This most respected brand, not only in its own field of department store and supermarket retailing, but across all sectors, was determined not to rest on its laurels. We were approached to see if we would be interested in partnering to develop fresh, innovative leadership development programmes. This was the first time that an external partner had been sought for the most senior development programmes. The client was sustaining its rapid recent expansion and market leading success, whilst upholding an exceptional 150-year history of progressive employee ownership. The concern now was to ensure that it was developing its leaders for a business world in which volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) were the current day-to-day business terrain, not some futurologist’s faddish acronym.

Specific areas of concern were:

“How do we lead our 90,000 people in a more fluid and less hierarchical organisation, we need something beyond the already out-dated concept of a matrix organisation?”

“How do we enable our leaders to develop and manage the high performing virtual teams that the fluidity of our business demands?”

“How do we develop our most senior leaders to demonstrate their authenticity to best effect, so that they inspire all of our people in turn to bring their most diverse selves to the unprecedented challenges that we face every day? We need to unlock the richness of all of our people’s untapped capabilities.”

The client was especially eager to work with a partner who was willing to invest time in deeply understanding its exceptional structure and who could relate to its complex and demanding culture.