Mid Level Leader
Helping director leaders at global and fast-growing software organization take a more holistic view to strategic thinking, decision making, risk taking and leadership with partners and team members.
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What exactly is the challenge
and why is it important?
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The Uncommon sense of MESSY leadership
Based on research from interviews with 40+ top global leadership learning experts, this whitepaper outlines how 2020 changed the mindsets leaders need for success.
How we solve
Offering 1
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Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.
Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.
Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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From model to movement: Getting more from your leadership framework
Leadership frameworks are introduced with good reason. Done well, they define what great leadership looks like, guide decisions under pressure, and give employees clarity on what’s expected. A strong framework can align leaders, speed up decision-making, and reinforce the culture an organization needs to grow. But too often, frameworks launch with energy and then fade. Behaviors are defined. Announcements are made. Posters go up. Resources are shared. For a while, it feels like momentum, but everyday habits don’t change. When frameworks fail to stick, it’s not just a missed opportunity. It puts strategy execution, talent alignment, and transformation outcomes at risk. The real challenge isn’t writing the right words. It’s embedding those words into how people work, lead, and decide especially under pressure. That’s where the true power of a framework lies: not in its creation, but in its activation. Our work with leadership teams has shown this again and again: to activate a framework, you must shift how people lead, how work gets done, and how the system reinforces it all. Why one model can’t, and shouldn’t, do it all Many organizations try to do too much with a single framework. They blur cultural aspiration with behavioral expectation, leaving people with something that sounds inspiring but isn’t practical. The result? A framework that lacks both inspiration and clarity. The most effective approach is to keep them distinct but connected: Cultural principles provide direction and inspiration, creating a shared ethos and common language. Behavioral expectations provide clarity and action, defining how leaders and teams are expected to behave especially under pressure. Frameworks aren’t tested in calm moments. They’re tested when the stakes are high, during uncertainty, tension, or rapid change. That’s when leaders need clarity. Strong frameworks show up in three critical places: In people decisions: influencing how leaders hire, promote, and reward talent. In business decisions: serving as a lens for setting priorities, making trade-offs, and course-correcting. In cultural moments: reinforcing how teams respond to change, uncertainty, or challenge. Whether you’re shaping culture, driving transformation, or building systems for speed, your framework is either fueling progress or quietly holding it back. One framework should inspire with purpose and direction. The other should guide action, so people know how to lead, how to decide, and how to show up when it counts. When both are in place, and aligned with strategy and systems, culture becomes a lever for transformation, not a barrier. Making it real Too often, the launch of a framework feels like the finish line. Leaders put energy into designing the model, running workshops, and sharing materials but the follow-through is where momentum slips. Competing business priorities quickly take over. Senior leaders may see the framework as an HR initiative rather than their own responsibility. Employees can feel overwhelmed by change or confused if the framework is too complex. And if systems like performance reviews, hiring, or recognition don’t reflect the framework, it starts to feel optional. The result? Even strong frameworks can fade into the background, seen as “just another initiative” rather than something that truly guides how the organization leads and makes decisions. The difference comes when activation is intentional, and includes: Practical tools that make it easy to use in the moment behavior guides, coaching templates, interview prompts, checklists. Manager development that goes beyond awareness, giving leaders confidence to apply the framework in setting goals, giving feedback, and developing their teams. Targeted communication that ties the framework to business priorities and brings it to life with senior leader stories and real examples. Personalization so employees can see how the framework connects to their own roles, decisions, and impact. Most importantly, frameworks stick when leaders own them. When senior leaders use the framework to guide their own choices and conversations, it stops being a program and starts becoming how the business runs. Modernize without losing what matters For organizations with deep histories, shifting long-standing