What have we contributed; and how?

The leadership team was freshly reconstituted, each member hired from pedigreed organizations. Each with a strong view on what the "Right Way" is. After dealing with this divergence intuitively for while, the CEO and CHRO commissioned the project to articulate the organization's values as a guide for decision making in the face of dilemmas. 

Joint discussions between the client and Coherence redirected the focus from what could have been just a cognitive exercise to a deeply human discovery process. We spoke with a large and diagonal slice of the organization. We administered psychometrics to a statistically significant slice of the population to go beyond conditioned answers. 

The discovery was put through the Coherence construct. We elevated the discussion to the Level of Purpose before articulating two alternate value constructs, ultimately facilitating one articulation  that had the enthusiastic support of the entire C-Suite. Most importantly, the deep discovery surfaced some aspects of the culture that we vibrant in the rank and file, but not originally perceived at the C-Suite  but accepted joyfully when surfaced. A share of the soul of the organization had been preserved by the diligence. 

The client took forward the broader deployment, but Coherence worked with individual CXOs to elicit how they may role model, but also best deploy the values in their verticals.  

This initiative was rewarded as the best Corporate initiative for the year, potentially in recognition of the effort but also the long term potential created.

A new CEO inherited a fractured leadership team. There was mistrust based on different ideologies, resentment based on indiscriminate use of the power of experience and seniority by some members and conflict as one needed to explain why collective results were slowing down. Differences were sharp, visible bordering on dysfunctional. 

The CEO addressed the issues with personal expectation setting and an insistence on "Ways of Working"; rules that can be tangibly confirmed; not just in intent but behaviours. That moved the needle, but it was apparent that  a deeper intervention was needed. 

We facilitated a process of individual self discovery ("What is important to me in this context"? "What role are my own triggers playing and how can I use them vs. being used"). 

In the second ring of intervention, we facilitated a dialogue 1:1 among leaders, where they discovered that there was merit in working with shared intentions and complimentary skills vs. entrenched positions and personal conditioning. 

Lastly, we assessed and surfaced opportunities in team processes leading to sharp prioritization on what needs to be done to create a glue that holds the team together. 

A re-nomenclature of the team from being an Operating Leadership Team (as part of an Enterprise) to an Executive Committee (with the right to determine vision and strategy) tied the transformation together into a new identity. 

The Executive is often described as a "force of nature". He was know to have regularly shaken up a 150 year old consumer global behemoth and a nimble start up in India. He stepped into a legacy business in a highly regulated industry with a chequered past but strong ambition put in place by a refurbished board. 

We helped the CEO calibrate his drive with the readiness of the organization, keeping both "in flow". This involved understanding and setting up stakeholder expectations as a "measure of success", lending direction and boundary conditions. This also involved understanding how the Executive Team was experiencing the leader and what they expected. 

These inputs, along with self awareness interventions for the Executive himself, set up the direction and pace so that the team was stretched but not anxious. This along, with a structured framework for settling in, allowed the Executive to take a vertical start while retaining the engagement of the organization. 

The organization, has delivered 6 quarters of strong growth since. 

This was an execution where we partnered one of the largest Executive Search and Leadership Advisory firms in the world. 

The invitation was to undertake an Assessment and Development initiative for Equity partners to improve performance. However, as we sought to understand the desired outcomes, it was evident this was not an L&D assignment. 

We created and proposed a framework for a broader intervention that addressed organization structure, role redesign to address contemporary challenges and created career paths for different archetypes in addition to individual capability.  

Subsequently, we facilitated individual assessment, development planning, fitment, but also tricky conversations of realignments of the hierarchy that provided "fit for purpose" individual leaders for critical layers. 

This intervention led to an unleashing of collective leadership that was, till then, overtly dependent on the Managing Partner. The subsequent financial year was the best ever revenue performance but more importantly a revitalization of Equity partnership that will stand the firm in good stead over several years.