Case Studies

Case Studies: Real-life Insights into Transforming Your Business

Leadership Development That Delivers Results

Grow your business with leadership skills that reduce COGS and improve profits. Below you’ll see how we help companies across Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin reduce COGS and improve profits by building better leaders, developing stronger teams, and growing sustainably through customized leadership training and executive coaching.

At the core of every transformation is a simple truth: when businesses invest in their people, profits naturally follow. Every person or group in your organization is tied to the numbers on your P&L. We tell clients, when you manage numbers you are managing people—and when you manage people you are managing your numbers.

Trying to impact one without the other is like a bird with one wing—you’ll just fly in circles. If you focus only on financials, you risk burnout, turnover, and a weaker labor efficiency ratio. If you focus only on people, you may have fun but go out of business. You need both people and profits working together to grow business.

There are specific leadership skills owners and managers need to reduce COGS and improve profits. With the right leadership training and leadership development, you will see measurable change on the bottom line. The challenge is that most programs aren’t built this way; The Karnowski Method™ is.

What Makes The Karnowski Method™ Different

We don’t do cookie-cutter. Each case study moved through a tailored version of this core program designed to grow business performance:

KPIs. We train leaders to understand their numbers and use KPIs to manage teams. This establishes a baseline so you can see results and the leadership skills driving them.
Leadership Skills. We equip leaders with the specific leadership skills required to decrease COGS and improve profits. You’ll track the KPIs that matter and watch them improve year over year.
Culture & Team. Productive teams happen when the right people are in the right seats. We combine leadership development, DISC/EQ insights, and engagement metrics to align culture with performance.
Hands-on Coaching. 1-on-1 and team coaching that turns ideas into consistent behaviors.
Tangible Tracking. Clear dashboards and check-ins that tie progress to growth metrics.

Leadership Isn’t Theory—It’s Results

Great leadership training is more than inspiration—it delivers outcomes. Our clients use leadership development and business coaching to:

Increase revenue and profitability.
Reduce COGS, turnover, and burnout.
Improve culture and workplace satisfaction.
Build stronger leadership pipelines.
Step confidently into the next level of business.

These are the kinds of wins you’ll see in the case studies below—plain numbers, clear before-and-after snapshots, and the specific leadership skills and habits that sustained the change.

Ready to Grow Your Business?

Whether you’re a small business owner, department head, or executive leader—we’re here to help you become a better leader and grow business without chaos. If you’re ready for leadership training that pays, and leadership development that helps you grow business while improving profit, let’s write your success story next.

Case Study #1

Transforming a Public Works Company: How Leadership Training and DISC Assessments Led to Growth and Success

A company of 11 people in the public works industry wanted to take their company to the next level. They also knew that growing their company meant they needed to grow their people and help them become better leaders.

However, they didn’t have any formal leadership training and didn’t know where to start.

On top of this, their two top project managers started saying things that made the owners wonder if they would be sticking around the following year. This created uncertainty and stress about what will happen if they left. Where will they find additional help? How will they train them when they do find them?

They decided to train with Metamorphosis CCT and use The Metamorphosis Difference™.

First, they took the DISC assessments. The subsequent team graph and level 1 training helped the employees understand how to work and communicate better with each other. Integrating it into the hiring and onboarding processes helped them attract the right people, put them in the right seats, and lead them according to their own style.

The owners and project managers also went through Metamorphosis CCT Leadership Bootcamp to train them on how to become better leaders.

The owners received coaching during the 10 months that followed boot camp. They created their own visions of what they wanted to see happen in their area.

They also identified hidden mindsets and limiting beliefs hindering to their success and created a plan of next steps to achieve that vision. When their top managers saw the plan, they got on board. They also renewed their commitment to the business.

Soon, the company landed their biggest contract ever. The result was a months long sales buffer for the following year.

And with their culture strengthened through Metamorphosis CCT Coaching and DISC training, the company also attracted two additional quality hires to fully equip their team.

A company of 11 people in the public works industry wrestled with how to:

Create a culture that naturally attracts and retains the best talent
Be better leaders
Grow their people

Results (in 10 months) | Return On Investment: 20x

Net Revenue increased by 50% to $3M
Net Income by 100% to $1M
Employee engagement improved between 14-60% in each of the four categories
Sold and completed their largest contract ever (~40% greater, $750K) which resulted in an even larger contract (~33% more, $1M) the following year
Started the following year with a 6 month sales buffer
Ability to purchase another three person team rig ($300K) and to build a new facility ($1M)

Solution

All owners received 1:1 coaching
DISC assessments, team graph, & level 1 training for the whole company
Leadership Bootcamp
Integrated DISC into the hiring and onboarding process

Case Study #2

From Conflict to Cohesion: How Leadership Training Transformed an Automotive Shop’s Team and Culture

The office staff and technicians of a 13 person automotive and tire shop were struggling. The techs felt they had to figure things out on their own, as though the staff had abandoned them. Missing information, a downright lack of communication—things weren’t going well. And with all the inefficiencies piling up, they often had to redo their work.

Relationship tensions among the workers and staff were also mounting so they decided to use The Metamorphosis Difference™.

Prior to this, the best technicians were promoted to leadership. But they didn’t receive the training they needed. When one of their team members screwed up, the team leader just yelled or directed a sarcastic remark to the offender.

This hostile style of communication raised tensions even higher.

The owners and leaders signed up for our Metamorphosis CCT Leadership Bootcamp, which showed them how to empower others to solve problems and make decisions.

They started holding themselves accountable, not just for how they communicated, but also for production standards.

