A multinational investment bank, Equities Division
A multinational investment bank with 30,000+ employees.
The bank had just gone public, which in turn created upheaval and anxieties throughout the company. As the structure of the company had changed, there was an urgency to heal the wounds, put some leadership development in place, and to use the opportunity to create a new, unified culture. The Head of Equities approached KDVI to help the division become more effective and more aligned as a team. Due to the success of the first wave of interventions, KDVI’s involvement in this bank continued for 3 years.
A multi-year modular intervention with senior leaders using 2 KDVI faculty.
KDVI started with a trial programme with a group of 10 executives from all over the world. The intervention, which followed KDVI’s development framework of 360° instrument feedback and group coaching, was delivered in a modular format consisting of two 3-day workshops spaced 4 months apart.
Module I – The first module focused on individual leadership development. It involved an opening Lecture followed by a Leadership Exercise on good and bad leadership. This was followed by a Metaphor Exercise in which participants had to draw an organisational portrait and to explain their drawing to the group. An introduction to the Feedback Instruments (client-specified instruments addressing leadership behaviours, personality and life/family factors respectively) was presented at the end of the first day, followed by the handing out of results to the participants. The second and third day of the workshop were dedicated to Group Coaching using instrument feedback. All 12 participants were debriefed together by 2 KDVI faculty. Group feedback was followed by public commitment to Personal Action Plans.
Module II – The second module focused on organisational issues and challenges. Conducted four months later, it involved the review of personal action plans, Organisational Culture Exercise and discussion, followed by an action plan for the organisation’s corporate culture. Career Life Cycle based on Erikson’s stages of life, was also discussed. The final activity was the origins of what is now known as the Critical Incidents Method, which required participants to identify and present key challenges they were facing and get feedback from the group.
The first intervention was so successful that KDVI continued with similar workshops over a period of 3 years with a total of 150 senior leaders from all over the world. KDVI’s model reiterated several times over multiple years evolved into a systemic way to drive leadership and cultural change throughout into the organisation.
The intervention reinforced the strong team culture characteristic of the bank. In addition to the modular interventions, one to one coaching was also put in place to support leaders between modules. Participants were engaged and encouraged by the process, which helped solidify learning and group cohesion. The intervention also laid the basis for an internal pipeline of leadership development within the bank.
