We intervene with the goal that our work should lead to high performance at work. This focus on the business context & impact explicitly informs our design, delivery & measurement. While each intervention is unique, here are a few stories that exemplify the variety of ways in which we create impact.

Context:
A large and complex agri-business major had grown and flourished in a very oligopolistic and safe environment. The timing for the change in top leadership coincided with changes in competitive forces in the market. The new leader experienced the existing organization as a high inertia environment. To create a more agile and customer responsive organization, he set out to ensure high performance organization. Top managers would need to focus on developing and empowering others whilst re learning to sharpen their own strengths.

Our approach:
We worked with the top leadership team. A diagnostic identified ‘highest common’ needs for the group. Mapping these with business priorities we sharpenedthe desired outcomes. A 9 month intensive leadership program ensued,hardwiring performance goals to an intervention focused on creating the mindset of “stretch”, effective execution, collaboration, big picture problem solving, abilities to better influence, coach and develop teams.

A powerful “receptivity to change” program ensured reflection and willingness to reconsider ‘limiting’ beliefs. Participants picked up action learning projects to practice and demonstrate change supported with 1-1 coaching and skill-building workshops by us as a multi pronged strategy to embed impactful learning.

A similar development initiative has been extended to the third level of the organization.

Outcome:
Participants reported a marked increase in their ability to delegate and take on more challenging assignments. Team productivity increased also creating a healthy culture of open dialogues and assertive meritocracy across levels. In the following year, the company also grew its India business by 130 % and attrition rates dropped significantly.

Context: When a senior leader of an international organization came to head a team which was going through a transition of turning into an autonomous unit, required to service highly demanding external stakeholders, he had an uphill task in front of him. The team, composed largely of ‘veterans’ in the organization, resisted the changes he attempted to drive through in terms of urgency, process conformance and a ‘take charge’ attitude that he wanted them to imbibe. Their acceptance of the leader was extremely low, with emotions ranging from wary courtesy to indifference to outright hostility. The leader ended up feeling embittered and lonely, but nevertheless committed to taking the change forward.

Approach: Coaching was used to help the leader focus on the end-goals and chart out action steps to achieve these, including examining how his own behavior was being perceived by his team. By enabling the leader to identify some big wins to focus on, the coach was able to help him sharpen his own view of his role and understand that his team’s emotional reaction was not directed against him, but towards the pace and standards he was setting. Accordingly, he varied his own response, allowing the hi potentials in the team, more freedom to act and mentoring them, while acknowledging the contributions of others who had great potential but needed time to adapt. He also opened himself up to candid feedback from his team, thus creating an environment which promoted trust.

Outcome: As heartening as it was for the leader to see some of his big wins materialize, even more powerful to him was the opportunity the coaching journey gave him to nurture his team into a high performing team, held in regard by partners, customers and internal stakeholders. He has been able to anchor them within their own aspirations, goals and roles, enabling self-belief vs. belief only in and over dependence on a “leader”.

Context:
An entrepreneurial IT services company had grown to a large organization with over 20 business units in a short span of 10 years. This growth happened on the back of impactfulentrepreneurial drive of the top leaders, a strong focus on people development and agile client centricity.
On the next stage of growthup the value chain, the organization moved from a geographicalstructure to a client centric structure. Consequently several existing managers would have to step up as Project Directors and be developed internally byrole models.

They tasked iDiscoveri to develop and transfer a customized and self-sustaining learning program for a transitionrecognized as one with maximum potential to impact business results throughout the organization.

Our Approach:
Learning needs wereconverted into a comprehensive technical and leadership program. It combinedcritical elements of customer impact creation witheffective projectmanagement andcreating change ready leadership for focusedpeople development.

The learning methodology was guided byiDiscoveri’s 5 step experiential learning cycle (Aligned to business goals, Action/experience based, Analysis/Insight for upgradation, Application at work, and Assessment of Learning at workplace).

Subject matter experts developed technical modules guided by iDiscoveri’s curriculum development schemata. Leadership development modules were created by iDiscoveri and aligned tobusiness imperatives. The developed IP was embedded in &transferred to, the client’s corporate university. Master trainers were identified and skilled by iDiscoveri to cascade delivery of and ensure sustainability

Outcome:
The project directors feel equipped to deliver desiredimpact across critical areas. They find learning seamlessly integrating with theirwork. Senior leadership recognizes that this is a more strategic approach to develop people and continues to widen the scope of the journey with iDiscoveri.

Context:
The Indian operations of a multinational bank had grown toa significant position in its global portfolio. Increasingsize and complexity, and the need for continued growth, necessitated delegation across anddown the line. Witnessing governance concerns in other bank/s, the Global CEO proactively intensified reinforcementof the bank’s valuesfor decision-making even as the organization continued on its aggressive growth plan. iDiscoveri was engaged to help senior leadership internalize andput their stake in the ground to uphold theircorporate values.