In the past, team leaders felt like they had to ride their team members hard, or productivity will suffer. However, with Leadership Boot Camp and coaching, results went up, way up. Employee engagement scores rose by 7-20% across each of four categories.

UPDATE: The situation was so bad at first that the owner was about to fire one of his relatives. However, he asked the relative instead to enroll in a year of Metamorphosis CCT coaching.

The relative was able to identify the beliefs and hidden mindsets blocking his effectiveness in relationships, both inside and outside the workplace.

His life changed so much that others at work, as well as among friends and family, still comment on the transformation they saw happening in his relationships.

A 13 person Automotive & Tire Shop was dealing with the following situations:

Miscommunication of service requests between office staff and technicians creating comebacks
Misunderstanding of instructions causing poor customer service and increased office staff stress
Needing to fire a brother who was underperforming and not working well with others

Results (in 1 year) | Return On Investment: 38x

Employee engagement improved between 7-20% in each of the four categories
Brother went from nearly fired to leading one of the shops and doubling sales
Net Income Doubled ($1M)

Solution

DISC assessments, team graph, & level 1 training for the whole company
Leadership Bootcamp
Coaching
DISC interaction dynamics between leaders and current employees

Case Study #3

Breaking Through the Ceiling: How DISC Training and Coaching Elevated a Successful Business to New Heights

Sometimes successful businesses need help as well. One of them discovered this during an assessment they asked us to perform. The assessment went well, but it showed there was something that had put a ceiling on their success.

Some on their team needed to understand differences in personality. They also needed help with learning how to work better together and clear the obstacles to even greater success. styles. But they weren’t equipped to get there on their own so they used The Metamorphosis Difference™.

They engaged in a full day DISC Level 1 workshop.

We assessed their workplace one week after the training and again at the end of the year. In just one week, their employee satisfaction improved by 60%. And it sustained throughout the rest of the year. Gaining back this lost productivity by communicating and working better together saved the company $36,400. That was $9,100 per year per employee, according to the company’s own estimates.

DISC also allowed them to understand their customers better. And then to better serve them. Customer retention improved at a rate of 600% over the course of the year compare to the company’s peers.

The company also won several prestigious industry awards.But that’s not the end of the story.

Next, we discovered the company needed to clarify roles and responsibilities. They had to assure these were aligned with the needs of the business. Then they could he successfully put the right people in the right seats. In the end, the process revealed some people needed to go.

It also showed that the company required further coaching to integrate DISC into their onboarding and hiring process.

Because they took advantage of this Metamorphosis CCT offering, employee retention increased 33% within the year.

An already high performing insurance office of four was struggling with:

Culture & employee retention
Varying levels of workplace satisfaction due to untrained leaders
Building a strong team to reach the next level

Results (in one year) | Return On Investment: 6x

Saved $9,100 per year per employee (~$36K)in lost productivity.
Improved workplace satisfaction by 60% in one week and sustained it throughout the year.
Improved employee retention by 33% (~$52K).
Client won prestigious industry awards.

Solution

DISC assessments, team graph, & Level 1 training for the whole company
Integrating DISC into the hiring & onboarding process
DISC “Interaction Dynamics” between leader and current/future employees
Integrating DISC into job descriptions and positions

Case Study #4

From Overworked to Optimized: How Leadership Coaching Transformed a Waste Management Company

The majority owner of an 8-person Waste Management and Remediation service company faced several challenges.

He needed to navigate the difficult conversation of buying out his partner, who was also a close friend.

Additionally, he was spending 75% of his time working in the business and only 15% on growing it—an imbalance he wanted to reverse. His company lacked consistent processes, and he needed to increase revenue to allow his wife to stay home with their children. He needed The Metamorphosis Difference™.

After engaging in Metamorphosis CCT leadership coaching, DISC assessments, and Level 1 training for the entire company, the results were remarkable.

Within one year, he succeeded in buying out his partner without damaging their relationship.

His marketing efforts improved by 445%, and within two years, the company’s net revenue increased by 250%, surpassing $1 million.

Implementing standard operating procedures and a structured hiring process helped the owner shift his focus to working 90% on the business instead of being involved in daily operations.

The majority owner of an 8 person Waste Management and Remediation service company had the following situations:

Needing to have a difficult conversation to buyout his partner and friend who started the business with him
He was working 75% of the time in the business and 15% on the business and he wanted that reversed
Lack of consistent processes and standard operating procedures
Needed to make enough money so wife could stay home and raise the kids

Results (in one year) | Return On Investment: 40x

Became 100% owner with no ill feelings on either side
Improved Net Revenue by 250% to over $1M (in two years)
Improved marketing effectiveness by 445% (~$300K increase)
Wife was able to stay at home with the kids
Shifted to working 90% on the business instead of having to work in the business
Developed standard operating procedure’s and defined the hiring and onboarding process

Solution:

Coaching
DISC assessments, team graph, & Level 1 training for the whole company
Integrating DISC into the hiring & onboarding process

Ready to Start Your Own Leadership Transformation?

Whether you’re a small business owner, department head, or executive leader—we’re here to help you grow into a better leader and build a business you’re proud of.

Manufacturing Company

Outcome:
80% revenue growth in 9 months with 9 new employees added and the addition of two leadership team members.

What Changed:

Buyout of a bottleneck business partner
Executive coaching for the owner to build a high-performing leadership team
Implementation of accountability frameworks and communication tools
Leadership training for new hires

Concrete & Excavation

Outcome:
30% increase ($250K) to bottom line using the same team and same equipment in 9 months.

What Changed:

Leadership assessments across two divisions
Coaching to transition crews through change
Team placement based on DISC and performance data
Communication pathways to resolve conflict and improve accountability