One-off client interventions
Programmes designed with and for a single client, tailored to their particular situation. These programmes often have a specific timing restriction.
Strategy Conversation & Idea Generation
In 2009 and 2010, a subsidiary of global dairy-based food company asked us to facilitate and inspire the strategy conversation amongst their executive team and challenge the current strategic direction.
A series of two 2-day off-sites lead to new insights around (re-) prioritization of strategic themes in the first session and a deep dive into one of the strategic priorities in the second session – centered around generating new growth ideas.
Both sessions were characterized by hard work by the executive team members – collaboratively exploring and discovering key aspects of their future. The focus was not only on the output – which were quite revealing and inspiring in their own right – but also on the way of working with an eye on enhancing the quality of interaction within the team.
“Connect & Collaborate” Leadership Styles
In 2010, a leading Belgium-based software development and services company asked us to facilitate a half-day workshop for their top 100 talent and leadership team around the theme of new leadership styles that are required for the transition the company is currently making.
We designed a survey for the client on the use of social media within their organization and its impact on leadership styles and culture. We designed a participative session to explore the survey results mixing the data with inspiring case studies and lively interaction to instigate an engaging conversation on how to accelerate the desired transformation in leadership styles in support of the chosen strategy.
We successfully challenged the traditional notions of “command & control” leadership and empowered the next generation leaders in their discussions with their more traditionally oriented colleagues.
Challenging Orthodoxies
In 2010, a leading Belgium-based global metals transformation engineering firm requested our support in challenging the predominant thinking of their top leadership of a key functional area that was standing in the way of generating new break-through growth ideas. The desire was to instigate a new way of thinking – and take the leadership out of their comfort zone into thinking that went beyond their prevalent methods of rational and deductive reasoning.
We conducted a one-day participative workshop, designed to explore key aspects of their emerging future through connecting and collaborating with peers. We used frameworks and tools that were focused more on synthesis than on analysis.
What they experienced were new insights emerging organically from the conversations they established – and even though it felt uncomfortable for more than a few of them, they eventually fully embraced this novel and alternative way of working and are keen to extend elements of it into their daily practice.
Board Offsites
We have been asked by leaders from a number of different organizations to facilitate their annual board meetings. As facilitators what we have brought to our clients is ensuring that genuine conversations take place among the leadership team regarding their key challenges, current or emerging. We also pay attention to building a shared understanding among the team around their business priorities and connecting this to the desired behaviour they can instigate and role model within the organization.
Brand X Day
We were asked by a global consumer electronics company to support the design and delivery of a global brand day in close collaboration with their internal project team. In 2007 and 2008, a quality training and engagement program around customer centricity was prepared. It was designed in modules, so that different locations could adapt the delivery to their needs and resources. We also created training materials and preparation for local facilitators and leaders.
Leadership Expedition
We were asked by the internal Business School of a global financial services company to co-design a leadership programme with the aim to build a bridge between the high senior levels of management and the executive level. Specifically the programme enables participants to understand and embody what is necessary for their leadership style and personal development of their competencies when they become part of the board.
We worked with our client to co-design the architecture and learning flow for the participants connecting the strategic issues they need to tackle with how their leadership styles and competencies needs to evolve. This programme is currently being delivered. Besides our original role in the co-design, our role in delivering the programme is serving as a coach to the participants throughout their journey and serving as programme director to help the participants to bring together the key learning points of the different modules delivered by other suppliers.
