Developing Customer-Centric Leaders with a Global Technology Company
By leveraging Kinkajou's 6-month EMPOWER Group Leadership Development Programme, the participants strengthened relationships, increased confidence in leadership skills, deepened client engagement, and drove business growth and client retention.
Department Head Sponsor
We experienced an extremely valuable service of high quality: professional, thorough and committed
Industry: Technology
Size: Large Enterprise
Location: Global
Services: Leadership Development
84%
Improved Communication
84%
Empowering Others
87%
Increased Confidence
The Challenge
Developing a new generation of customer-centric leader in order to drive business growth and client retention.
The Solution
EMPOWER, a six-month leadership group and individual coaching programme tailored specifically to the company’s needs.
Tailored
Leadership topics and materials tailored to the needs of leaders.
Cohorts
Small groups of 5 to 7 created safe learning environments.
Virtual
Bringing together a worldwide team united by a shared objective.
Group & 1:1
Blended coaching approach.
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Client and context
The client is a global technology company. They develop and implement the technology solutions that balance growing energy demands with the imperative to reduce emissions.
Introduction of Customer Success Management
The company had introduced a new customer success management operating model, and with it created a new senior-level role: the Customer Success Manager (CSM). The new CSMs were tasked with developing long-term partnerships with clients to ensure a great experience in the here-and-now and develop plans for joint success in the future. The CSM role is to drive customer business outcomes through user satisfaction and efficient adoption of digital solutions. Building relationships with internal teams and clients at all levels and understanding customer needs, the CSMs maximize utilization of sold contracts and indirectly drive growth and client retention.
The team of CSMs not only had to navigate completely new-to-the-organisation roles, but some of them also had to make the personal and professional transition from being scientific or engineering subject-matter experts to leaders operating across senior levels of both the client organisation and internally. In addition, the CSM is primarily an influencer role: instead of traditional hierarchical power - indeed, the CSMs have no direct reports whatsoever - they need to position themselves as a trusted advisor both to clients and internal colleagues.
Kinkajou's solution
Research has shown that classroom leadership training does not drive long term behaviour change. In addition, the complexity of the CSM role meant that leadership training was unlikely to be effective in helping the CSMs develop the adaptable leadership styles, soft skills and resources needed to operate successfully. This is especially true for the first CSMs in the organisation who need to manage ongoing demands of establishing the new role. These demands included building trust internally and externally, developing an holistic understanding of the client business across all touchpoints, and developing a vision of future joint success, as well as negotiating challenging situations while nurturing relationships.
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The EMPOWER Leadership Development Approach
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​​​Kinkajou implemented EMPOWER, a six month leadership development programme consisting of a combination of monthly group and one-to-one coaching sessions. With a primary focus on behaviour change, EMPOWER turns traditional leadership training on its head, giving senior leaders the opportunity to build their ability to self-reflect, learn from peers, and increase self-awareness in a group environment that is the antithesis of traditional classroom learning. With a maximum cohort size of seven, the groups were kept small to build trust and psychological safety and to foster the development of a peer network that would last long after the end of EMPOWER. The duration of six months - much longer than many leadership interventions - was deliberately chosen to provide adequate time for behavioural change to occur. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
EMPOWER began with a 360-degree strengths-focused survey, something that most CSMs had not had the opportunity to undertake previously. Each monthly group session had a core focus which was developed by the Kinkajou team in close consultation with the programme sponsors in order to support the development needs of the CSMs, and after one-to-one meetings with each of the CSMs. The coaching was non-directive and avoided top-down teaching. Instead individuals were encouraged to personally reflect and share thoughts and experiences with the group - learning from others, developing insights about new ways of behaving or operating, and most importantly building their own inner compass for decision-making. The strong bedrock of safety and confidentiality meant meaningful exchange, learning and reflection could occur, paving the way for significant behavioural change. Each group coaching session’s focus theme was supported by a range of reading, listening and viewing materials to accommodate individuals’ preferences for learning and consuming information, and participants had a variety of reflective exercises to complete before and after the group sessions.
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The Power of Group Coaching Complemented by Individual Coaching
The groups were complemented by three individual coaching sessions, with each participant being carefully matched with a Kinkajou one-to-one coach. The individual coaching provided an opportunity to focus on specific personal goals, often highlighted or validated by information in the 360 survey, as well as deepen reflection on the group content. The interplay between the group and one-to-one coaching provided fertile ground for reflection, processing of learning and taking action.
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Measuring Impact
As a boutique consultancy with a commitment to continuous improvement, Kinkajou was able to monitor the impact of the programme in real time, and make adjustments to content and pacing depending on each cohort’s response and specific challenges. Monthly participant surveys were issued, and multiple check-ins with project stakeholders took place over the duration of the programme. With the first cohort, it became clear that adding in another one-to-one coaching session for each participant would be valuable, and Kinkajou was able to respond immediately. An impact assessment was conducted six months after the end of the programme which gave the CSMs an opportunity to revisit their learning, further deepen reflection and see how far they had come in terms of real behaviour change and the day-to-day impact of the programme.
The Results
EMPOWER exceeded expectations with all participants reporting positive outcomes for them as individuals, and in professional situations.
Department Head Sponsor
Knowledgeable…Adaptable…Valuable…. I got a motivated team thanks to the Kinkajou EMPOWER programme.
The Participants
It’s like a mini business school.
This was the most impactful course I had in my 15 years in the company.
I applied all the techniques I learned to my day-to-day job.
​1. Postive Business Impact
All participants could directly or indirectly correlate the programme's impact to drive positive business impact through collaborations, product retention, expansion, and lead generation.
2. Increase in Confidence and Self-Awareness
87% reported an increase in confidence and self-awareness regarding inner critics, emotional regulation, and managing boundaries.
3. Greater Dexterity in Relationship-Building
Participants applied active listening and reflection skills and shifted from reacting quickly to taking more measured approaches in challenging situations.
4. Improvement in Internal and External Relationships
More than 80% of participants reported that they’d seen a positive difference in how they are perceived by others.
5. Increased Leadership Skills
80% reported enhanced leadership skills and told us they had a greater appreciation of the nuances of effective leadership after the programme.
6. Programme Duration
EMPOWER also received positive feedback about its six month duration, which gave participants time to embed learning and implement change.
My ability to listen and consider other perspectives has helped me provide more proactive feedback. These new skills have significantly improved my leadership impact.”
[EMPOWER was] “different to any training program but challenging, compelling and gives you a chance to be truly reflective and honest with yourself about your skills as a leader.”
“It's strong because it's a long program...You have time to digest.