare professionals within an efficient values-based environment.

UAHP was the health insurance arm for The University of Arizona Health Network (UAHN). It had always been profitable, but the CEO had a big vision to truly differentiate its offering in the market to secure sustainability. Together, we aligned the team around a common philosophy and identified the organization's target beneficiary. Clarifying the customer needs, both tangible and intangible, at the deepest level and then aligning the system, structure, and process to streamline the customer experience made work more meaningful and people more effective. This translated into greater revenue while reducing the cost base. The CEO recognized early on that investing in talent by enabling them to identify their own purpose and then aligning it to the customer needs would be a game-changer. We created a unique program for directors and emerging leaders to cascade the message to the levels that could make the most difference to the organization. This is truly an example of where qualitative inputs yielded quantitative outputs.

"Lapin took us on a journey that I wasn’t suspecting, and sometimes a bit skeptical of, but 18 months later I know it was the best thing I could have ever done for my company, and more importantly the customers we serve. Lapin challenged us to create a purpose that would drive the strategies and activities of the organization. It would help give people a meaning and reason to do their jobs with excellence. With that purpose in mind, we created meaningful values and learned how to embed both the purpose and values into our organization; transforming the organization to one that not only valued outcomes, but equally values the people and behaviors that achieve those outcomes. The tangible results are the proof. UAHP has been able to maintain our growth and profitability, while reducing our administrative costs by 7%. We continue to have the highest customer satisfaction scores in the State, and have been recognized as being a leader helping the State meet their strategic initiative around improving patient care and reducing cost. Furthermore, our trust and engagement levels have risen from a score of about 2 to 4 (on a scale of 1-5)."

—James Stover, CEO

In 2016, Vidant Health engaged Lapin to deliver a Strategic Leadership experience that could serve as a framework within which to achieve The Vidant Excellence Objective. This journey, a blend of strategy and leadership development work, served as a catalyst for long-term, sustainable growth, adding measurable value to all key stakeholders and elevating its reputation in the region as pioneers in the delivery of high-quality healthcare in rural regions.

“Lapin is the real deal and not for the faint of heart. A number of my colleagues have had life transforming outcomes from the work that they did with Lapin and they helped me tremendously. I don’t think I would ever have gotten the merger done without the work they did with me and my team.”

—Mike Waldrum, CEO

"A stellar presentation! David Lapin's focus and discussional approach talking about the 'real' issues that face today's leaders was spot on. Hands down, in the six and one half years that I've been a part of Leadership within FHPS, this by far has been the most valuable 60 minutes of my time spent 'learning.' Thank you for garnering a 'teacher' with the mindset to motivate individuals towards the need, purpose and opportunity to change."

—Leader at Anthem

Patxi's Pizza, a California-based restaurant chain, was preparing for a period of accelerated growth. Strategic innovation, alignment, and focus were going to be key to its success. After some focus-group research and some work with leadership, Lapin helped Patxi's redefine the primary customer for whom their chain should be designed. Patxi's new Purpose Statement identified the tangible and intangible contributions that it made to these customers. After building the Purpose Statement out into an implementation strategy, they made some key innovations and earned distinction in their market. The team's alignment to the values and behaviors needed to deliver on the purpose-driven strategy further accelerated Patxi's road to successful expansion and growth.

"The Lapin group took our company to a level of true inspiration. A level in which seemingly unattainable value is unlocked in its purest form. Our team is ready for the next chapter of our evolution. Thanks to Lapin International, the inspiration is now part of our DNA. This was the best money I have ever spent."

—Bill Freeman, CEO

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians, an Alabama Native American Tribe, had committed themselves to a $200m loan from the banks to build their first major Gaming and Resort Property. They had two deep concerns: What if they couldn't pay back the loans, and more seriously, what if they became financially successful and in the pursuit of their wealth, they lost their commitments to their traditions and values? Their newly appointed CEO, Jay Dorris, had worked with Lapin previously, and asked Lapin to help. For over 12 years, Lapin has worked with the leadership of Wind Creek Hospitality (WCH), the Tribal Council, and leaders of the Tribal Government. Architecting purpose-driven strategies both for the government and for WCH and developing values-based leaders, Lapin has helped the Tribe and WCH prosper beyond anything they could have imagined. Yearly, they revisit the strategies to recalibrate them for the future and to delineate plans for activation. Furthermore, working with the HR department, Lapin created an Employee Expectations Guide which is one of the most innovative of its kind. It treats expectations of both employees and managers based on the degree to which their actions support or undermine the organization's Purpose and Values. Lapin continues to align the growing body of WCH employees to its Purpose and Values, as WCH extends its ownership of properties beyond the State of Alabama, and in fact, beyond the United States.

Case Study

"Lapin worked with us and continues to work with us to create a company culture built around a common purpose and the values needed to bring that purpose to life across all levels of the company. Lapin helped us create a Company Culture that all employees are a part of and that culture provides the unifying structure to guide everyone’s decisions – we get a shared purpose that points us to consistent excellence through involvement of several thousand talented individuals, all of whom focused towards achieving one Purpose within a shared set of Values."

