A global CRO equips its leaders and managers to navigate change with empathy, passion and purpose
Post multiple mergers: building trust and cohesion in a global CRO
of managers now equipped to lead with empathy and purpose
Empowering leaders to inspire change and drive transformation
The impact of the Connected Manager is immediate and compounding. I can take the lessons that I've learned and use those in my day to day as well as use the toolkit as a resource to help influence and coach my team.
Connected Manager Participant
Following a series of mergers in a short space of time, a global CRO embarks on a transformational journey in a high-pressure environment. Here’s how they are building trust and cohesion, and empowering leaders and managers to lead through change with empathy, passion and purpose.
A global Clinical Research Organisation had begun a transformational journey in a fast-growth, high-pressure environment. The organisation needed to merge many companies into one cohesive entity and deliver on a huge number of strategic initiatives quickly. In response to employee feedback, it knew it urgently needed to equip leaders and managers with new skills and tools to help them lead through change.
Open Water’s Deep Diagnostic process helped to uncover the real challenges and their impact on people – and the business, which included the need to:
1. Align leaders and build trust
2. Improve collaboration between regions and business units
3. Build cohesion and cross-team communication
4. Reduce employee turnover and ‘change fatigue’
5. Build new leadership capability
6. Empower middle managers team with new skills, knowledge and behaviours
7. Shift collective mindsets and shape a new fit-for-purpose, quality-first performance culture
Senior Leadership In-Person Workshops
Connecting the senior executive team and board to build, trust, cohesion, clarity and alignment.
• Building leadership capability
• 1:1 coaching
• Advisory support
Connected Leader Program
Designed to take leaders from good leaders to extraordinary with validated strengths-based leadership models and content grounded in the neuroscience of behaviour change and emotional intelligence to develop them to lead with passion, empathy and purpose in times of uncertainty and change.
Connected Manager Program
Developing, supporting and empowering new and existing managers to champion the change the organisation needs, creating trust and psychological safety.
A tailored Connected Leader Program was designed to:
1. Develop mindsets so leaders can move hearts and minds as empathic leaders
2. Build on their strengths so they can add EQ to IQ and lead with passion and purpose
3. Equip leaders with well-validated leadership models and practical, actionable tools
A Connected Manager Program, tailored to the business context was designed to include:
• 6 cohorts of managers – from first-time to experienced managers
• 6 online modules connected teams globally via Open Water’s Cyclorama Broadcasting Studio to develop, implement and expand new knowledge and skills based on EQ and behavioural change theory.
Twelve sessions that include:
• Interactive, experiential learning
• Peer-to-peer coaching forums
• Accountability buddies
• Application sessions
• Practical toolkits
• A virtuous circle of ‘apply, feedback, refine, repeat
Following the initial alignment, clarity and cohesion workshop with the senior leaders, they were asked how they felt in a word.
After six months on The Connected Manager Program:
100% of the participants reported they:
• Had grown from being an individual contributor to a manager
• Are now better equipped to manage their teams
• Felt they were able to embrace a culture of trust and create psychological safety
80% reported they:
• Felt empowered to take ownership of actions and outcomes
• Improved their resourcefulness, personal effectiveness, and performance
• Had gained strategies for building trusted advisor relationships
Open Water developed an agile cohort-based approach to continue equipping leaders and managers as the organisation evolves on its journey of transformation.
The leadership team has renewed almost all its members, and the organisation has a new CEO. Working with Open Water, this organisation can ensure it continues to shape a new unified culture, built on trust while providing cohesion and clarity at all levels of the organisation, and accelerate the change they need to truly thrive.
"The impact of the Connected manager is immediate and compounding. I can take the lessons that I've learned and use those in my day to day as well as use the toolkit as a resource to help influence and coach my team."
Connected Manager Participant
The Connected Program has had an impact on the way that I look at things, the way that I want to manage myself, the way that I'm managing people; it's profoundly changed the way that I'm approaching managing my team."
Connected Manager Participant
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Sparked breakthrough growth
A global CRO equips its leaders and managers to navigate change with empathy, passion and purpose
Post multiple mergers: building trust and cohesion in a global CRO
of managers now equipped to lead with empathy and purpose
Empowering leaders to inspire change and drive transformation
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Specialists in the human side of change, we partner with leading life science organisations to deliver deep change and cultural transformation.