Navigating a New Era: Revitalizing a Leadership Team for Sustainable Growth

Situation

A global industrial company initially engaged TMG to develop internal candidates as part of long-term CEO succession planning. Following the Board’s selection of one of the internal candidates, the new CEO faced the challenge of turning around a company struggling with stagnant growth, operational debt, and a lack of internal alignment. The outgoing CEO had been particularly hierarchical, while the incoming CEO embraced a more collaborative and empowering leadership style—an adjustment for the senior leadership team. Recognizing the need for transformative change, the Company expanded TMG’s mandate to focus on team effectiveness to unify the senior leadership team, foster a culture of accountability, and establish a strategic path toward sustainable growth.

Approach

To support the new CEO’s transition, TMG facilitated an offsite session one month into his tenure, focusing on forming a cohesive leadership team. The process began with comprehensive interviews with all team members, providing the CEO with real-time, constructive feedback on team dynamics and initial reactions to his leadership style and approach. This feedback loop allowed TMG to serve as both coaches and team assessors, offering insights into strengths, development areas, and opportunities for optimizing team performance.

The initial offsite laid the foundation for a long-term facilitation program, setting clear expectations and team commitments. Follow-up sessions every six months included updated interviews and progress evaluations. This structured process enabled the team to continuously recalibrate goals and refine strategies in response to evolving dynamics, such as executive transitions.

In addition to these regular progress evaluations, TMG led several key initiatives throughout these sessions that shaped the leadership team’s development. TMG facilitated the redefinition of the team’s purpose, drafted a set of clear accountabilities, and worked closely with the team to establish behavioral norms that promoted trust, urgency, and responsibility. The emphasis shifted toward cultivating a growth-oriented culture with a shared understanding of what sustainable growth looked like. To support this transformation, TMG introduced a structured approach for addressing challenging conversations, equipping executives with a framework to engage in productive, candid debates. Additionally, TMG guided the formation of a working group focused on organizational design to enhance agility and position the business for future growth.

Outcome

Since TMG’s engagement, the leadership team has made substantial progress in addressing organizational challenges and driving overall effectiveness. The CEO leveraged insights from the ongoing program to implement targeted leadership changes, including three key C-suite role transitions. These adjustments enabled the organization to retain top talent and provide focused development opportunities for high-potential leaders.

Additionally, TMG has started coaching key team members to support the next generation of leadership, building a strong pipeline that is equipped to drive growth and adapt to future challenges. This forward-looking approach enables smoother onboarding, helping new and emerging leaders align with the organization’s evolving strategy and lead effectively as the company continues to grow.

The leadership team’s engagement scores have significantly improved, driven by increased clarity around roles and responsibilities and a shift from a siloed approach to a more integrated enterprise perspective. The team now operates with a stronger sense of alignment and cohesion, fostering effective collaboration across functions.

As the Company continues its global transformation, the leadership team remains well-equipped to sustain momentum and drive growth. TMG will maintain its support by meeting with the team every six months to reassess progress, recalibrate strategies, and ensure continuous improvement.