Topics: Bespoke leadership development

Engaging senior managers through empowerment and autonomy

The Brief

The client’s executive committee recognised the way to harness the power of the organisation was by engaging more effectively with the senior management level. The programme would aim to activate their potential by creating an aligned and motivated cohort who not only felt empowered but knew what being empowered meant. The goal was to devolve responsibilities and decision-making to the part of the organisation where the expertise existed and free up the executive committee to focus more on the strategic issues requiring urgent attention.

The Engagement

The engagement was to commence a discovery phase, which allowed us to understand the organisational culture and identify the leadership strengths and gaps of the senior manager team. We used this time to get to know participants and learn what they felt was important to address. The solution we designed was a multi-modular programme over eight months with supported peer coaching and daily application to help put the learnings into practice and embed behavioural change. The executive committee played a vital role through their internal engagement and endorsement of the programme, understanding the change required of them and underpinning a successful outcome.

The Outcome

The programme ran for three iterations with 36 senior managers over a two-year period. There was a significant improvement in engagement scores from this population and a marked increase in collaboration levels across this group. The executive committee felt more connected to this cohort and were able to delegate more significant decisions, freeing up time for strategic thinking.

Creating a culture for the next chapter of growth

The Brief

Our client was a leading UK wealth management firm. The new CEO engaged us early in their tenure to help them define the existing culture, establish the desired future culture and support in that change journey.

The Engagement

Our solution was multi-faceted. Initially we needed to get to know the organisation and earn the trust of key players. Once that trust was built, we were able to explore the lived experience through a series of workshops, focus groups and one-to-one conversations. We started concurrently at the executive committee and the new entry levels of the organisation, working our way into the centre. It was vital to identify the individuals who had informal influence and were positive culture carriers and engage them early.

The Outcome

Over a period of six months, we built a picture of what worked well and what could be changed. We supported them to create a new set of values, helped roll them out and give them meaning. Finally, we developed a programme to build the senior management’s leadership capabilities and bind them together as a collaborative layer.

Reimagining the future of a regional bank

The Brief

The client was a diversified publicly listed regional bank with retail, corporate and capital market divisions that was reimagining group strategy to accelerate growth and increase impact for key stakeholders. The existing strategy had been successfully executed but was focused on traditional activities in the local market. The mandate for the new strategy was to enable expansion of services and geographical reach, leverage emerging technology to reach new customers, and improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.

The Engagement

We began by conducting a round of exploratory interviews with members of the senior leadership team to deeply understand the context, what was working, and where change was needed, This insight was used to craft the agenda for a 4-day in-person offsite. The backbone of the delivery was the Goldcrest Strategy Pyramid, which served as a framework to clarify the organisational purpose, create a new group strategy, and identify the key areas of focus to make this a reality. This work was integrated with activities to develop the necessary leadership, culture and teamwork to successfully land it in the business.

The Outcome

The outcome was alignment in purpose and understanding amongst the senior leadership team, and a clear action plan to accomplish these goals. The new strategy was subsequently approved by the Board and embedded in the organisation with additional coaching, organisational design and communication/team workshops to support the changes required to reach the reimagined future.

Building bench strength in wealth management

The Brief

The client was a FTSE AIM 100 investment and wealth management firm with offices across the UK. The firm had grown significantly over the past 10 years and the new CEO wished to focus on developing the emerging talent within the business.

The Engagement

We were engaged to design and deliver a programme for the leaders who operated one or two levels below the executive committee. The programme’s aim was to furnish this cohort with the skills to be successful at the next level, develop leadership capabilities to support our succession plan in the short term and build a sustainable talent pipeline for the future. This was the first time the business had engaged in leadership development work and we were happy to guide and collaborate with the internal team.

The Outcome

We ran 4 iterations of the programme for c.40 senior leaders with great results. Immediate gaps in the executive committee were filled internally by programme participants. The longer-term succession plan became more robust and the general engagement of this population significantly improved. One outcome which was not articulated as an aim at the outset was that this population forged strong relationships and collaboration between functions in the business significantly improved.