Self-awareness. It’s a word often heard when Chris Cox describes how she works with a particular business to foster efficiency and, ultimately, a more productive bottom line. It’s part of “emergenetics,” a communication technique in team-building based on thinking and behavioral attributes, of which Cox is a “master associate” certified by Denver-based Emergenetics International.

And it’s at the core of Amplitude, the three-year-old Reno consulting business which Cox owns and operates, in her words, as “chief learning officer.” “If we can’t work together, then more than likely we won’t get where we need to go,” she says of her approach to success. When a business executive comes to her with, “We’re not getting results,” Cox says she knows it’s not so simple. “It usually goes deeper than that. Our goal is not just results, but ensuring a culture where people like to work and feel safe.”

“Your brain on paper”

She begins with Emergenetics’ 100-question online analysis resulting in a one-page profile — “your brain on paper,” she calls it — from which she assesses a client’s issues and challenges to get back on track.

“I’m an outsider. I’m not in the fray,” she says. “So I can ask the hard questions. It goes beyond personalities. There’s no right or wrong, I tell them, but we’re wired differently.”

Enter self-awareness, sometimes in a group setting and other times one-on-one, in the office or outside in a retreat setting. “Everyone’s starving to learn more about themselves,” she says. “But everyone hears differently, just like the difference between English and French.

There’s no wonder people aren’t communicating. Is it just someone assertive who needs more selfawareness?

“I have no answers. I have the questions. I facilitate. I’m the catalyst who assists them to identify the results they want.”

Trust issues

Whether it’s dealing with a “my way or the highway” boss or deeply divergent philosophical views among staff, it comes down to fundamental tenets such as trust and cooperation, Cox says.

“Trust is what we find to be the biggest issue. Everyone has to buy off on it,” she says. “There are skeptics in every organization, and I respect that.” Cox won’t divulge her fees beyond the $89 initial profile. If a client continues with Amplitude, sometimes the results come quickly. Other times, not. One client in Spokane, Wash., she said, is in the midst of a four- to five-month engagement.

“If all you want is to change behavior patterns at work, it could take months. The brain doesn’t change overnight,” she said.

But rare is the occasion, she said, when a client reports back that the endeavor failed.

Success stories

She counts governmental agencies such as the cities of Reno and Sparks, Reno-Tahoe International Airport and the Truckee Meadows Water Authority among her clients.

Cox and her staff of six associates also have helped the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. EDAWN, the Reno-based agency charged with luring new business to the region, is by its nature a highly charged office of thinkers always looking for new approaches to their work.

“Chris draws things out of you and helps you to think it through,” says CEO Chuck Alvey. “Chris will come in, and we’ll do periodic workshops.”

Cox’s individual analyses are prominent in the EDAWN offices to show the diversity of ideas and personalities. Alvey said that helps in one-on-one meetings.

“It reminds us that we don’t all think alike,” he says. “A diverse team that challenges each other makes good things happen.”

Get out of the driveway

— Stop waiting for all the lights to be green before you get out of the driveway of life and get onto the road toward your dreams!

Create your personal pit crew

— You are the most important supporter you have! Stay aware of how you talk to yourself, and change non-supportive “vandals” into a supportive “pit crew” to propel you further toward your goals.

Look where you want to go

— Keep your eye on where you WANT to go, not where you don’t want to go! Set a goal and then focus on getting there, not on the obstacles along the way. Your brain will work to get you where your focus leads it!

The lesson of passing

— Life presents obstacles not to hold us back but to teach us about our own capacity. Take stock of the obstacles in your life and consider the lesson to be learned by finding a way around them. Active courage building is a powerful tool!