Organizational Effectiveness Advisory

Build organizations by design —
not by default.

We help founders and CEOs align strategy, people, processes, structure, and culture — so growth stops feeling heavy and starts feeling intentional.

Book a Discovery Call See the Model ↓
Free 30-minute call · No obligation
STRATEGY
PROCESSES
CULTURE
STRUCTURE
PEOPLE
BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
The Congruence Model, in motion
Diagnostic Precision

Most business problems
aren't actually people problems.

  • Decisions take longer than they used to.
  • Communication breaks down between teams.
  • Great employees seem frustrated or disengaged.
  • Everyone is busy, but priorities compete.
  • You're constantly putting out fires instead of building.

These aren't signs your team isn't working hard.

They're signs your organization has outgrown its systems — and the misalignment sits in strategy, roles, process, structure, or culture, not in effort.

Our work starts by locating exactly where.

Directive Clarity

We evaluate your organization
against the Congruence Model.

Rooted in the Nadler–Tushman Organizational Congruence Model, our diagnostic maps how well five interdependent factors are actually working together inside your business right now.

Hover a node

Each factor influences the others. Misalignment anywhere in the system shows up everywhere — in turnover, missed deadlines, and slow execution.

STRATEGY
PROCESSES
CULTURE
STRUCTURE
PEOPLE
BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
Services + Outcomes

Four disciplines. One aligned organization.

Organizational Health Assessment
→
Understand what's holding your organization back.
Structure & Role Design
→
Build clear roles and accountability.
Leadership & Decision-Making Systems
→
Improve governance and decision-making.
Team Alignment & Collaboration
→
Help teams work together more effectively.
Growth & Scaling Design
→
Build an organization ready for growth.
Process & Workflow Optimization
→
Eliminate bottlenecks and streamline workflows.
SOP Development & Documentation
→
Build consistent, scalable systems that reduce operational risk.
Cross-Functional Process Alignment
→
Create seamless workflows across teams.
Operational Performance Assessment
→
Identify opportunities to increase productivity.
Growth & Scaling Design
→
Create systems that enable sustainable growth.
Workforce Planning & Capacity Strategy
→
Align your workforce with business goals and future growth.
Talent Acquisition Strategy
→
Build a hiring strategy that attracts and secures top talent.
Candidate & Employee Experience
→
Improve attraction, engagement, and retention.
Talent Processes & Recruiting Operations
→
Build scalable hiring systems that improve consistency.
Talent Development & Succession Planning
→
Develop future leaders and strengthen capability.
Leadership Team Alignment
→
Align leaders around shared priorities and strategic direction.
Executive Team Effectiveness
→
Strengthen collaboration, accountability, and decision-making.
Strategic Planning & Facilitation
→
Turn strategic goals into actionable plans that drive results.
Leadership Operating Systems
→
Build systems that improve execution and performance.
Leadership Development
→
Develop confident leaders who build high-performing teams.
The Clear Step Method

A practical approach. Meaningful results.

1

Discover

Where are we today?

2

Assess

What's helping, what's holding us back?

3

Align

Where do we want to go together?

4

Design

What should the organization look like?

5

Implement

How do we make change stick?

6

Sustain

How do we keep improving?

Partnership Over Prescription

Built for leaders ready to move beyond reactive problem-solving.

We work with businesses of every size — from solo founders just starting out to CEOs leading teams of 250 people and beyond.

The Solo Founder

Building the organization's foundations from day one, before instinct and hustle stop being enough.

The Scaling CEO

Leading a growing team through rapid growth, leadership transitions, or redesign.

The Executive Director

Navigating evolving strategic priorities without a playbook built for this stage.

Celia Grace Johnson, Founder of Clear Step Consulting
Foundational Belief
"Organizations thrive when every part of the system is intentionally designed to work together — not through isolated fixes, but through thoughtful alignment of strategy, people, processes, structure, and culture."

Celia brings 15+ years of experience building people, recruiting, and operational systems across a wide range of organizations — from Patagonia and Dartmouth College to healthcare tech and homebuilding — giving her a firsthand view of what breaks, and what holds, as organizations grow. For ten of those years, she also ran her own solo business, Wild Child in the Tree, so she hasn't just studied the founder's seat — she's sat in it. She holds a Master's in Organizational Development in Leadership for Sustainability from the University of Vermont and is certified in Organizational Design through Cornell University.

15+ Years in Talent & Organizational Development  ·  Patagonia  ·  Dartmouth College  ·  Founder, Wild Child in the Tree  ·  M.A., University of Vermont  ·  Cornell-Certified, Organizational Design
Celia Grace Johnson, Founder, Clear Step Consulting
Validating Reframe

Your organization isn't broken.
It's ready to be designed.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. Together we'll get clear on your biggest pressure points, whether Clear Step is the right fit, what a partnership could look like, and what it would cost.

Book a Discovery Call Take the Alignment Assessment