Top leadership and board development
As part of the merger and reorganisation of two large government departments and on the advice of McKinsey & Company, we were brought in to support the incoming Permanent Secretary, newly-appointed Directors General and Directors (46 in all) to develop their narrative leadership skills and to guide them in the use of story and storytelling for change. Our work, which stretched over a fifteen month period, involved personal coaching in story and narrative techniques for the top team, group interventions at top management retreats and team building sessions, and advising internal communications staff and organisational development professionals.
The results of this work included boosting the presence and personal authority of the Permanent Secretary and other new appointees, improving the quality and effectiveness of top team communication and developing positive stories of change that fed the ‘informal’ system and improved staff engagement at a testing time for all. This fed directly into work designed to develop a culture of greater personal accountability, higher standards of performance and more customer-focused service.
Narrative Leadership Associates 