Scope of Work

The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) was facing challenges brought on by several external and internal forces, including responding to public pressure to get tougher on criminals.  Internally, TDOC needed to insure uniform values throughout the agency while promoting missions that vary by institution.  Minimum, medium and maximum level prisons must all make different but complimentary contributions to the State criminal justice system.  All this must happen against an organizational culture that has traditionally stressed the value of, “my way or no way” and centralized decision making.

To help senior management guide a successful organizational change process, Sterling Institute’s first assignment was to design and deliver a seminar on leadership for TDOC’s top 100 executives and managers.  We then consulted with executive staff, central office senior managers and the wardens of all facilities through a series of coaching sessions and workshops.  The purpose of these sessions was to introduce the principles of Quality Management and to achieve alignment in all business issues.  Prior to this, TDOC’s mission was vague and it was not supported by a common vision of the future.  Also, there was no universal set of corporate values throughout the State’s correctional system.  Regional workshops helped bridge traditional boundaries and build a common sense of the future.

Accomplishments:

The Department created a new set of leadership tools - clear statement of mission, common vision of the future and a shared sense of values.  This created a new feeling of excitement particularly among the wardens who observed a leadership style of shared decision making instead of micromanagement.  Wardens worked with their staff to move this same sense down through all institutions.  Central office managers are reinventing their role as service providers to the prisons rather than agents of control.