Case Study
Leadership Development
where CHINA
how many 1,000
how long 3 years
THE SITUATION AND CHALLENGE
A leading retail brand was experiencing significant growth. The leadership team was a group of bright and enthusiastic young leaders, who were coping by working harder and harder, but cracks were beginning to show.
- Business results were erratic between regions. There was a feeling that this was directly correlated to the quality of the leadership in the different regions.
- They were getting tired, and stress levels were high and increasing.
- The next level managers were starting to complain about directive styles and not being developed fast enough.
WHAT WE DID AND THE IMPACT OF OUR WORK
team
Year 1 – Leadership and Management Foundations
The focus of year one was on building foundation leadership and management capability.
The participants took their first Leadership Circle 360 which provided valuable input into the design of the learning journey, and they received individual and team coaching.They experienced their first Fearless Leadership journey overnight at a venue near the Great Wall where they were taught foundation mindsets and challenged to reach for a higher level of personal responsibility.They also attended tailored training interventions building delegation skills, coaching skills, the ability to give and receive feedback, and utilising different leadership styles.
organisation
Year 2 – Leading and developing others. Vertical Learning
The focus of year 2 was on more effectively leading the teams below.
The participants were trained how to train the levels below in the skills they had learned in year one. Then they delivered the training to their people, initially jointly with The Leadership Group consultants, then on their own. They were also trained up in Performance Management skills in order to properly manage the new performance management system.The second annual Fearless Leadership workshop was a 3 day adventure in the desert of Dunhuang where the participants were challenged to put their leadership and team skills into practice in a real environment.
individual
Year 3 – Leading the organisation. Vertical Learning.
In year 3 the leadership development journey continued with more focus on leading the organisation.
The participants updated the Vision, Strategy and Must Win Battles in a strategy workshopThey received the results of their second Leadership Circle 360, which showed significant shifts from the first 360s.They refined their personal leadership development plans, and received quarterly ‘Pulse Surveys’ showing how they were doing in achieving their ‘One Big Thing’ and their do more and do less behaviours.They attended quarterly ‘Leader to Leader’ team coaching sessions, which focused on further development of their leadership behaviours.
over 3 years
After 3 years, the turnover in the top 30 is virtually zero, transformational shifts have taken place with most of the leaders, and the organisation continues to thrive despite the challenging environment.
In year 3 the leadership development process was also kicked off with the level of leaders below the top team.