# Bonding a leadership team before bringing the organisation on board

> A transformation was meant to move from the leadership team to a steering committee, then to a wider circle. The first link first had to trust each other and speak openly. In one day, the team worked on its candour, its vision and the way it cooperates. The transformation then sped up.

*Real case, anonymised: the company name is invented.*

- Company (invented name) : Ennéa
- Sector : Digital services, division of a large group
- Size : Several thousand employees
- Format : One day
- Audience : The leadership team, under ten people, around the managing director.
- URL : https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/cas-clients/codir-avant-embarquer

## Context

- The division is launching a transformation in several circles: the leadership team, then a wider steering committee, then a major event for managers.
- The managing director wants a solid leadership group before opening up the process.
- Team members know each other in their roles, much less in what they really think.

## The challenge

Build enough trust and candour in one day for the team to carry a vision together, and to prepare the next circle rather than be overtaken by it.

## Design ideas

- **Listen before meeting** : A confidential questionnaire beforehand, with questions such as “What could make this process useless?”. The anonymous summary is shared at the start: doubts are on the table from the first hour.
- **A fireside opening** : The managing director opens the day without slides, in a tone of owned vulnerability. She shows the stance she expects from the others.
- **Pairs neither opposed nor aligned** : Draft zero of the vision is worked on alone (what convinces me, what makes me doubt), then in pairs chosen by the managing director: neither opposed nor fully in agreement. At the report-back, each person speaks for the other.
- **Speed dating that says things** : Several one-to-one rounds on three questions: what gives me energy in our relationship, what drains it, one clear request.

## Run of show

- Beforehand · **Confidential questionnaire** : Stones in the shoe and reasons it could fail, shared anonymously.
- 10am · **Fireside** : The managing director’s intent, without slides.
- **Caring candour** : A short input to share a common language for feedback.
- **Vision draft zero** : Alone, then in chosen pairs, with each speaking for the other.
- Noon · **Lunch** : Together, with no agenda.
- Afternoon · **Speed dating** : Energy given, energy drained, one clear request.
- **Two teams** : Vision and ambition on one side, ways of cooperating on the other.
- **Preparing the next circle** : What the team wants the steering committee to experience.
- 4pm · **Commitment card** : Each person writes what they will change from the following week.

## Deliverables

- A debrief with the day’s output and an outside view of the group’s dynamics.
- A process re-sequenced on that momentum: a second leadership team day, a steering committee co-designed with sponsors, a call for experiments, then a major event for managers.
- A closer, more candid team, and a transformation that clearly sped up in the following weeks.

## Key takeaways

- A leadership team cannot ask others for candour it does not practise. So the day starts with the team itself.
- Speaking for someone you disagree with is forced empathy, and it works.
- The best measure of a leadership team day is the speed of what follows. Here, the process sped up.

Related expertise : [Leadership offsites](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/seminaire-de-direction), [Seminar design](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/design-de-seminaire), [Seminar facilitation](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/facilitation-de-seminaire)

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Source: Flow Design, https://www.getflowdesign.com
Contact: victoire@getflowdesign.com, marie-violaine@getflowdesign.com, +33 6 72 15 94 77. Request a quote: https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/nous-contacter. Draft a run of show online: https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/concevoir-mon-seminaire.