A Vision for Life
at the Races
In many ways each of life's endeavors is like a race. Some are sprint-like in that they require top-speed over relatively short distances. Some are like relays where team members successively cover a specified portion of a course while racing toward the finish line. Other life events seem more like marathons because they involve great distance, stamina and concentrated effort.
Using this metaphor as a guide, Paraclete Partners, Inc. was formed more than a decade ago to inspire and optimize the performance of those who strive to be first at the finish line. It is a universal truth that people are more likely to achieve their best when they receive encouragement from others. The power in this principle is the backbone of our vision.
What is a Paraclete and
What Do They Do?
In the ancient Greek Olympics during trainings and races, runners received guidance and encouragement from a class of coaches known as paracletes. A paraclete was and is a working partner who provides encouragement, gives feedback and suggests specific strategies for improving overall performance. The relationship between a runner and paraclete is necessarily a collaborative one.
As modern-day professional paracletes, we think of our clients as partners... Paraclete Partners. Beginning with the initial contact, we seek to nurture a symbiotic relationship that is mutually beneficial, one in which a positive-sum gain becomes a measurable outcome of the interaction between us. Each of the parties creates value for the other and in the process both become beneficiaries of the interaction.
Paracletes in
21st Century Practice
For the most part our work focuses on two areas: Social Communications and Educational Communications. The term Social Communications is more familiar abroad than it is in the United States but it continues to emerge worldwide as a specialty similar to but more inclusive than the more recognizable field of Mass Communications. Social Communications can involve media research, broadcasting, journalism, telecommunications, publicity, television, radio, public relations, the Internet and emerging wireless technologies. It also draws expertise from learning and communications theory, brain research and the social sciences.
In the area of Educational Communications, Paraclete projects may include the creation and or operation of tools, programs or facilities related to distance education, e-learning, multimedia, video or other emerging technologies.
At the core of our mission is an unwavering focus on the interactions and relationships between people who comprise the category-- stakeholder.
Even when a formalized statement of goals is provided, we begin our work with a crucial first step to discover exactly what the client-partner needs. Using data gathered in this first phase we clarify and confirm pertinent issues, elaborate variables and define meaningful opportunities. Content is then developed and packaged so we can distribute it to targeted audiences using appropriate dissemination tools. This systematic distribution of information inevitably produces a series of opportunistic reactions which trigger dialog between the stakeholders. In a final phase we debrief partners using an outcomes-based assessment of programmatic effectiveness. Findings and outcomes create opportunities for devising strategies that can improve effectiveness in the future.