Our approach:
The first step was to help build receptivity and urgency amongst the top team. The majority saw driving growth as their key priority, and regarded ‘values’ as a ‘good to show-case’ element in the background. Consciously it had little impact on their day-to-day actions. To transform this mindset, we started by helping them introspect and align their personal values with the Bank’s values therebycreatingownership and a sense of identification. Leaderswere energized to acknowledge and commit to the criticality of an explicit cascade.We thenhelped them identify workplace behaviors associated with each value that they undertook to reinforce so that there was clarity of expectations.

Subsequently, we worked an identical process with select managers from the second line and partnering with the human resources team weenabled a sustainable and deep intervention.

Outcome:
The leaders explicitly acknowledgedtheir perspective shift from seeingvalues and ethical leadership as a business imperative and not just as a desirable thing. Through their own clarity and commitment, they have been able to effectively cascade this, abandoning their short-term outlook fora higher order (successful)business vision.

Context:
The CSR division of a global giant partnered with an Indian NGO to set up a self-sustaining business with an inspiringvision.Unfortunately as actioning started, differences in style, culture, differing perspectives and skill levels etcled to huge disconnects in execution. Frequent leadership changes -possibly triggered by this - compounded the problem. After struggling for several months, the two organizations decided to seek expert help. We recommended abundled approach of a series of group coaching sessions for the top team with the initial sessions focusing on helping them clarify the common purpose etc leading up to defining priorities’ road map and agreed norms of working.

Our approach:
Adiagnostic identifiedthemes that ranged from resolving clarity around the mission, role, structure, processes and technology; Concerns surfaced aroundempowerment, style,trust etc. We used a combination of theatre-based expression and an assessment tool to help the group identify its dysfunctions. Wefacilitatedindividual and team issues resolution iDiscoveri conducts monthly group coaching sessions with the team and 1-1 Executive coaching for two key leaders to help them deal with challenges.

Outcome:
Key leaders experiencedclarity on Goals and committed to achieving the forthcoming six months road map. They shared that post the intervention, they felt more like a team with a greater ability to trustand hence like a group renewed with purpose and energy. While role clarity still needed to be achieved, they agreed on a framework to resolve overlaps and gray areas. They discussed and reached agreements on difficult decisions and norms to resolve differences.

Context:
Rapid growth at the specialty ingredients division of an Indian pharmaceutical major led to a situation where the mid-level managers became overly preoccupied with their own performance metrics, costs and inventory levels. At an aggregate level, the division suffered and the impact felt in terms of greater inefficiencies, underserviced clients, and frequent stock-outs co-existing with excess inventory. Not surprisingly, trust was low and poor communication across functions was impeding the exploitation of full growth potential for the business. The new leader who came with a mandate to turn things around sought to rectify the situation by targeting the key 50 mid-senior level managers. We recommended a combined approach of stock taking through facilitated feedback for the team and an experiential leadership intensive.

Approach:
We conducted a detailed diagnostic based on the iDiscoveriTeamship Model to identify attitudes and behaviors to be modified. Participants experienced unique challenges through an outbound programme that brought out their existing team dynamics and led them to reflect on how they could work better as a team. Blending this with psychometrics and feedback, they were able to come up with concrete action plans at the individual and group level for increasing effectiveness at work.

Outcome:
Enhanced and improvedcommunication among team members was a visible change.Tabling issues and differences considerably increased collaborative working bringing in visible signs of business improvement

Context:
A reputed organization was executing a game changing strategy. The Indian arm would move from its status of being a country office to an affiliate member of the global confederation.  It also implied that from a supported and funded execution arm it had to transformitself into a self-sustaining independent business entity andenhance itsrelevance and viability for the future. Thisrequired changing whilst maintaining momentum in the existing core purpose/work/projects.  At such exciting but challenging times, we introduceda combined leadership development and change enablement program.

Our approach:
We started with a diagnostic survey and a deep study of the organization charter/new business strategy and the plans for aligning the structure, roles and people practices. Ourmulti pronged approach started with a workshop for top leadership to build clarity/alignmentand then commitment around the new reality. A communication strategy would address the concerns of the knowing/doing gaps. Alongside, anintegrated approach combining group interventions and individual (top team)Executive coaching was initiated to support the top leaders in rolling out the change and also facilitating organization cascade.

Outcome:
The first stage of the intervention has enabled top leadership to internalizethe vision and mission of the organization in light of the change. By reflecting and strongly identifying with their individual and collective goals, disparate members of the leadership team have been able to come to an agreement regarding the ‘what’ and ‘how’of the changeas well as identified priorities for action. The initiative is progressing and already targeted actions for the Change, as well as its leaders, are underway.