Client: A major global engineering firm’s European Division which provides products and services to a global customer base.
Challenge
Recently appointed to his role, the Division’s Managing Director had tough goals to achieve. As an experienced leader, he knew that this would only be accomplished through his wider leadership team. As such, and as he settled into the role of leading a culturally diverse population, he was keen to create greater engagement and accountability across the leaders. This would mean significant change in how they approached their roles; in effect, he was introducing a change in leadership culture.
His concerns about the current approach included lack of consistency and cohesion in leadership style; a population that shied away from healthy debate and constructive conflict; and the need for leaders to actively champion the business strategy and direction. The individuals also had a tendency to work in silos, and the Managing Director wanted to encourage a more collaborative environment.
Having first meet the CommsMasters team when it was delivering a global programme for the wider organisation, he found our pragmatic approach resonated well with his leadership team. He invited us to work with him in achieving the changes he wanted to make.
Solution
We began by understanding how the Managing Director wanted his team to behave. Articulating what good leadership would look like to him and what was lacking in terms of the way leaders were currently behaving set the benchmark and established the gaps. Having set this out, we agreed clear goals for a leadership development programme. The programme took place over an 11-month period, allowing for an iterative process of workshops, action learning sets and workplace projects. Leaders worked closely together to achieve results, supported throughout by the CommsMasters team. The Managing Director stayed closely involved as well, personally demonstrating the leadership style that he wanted others to develop.
Evolution
On conclusion of the programme, the Managing Director confirmed that he was delighted with the results and with the support the CommsMasters team had provided throughout. The programme had been eye-opening for many of the leaders and, in fact, one of the successes was that it had enabled those who did not want the responsibility of leadership to recognise this and to voice their concerns. As a result, the members now on the leadership team were clearly committed to the demands of their roles and were prepared to deliver to meet the Managing Director’s expectations.
Results
“The programme has been hugely beneficial from a company standpoint’, the Managing Director said. ‘There is now absolute clarity within the team about its purpose and how it works together. Leaders are collaborating to fix real issues and get together regularly in cross-functional meetings.”
Leaders taking a much higher level of accountability meant a big weight was lifted off the Managing Director’s shoulders, and the business was in a far better position to make the most of significant new opportunities.
Having recently won a substantial new contract, the Managing Director was getting his organisation ready to deliver against new and even more demanding targets.
“Investing in this programme was a big decision. But it has repaid the investment already. Had leaders not completed this development, we would not have been so well placed to deliver this next stage of business growth,” the Managing Director went on to say.
“I have been so delighted with the results, I have recommended this programme to others in the global organisation.”