Building great leaders in a swirling political climate

A top-5 US Retail Bank had no consistent standards for high potential managers as they moved into the executive ranks.  Haphazard leadership, inconsistent delivery of services and high attrition of newly minted execs plagued their product organization.

Predicable morale challenges included a cynical, political, bureaucratic departmental culture at odds with the bank’s attempts to project competency and trust to customers.

Key organizations were unable to cooperate resulting in energy and resource drain.

Our Solution:

• Designed and implemented a high-potential leadership and coaching program for 40 Senior Managers and Junior Executives, melding individual study, team application groups and workshop-style experiential learning
• Included both team and individual assessment and coaching, focusing on managing for success, harnessing team dynamics, and taking executive ownership
• Emphasized methods for thriving in a political environment without creating toxicity

The Results:

Used the program to demonstrate healthy processing of workplace conflict as a key skill of high-performing executives and teams

Teams formerly at war with one another reframed their relationships as critical partners, and refocused that aggressive energy on their external competitors

Successfully identified and developed those Managers who could succeed within the bank’s culture, and managed those who could not out of the organization