The Ally Co. team (team TACO) facilitating an engaging leadership foundations and alignment session.
The Ally Co.
Creating leaderful teams

We help teams surface and shift unspoken power dynamics to deepen connection, build capacity, and amplify impact.

TACO team members Jeff and Julie discussing lessons learned in the office hallway
Is your Impact Aligned with your Intent?

Despite our best efforts, our impact can fall short, and even cause harm.

We help teams recognize and close the intention-impact gap so their actions consistently reflect their values and purpose.

Pablo and Ann having a laugh during a session break
Our Approach for Activating Meaningful Change

Our work with impact-conscious leaders and their teams follows an approach based on feedback, experimentation, and agility - or as we call it, the 'Five D's' approach.

Discovery

Be conscious of inferences, biases, and assumptions and choose to engage people in meaningful conversations to surface needs, values, and hopes and fears.

"What do we know about this from our team's perspectives?"

Discovery is about asking powerful questions, listening deeply, and acknowledging the people you're sharing a big part of your life with.

Definition

Make sure that people are aligned on the understanding and meaning of problems, opportunities, words or terms, and any other signals that have surfaced.

"What is our shared understanding and agreement of existing challenges and opportunities?"

Definition is about establishing shared understanding, agreement, AND commitment, when it comes to the challenges and opportunities you will be prioritising and allocating effort to. In other words, it's providing clear and purposeful direction.

Design

Acknowledge the feedback, perspectives, and ideas that people have contributed, and clearly communicate the connection to what you will (and will not) be prioritizing as a team.

"What are we choosing to prioritize, and how might we approach this work?"

Design is about engagement, alignment, and feedback-informed experimentation and iteration – knowing you will learn and adapt as you identify more meaningful ways of working together.

Delivery

Create the roadmap, get the right people in the right roles, and establish your ways of working. Do not forget to confirm agreement (different from understanding) and to set up accountabilty rhythms.

"How are we ensuring alignment, agreement, and traction"?

Delivery is about is about supporting team members through challenges and opportunities as they present themselves. It's about the activation of awareness, skill, and commitment you've made together as a team.

Debrief

Continue to have meaningful conversations - asking powerful questions, surfacing helpful feedback, and making important decisions - to ensure the alignment of intention and impact.

"What is here for us now, and what is next"?

Debrief is about traction – moving forward through feedback, building capacity, and celebrating the learning (wins, misses and everything between). Debriefing is an amazing place for recognition and appreciation to shine!

Team TACO socks coming together in a circle to do meaningful work!

Who we are

We are trusted leadership advisors, learning and development facilitators, and professional coaches helping teams to operationalize leadership and learning in the most meaningful ways.

Get to know us

What we're about

We are on a mission to help create and support as many leaderful teams as we can - where people consciously use their power to affect change in positive ways.

Connect with us

Client TACO-monials!

“The Ally Co. facilitates open and reflective learning experiences, with practical exercises rather than a glossy deck. They build a safe container, name hard truths without theatrics, and keep commitments. For example, they helped our leadership team to establish clearer vocabulary to name the patterns we were living in, rebalance power through redefining roles, and to identify measurable progress and accountability.”
Ian Frith, Founder, Principal, & Fractional COO at ForgeWorks Advisory
“Working in the non-profit and public service sectors, with a goal to create and nurture lasting social impact is extremely rewarding and fills a passion for so many. It can also be lonely and uncertain work, often leaving leaders and teams with more questions than tools and answers. The Ally Co.’s leadership development work has provided real-time thinking and tools to help my teams foster more collaborative, impactful, and healthy cultural practices.”
Eryn Dewald, Talent Development & Learning Senior Advisor at Alberta Health Services
“Leadership and healthy corporate culture work in these trying times needs a collaborative, multi-faceted approach. Working with The Ally Co has given me the opportunity to brainstorm solutions with some incredible minds. Specialists in the work they do, they have truly proven to be a valuable ally to the work I am doing. Workshop development, asking the right questions to get the right solutions, world-class leadership coaching and a new refreshing approach to onboarding staff – and everything in between!”
Lisa Almond, Executive Director of Community & Protective Services at Cochrane
“TACO’s approach was incredibly well received and impactful for our Inclusion Leadership Council. It was organized, engaging, and insightful. Our work together broadened our understanding of power dynamics, especially in traditional corporate settings. It really helped me reflect on my own influence as a leader. The tools were practical and enlightening, and we’re already thinking about how to embed them into onboarding and leadership development.”
Ashley Popko, Inclusion and Belonging Manager at TC Energy

Partners in Practice

Engage R+D logoMethod Works logoHull Services logoGlassdoor logoGoodlawyer logoTC Energy logoAMASS logoVillage Ice Cream logoChildren's Link logoTown of Cochrane logoBayer CropScience logoBrown Bagging for Calgary's Kids logoTamarack Institute logoCalgary Fire Department logoBig Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and area logoIABC Calgary logoLearning for Action logoFull Circle logoVolunteer Calgary logo

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? Whatever it is, we would love to hear from you!

team@theallyco.world