Case
Learning Experiences Design, Culture Design, Facilitation
LEAP: Leadership Acceleration Program
A small step in knowledge, a giant leap for leadership.
We didn't just meet yesterday; we just hadn't had the good fortune to work together yet.
For some years now, SONAE Capital had been identifying the topic of “leadership” as one of the priority areas for development. In 2021, it felt it was time to accelerate the development of people-leaders in the different business units.
Was it love at first sight? Not exactly. It was a relationship that, based on empathic listening, clarity of requests and deliveries, commitment, and proximity, matured over time, always in the direction of responsibility and autonomy that allow for greater degrees of freedom of thought, decision, and action.
Challenge, Commitments and Program
SONAE Capital challenged Way Beyond to design a program for the development of the organization's leaders, with a view to:
Develop transversal leadership skills in people with this type of responsibility in the organization;
Align with the leadership model existing in the SONAE Group: Lead Better;
Creating its own identity, despite the diversity and dispersion of its businesses;
Consolidate a culture that stands out and aligns with the group's values and principles.
In anticipation of creating and consolidating its own identity that was aligned with a distinctive culture, taking into account the history and particular characteristics of the organization, namely the diversity and dispersion of its businesses, we contributed to the development of:
200
people
5
companies
4
geographies
To that end, we designed together the:
Phase #1
From Investigation to Knowledge
Because we do not give up on knowing the reality, expectations, desires and needs of the people we are going to work with, we started by investigating and listening to leaders and people being led (Phase #1) to build knowledge from information about:
15 Individual Interviews
To leaders from each of the business areas and 3 members of the Executive Committee with the purpose of accessing individual perspectives on the organization's culture and their role as leaders
2 Focus Groups
17 out of 24 people are expected with the objective of providing its participants with a space for reflection and conversation about the scope of this project.
1 Climate Study Analysis
We cross-referenced the data from the climate study with the data obtained in individual interviews and focus groups to find patterns, omissions and coincidences.
Phase #2
Co-design and co-construction of the Program
We learned what people think about the organization's leadership culture, how they see themselves as leaders, and what they would like the LEAP program to be. We were, therefore, in a position to move forward with the construction of the program. As we always prefer to do it in partnership with our clients, we invited a representative sample of the population to a co-design and co-construction workshop for the program.
Inspired by what they considered to be the worst leadership program in the world, this group reflected on the desired outcomes for the LEAP program. Considering these results, the design proceeded in a "world café" format to detail topics and content, formats and methodologies, critical success factors, and other aspects considered relevant.
At the end of this 8-hour face-to-face session, we didn't have this mascot yet, but we already had the material to shape it.
Phase #3
Implement and Live the Transformation
Once the themes to be worked on have been identified and the formats with the greatest forecast of effectiveness and effect have been validated, and in order to better organize ourselves and share information by the minute with the SONAE Capital project management team, we use a tool that we are largely fans of, SessionLab.
Considering the different geographies, we needed to add more partners to the program. We then invited our former partners and always partners, the Escuela Europeia de Coaching to conduct the short and long sessions for the non-Portuguese speaking participants.
For each theme, we decided together that there would be two types of sessions: Short Leaps and Long Jumps.
Online sessions, lasting 1h30, to spark interest, provoke reflection, and initiate/equip participants with a common language regarding leadership principles, with participants from all business units.
To ensure the greatest possible participation, for each defined theme we held 2 sessions, at 2 different times. Because we have people whose official language was not Portuguese, in each theme one of the sessions had simultaneous translation, with the excellent help of Calliope Interpreters, and our alumna, friend and colleague Laurence Corréard.
We started with an Opening Session, of course, which included a masterclass on "Leadership Myths". Then there were 12 sessions, 2 for each of the following topics, between June and July 2022:
Leading Through Culture
Emotions: (Un)Blocking Action and Relationships
Leader as Coach
Conscious Communication
Expectations and Commitments
Difficult Conversations
The sessions on Emotions did not meet expectations. Talking with our clients, because neither they nor we were satisfied, we decided to do two new sessions on the theme, which we called “Emotions 2.0”, already in September.
Short Leaps
A setback? No, a new life!
In December 2022, as a result of strategic redefinitions at Sonae Capital, we were challenged to rethink the project and the training path, so that the groups of leaders could be grouped by each business unit. With effort and dedication from the various “people of people” from the different companies, we maintained a mixed project team that coordinated the rest of the program.
As for us, we also had to adjust the way we were in this partnership, maintaining our commitment to deliver our work with the best possible quality, knowing that the context was demanding and people were even busier than usual.
We did everything to ensure that the Long Jumps started in March 2023.
Workshops aimed at providing participants with specific skills and strategies to apply directly in their leadership.
They took place in person and lasted between 4h and 12h, organized by business unit/company.
In total, over 3 months - in Porto, Lisbon, Tróia, Barcelona, and Madrid - 16 Long Jumps were held for a total of approximately 190 people, on three distinct themes:
Leadership Principles
Conscious Communication and Effective Feedback Principles
Leader As Coach
Long Jumps
Finally, we returned to a familiar format to address a new topic
To close the program, at the beginning of June 2023, we joined together online again. 200 people were listening and participating in a conversation facilitated by João Sevilhano, in which we had 2 guest experts, Manuel Salavessa, child psychiatrist, and Inês Mega, psychotherapist. The theme was, if you haven't guessed it yet, Mental Health.
What people liked, including us
People mainly liked:
Feeling part of this program and contributing to its design;
From the pertinence and relevance of the topics explored for their daily lives;
From the dynamics of the sessions, especially the Long Jumps, in constant journeys between theory, solidly grounded, and practice closely related to the work developed by the people;
Having the opportunity to think about their own realities and contexts and to adapt the learnings to their reality;
To be able to share and learn about the different realities with colleagues;
From the informality and seriousness with which the sessions were conducted.
On our side, the creation of a real team with our main interlocutors was an essential part of the success of this program. In addition to the usual indicators, a good atmosphere, understanding, flexibility, creative and problem-solving skills were always present in the joint coordination of this partnership.
“LEAP was one of the most beautiful journeys I had the pleasure of participating in during my professional career. Thank you very much for being extraordinary and for always exceeding our expectations. I learned a lot from you! I hope the future brings you good things and that we can collaborate again soon.”
This was one of the programs that has given us the most pleasure, enthusiasm and joy in recent times. From the construction of the proposal to the closing and debriefing conversations, namely because of the closeness and trust we felt in the relationship with the management team of this project, the dynamics of the work we created, the candor and capacity of both parties to adapt to changes, the adherence and curiosity of the participants, the feedback. And, at the same time, for the feelings of rigor and lightness, seriousness and humor, close accompaniment and freedom.
Much of this is thanks to Nuno Sousa (responsible for the project's transversal management), Mariana Aguiar, and Miguel Tolentino, who always sought to provide us with the best conditions for thinking and working. Thank you for your trust.
We hope the future brings new and good collaborations!