leadership behaviors and ways of working is a balancing act. Move too fast, and you risk alienating the very leaders you need. Move too slow, and you risk falling behind evolving customer needs, strategic priorities, and market realities. Employees need to know that the values and behaviors that made them successful still matter even as new expectations take hold. That means working with senior leaders to clarify which attributes and behaviors are enduring, and which must shift. In its strongest form, this shows up as clearly defined leadership behaviors, translated across levels and roles. Employees need to know what’s expected of them whether they’re leading a team, managing a function, or working on the front line. Successful rollouts also: Build awareness early and help people understand the “why” before embedding new systems. Engage credible champions: leaders who model and reinforce new behaviors. Create space for storytelling, peer coaching, and shared learning. Ensure senior leaders are visible champions, not just passive supporters. These moves build trust, belief, and momentum, the ingredients that make change real. Activate leadership behaviors for agility and speed In today’s environment, speed, efficiency, and cross-functional collaboration are urgent imperatives. In these contexts, alignment alone isn’t enough. What matters is driving real behavior change breaking down silos, reducing hierarchy, and accelerating decisions. That’s where leadership frameworks rooted in core behaviors become levers for agility. Behaviors like courage and care combined with consistent ways of working that promote collaboration, quick feedback, and rapid decisions enable teams to move faster and more effectively. These behaviors matter most in defining moments: when leaders speak up despite risk, prioritize team goals over silos, or give honest feedback instead of waiting for perfection. But they only stick when embedded into how teams actually operate. We’ve seen success when teams: Adopt the two-part framework as part of their chartering process. Use tools like teaming canvases and retros to define roles and spot friction. Leverage technology to highlight wins, circulate feedback, and increase transparency. Apply frameworks as a lens for setting goals, measuring success, and course-correcting in real time. In agile environments, goals shift constantly. The best teams don’t see that as chaos—they see it as momentum. Clear, consistent behaviors keep them focused, adaptable, and confident. 3 activation tips every talent leader should remember Clarity beats complexity. You don’t need more capabilities or skills. You need fewer, clearer ones defined at every level of responsibility. Co-creation is essential. If employees don’t see themselves in the framework, they won’t use it. Involve them early and often. Systems must follow story. If hiring, performance, and recognition systems don’t reinforce the framework, it won’t stick. Story without system is a short-term boost. System without story is compliance. Neither lasts. Our best advice: A quick checklist Provide something useful on day one Make sure people can apply the framework immediately in a meeting, feedback session, or hiring decision. Set the right pace Move fast if urgency and trust are high. If skepticism or fatigue is present, slow down and create space for dialogue. Secure leader ownership Frameworks don’t create change, leaders do. Ensure leaders model and reinforce the framework in how they lead every day.
Strategy isn’t set anymore. It’s adapted.
Nearly every leader I talk to knows the old planning model doesn’t make sense anymore. Multi-month cycles. Layers upon layers of initiatives. Budgets that quietly replace strategy as the plan. By the time it’s all done, the competitive landscape has already shifted under their feet. And yet, many companies still do it this way. They can feel the mismatch as they strive to move fast. They just don’t know what to do instead. The old game was setting direction. Decide where to go. Communicate it. Cascade it down. It made sense when the future looked enough like the past that you could be certain of your choices. But certainty is gone. In its place: disruption, surprise, and acceleration. Which means the work of leaders has shifted. The new game is adapting direction. What needs to be new and different If strategy execution today is about improv, then strategy setting is no longer about choreography. It requires a more flexible approach. Here are four flaws of traditional strategy planning, and what leaders can do differently: 1. Stop pretending there’s only one future. We know the future won’t unfold exactly as envisioned. Customer needs shift. Competitors surprise you. Economies wobble. So why do we plan for just one version of what’s next? When one “winning” idea emerges too fast, it often gets momentum without being stress-tested. A better approach: evaluate multiple distinct directions at the same time. One executive team we worked with had five competing visions for doubling the business in three years. Instead of forcing consensus, we worked with them to think through the core choices for each, including customer focus, product bets, and