—Jay Dorris, CEO & President

In 2015, DuPont's Performance Polymers Division engaged Lapin to discover its overarching purpose and design its strategy for activation. We developed its internal system of values and leadership behaviors that would form the foundation of the culture to deliver on the strategy. Together, we delineated an action plan and assigned accountability and individual commitments to optimize client focus and improve results. In 2018, DuPont's newly formed (from the merging of a number of businesses) Transportation & Advanced Polymers Division engaged Lapin to design an integrated purpose-driven strategy, leadership philosophy, and vision of innovation, growth, and accountability.

In 2017, Gore formed a new executive leadership team and engaged Lapin to define its purpose and create a collaborative bond between its members. The work expanded to recalibrate the whole company's strategy and focus it on its customers in ways that had previously eluded it. The strategic work expanded to specific divisions, aligning them to the company's purpose and developing each of their own strategies for agility, delivery, and innovation.

"Lapin helped us find our ‘soul.’ This is much deeper than what one may think of as a traditional ‘purpose.’ The process leads to discovery of why you exist and what you are here to accomplish. From this point of deep discovery, Lapin aligns your team to deliver on your purpose. This has been a whole new approach to strategy for our company."

—Patrick Linder, COO

With declining revenue, a flat gold price, and no opportunities for increased production efficiencies, JCI, one of the world's largest gold mining companies at the time, faced a crisis. The company engaged Lapin to research the relationships between diverse cultures and their values and work ethics. The research was the first of its kind and led to the development of a unique program to unite JCI's culturally fragmented and angry workforce around a common purpose inspiring employees to face these challenges with fresh energy and a new commitment. Lapin developed JCI's leaders and senior management to lead with a values-centered approach, something unheard of in the days of apartheid South Africa. Workers gained new pride, partnered with management to solve problems, and helped prepare the company for a new period of efficiency and growth by increasing output without increasing costs.

Southern California Edison, one of the great American utility companies, experienced a period of unexplained increases in plant failures and maintenance lapses while at the same time producing higher scores for customer satisfaction. SCE engaged Lapin to probe the root causes of these occurrences. Lapin's research revealed that fractured trust was leading to active and passive sabotage of SCE's standards of excellence and safety and to the manipulation of customer satisfaction scores. Lapin mapped a plan and trained leaders to rebuild relationships and repair trust in the belief that while technology can fail for reasons beyond human control, engaged and energetic employees who are aligned to the organization's purpose and values can mitigate the damage and often prevent them altogether.

"Lapin provides a timeless and learned perspective in a world short on character, dignity, and personal responsibility. They made clear to our executive leadership team that we needed to start with ourselves first. And, of course, they were right. They taught us that leading with stature, rather than rules and orders, would repair our leadership culture. Intractable and confusing business challenges require great wisdom to solve; David Lapin proved to be the enlightened guide that we needed."

—Tom Cohenno, Director of Learning, Leadership, and Organizational Development

After the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles, the LAPD needed an innovative training program for its officers to help them navigate conflict situations without the unnecessary use of force. Lapin developed a customized program called Soldier to Educator and delivered it through the innovative programming of Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Since 2001, over 150,000 officers from across California have been trained in Soldier to Educator. Lapin has also delivered advanced leadership initiatives through the Museum to thousands of supervisors and command staff from around the USA. Lapin partnered the Museum in the development of its award-winning Perspectives on Profiling simulation training designed to combat racial profiling in Law Enforcement Agencies. Lapin and the Museum also delivered 10 programs over five years to combat hate and terrorism to several hundred DOJ professionals. Lapin has also worked directly with a number of individual agencies, including the Sheriff of San Diego, the Glendale Police Department, the Colton Police Department, and the New York and New Jersey Corrections Departments.

Lapin has worked with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians for over 12 years helping the Government transition from a small organization to one that independently and expertly services the health, housing, social services, and education needs of the 3,600-member tribe. Growing from just 125 employees to more than 600 in 12 years, the Tribal Government has grown services while ensuring efficient operations. Working in the Member Services, Regulatory, and Health Divisions as well, Lapin has helped elevate performance and output across the Government. Our comprehensive Executive Coaching Program has helped leaders keep pace with the changes and expectations that come from operating successfully amidst constant change and growth.

“I have been employed by the Tribe nearly 20 years. I hold two Master's Degrees and have attended countless workshops, conferences, etc. Though all of these have been helpful in various ways, the work we have done with Lapin International far exceeds anything I have ever taken part in before. In all honesty, I have been feeling completely burned out and hopeless. Now I feel hopeful. I want to act on all the things we have learned during our training. I want to grow as a leader, and I want to encourage my team to grow. I believe this investment will pay off huge dividends, beginning immediately and stretching far into the future.”

—Sandra Heibert, Education Director