geographic expansion. Once leaders saw the real implications, they quickly ruled one option out. The eventual plan blended elements of the others, with contingencies built in. Thinking through alternatives gave them confidence and resilience when the inevitable twists came. 2. Make choices real before you announce them Too many strategic plans race to the declaration moment at the Town Hall: here’s the big idea, now go execute. The problem? Leaders rarely know what they’ve actually signed up for, or what needs to change in how the work gets done. If you believe that strategy execution requires improv, then even in setting strategy you need to imagine what comes next and rehearse moves, implications, and ripple effects across future time horizons, albeit in a simpler but realistic form. One client we worked with knew that acquisitions were essential to their growth. They had several targets in sight and negotiations underway, but no imminent deal. Instead of waiting, we ran the extended leadership team through a series of acquisition scenarios with different strategic intent that examined variables such as deal size, level of integration, and adjacency of the added business. As they worked through each scenario, they not only got a view into the nature of potential targets but also what changes they, as the leaders of the organization, needed to make now. They were choosing what kind of organization they would become. Based on what they were learning, they were able to make key decisions to position themselves for future success. They agreed on new hiring profiles, streamlined decision processes, leadership shifts, so they’d be ready when the right deal came. Strategy shifted from a conceptual statement to a real, lived preparation for a different future. 3. Work across time horizons. People can change fast. Infrastructure and capital cannot. Budgets, board approvals, and physical assets move slowly. Leaders need to intentionally plan for what can change now, what will take time, and what’s locked in, while still identifying the opportunities at each stage. Take a pharma company with a pipeline bursting with new drug development. If even half their drugs made it through approval, their manufacturing capacity would be insufficient. Together we built an adaptable manufacturing plan, anchored on essentials, with clear trigger points for future decisions. When 70% of the drugs cleared approval, they were ready. Without that horizon-based thinking, they would have been caught flat-footed. 4. Align at the right level of detail. Here’s a trap: mistaking varied interpretation of the strategy for purposeful improvisation. They are not the same. Without clarity and alignment at the top, every leader fills in gaps differently. That isn’t agility, it’s chaos. Leaders must turn the conceptual strategy into something tangible and real, in order to be able to align and lead the organization in the same direction. Strategic modeling allows leaders to test choices at the right level of fidelity, so they know what they’re actually agreeing to. Growing “a lot” versus growing 37% are not the same thing. The detail that is uncovered in the modeling exercises provides enough clarity to shape coherent execution, while still leaving room for adaptive moves over time. From map to compass Old strategy setting was about certainty. New strategy setting is about clarity of intent and readiness to adapt. It’s less a map and more of a compass. If your strategy and planning process still looks like a marathon toward a finished plan, ask yourself: are you preparing for the world you wish you had, or the one you actually face? The trick is helping leadership teams shift from setting direction to adapting direction—so strategy setting and execution can adapt. The future won’t wait for your plans.
6 things you can do to shift your culture without a massive change effort
Most leaders focus on strategy—not because they undervalue culture, but because strategy feels concrete. It has structure, timelines, metrics, and deliverables. It’s visible and defensible. When pressure is high, strategy gives leaders something they can point to and steer. Culture doesn’t always feel that way. It’s harder to define, harder to measure, and often lands in the “important, but not urgent” pile. That’s not a leadership flaw. It’s a gap in how we’ve equipped leaders to lead.But if you want to change how your organization operates, you have to start with what people experience every day. Below are six no-fluff actions from our recent event, Culture Without the Fluff, designed to help you leave your team stronger than you found it. → Don’t miss events like these! Sign up for our newsletter or visit our events page to see what’s coming. 1. Build shared habits If strategy defines where you’re going, culture determines whether you’ll get there. Strategy can shift quickly, with a new market, goal, or CEO. Culture can’t. It’s shaped by the beliefs, habits, and norms that don’t pivot on command—and that’s where friction starts. The disconnect doesn’t usually show up in big moments. It shows up in how decisions get made, what’s prioritized under pressure, and whether feedback is honest or avoided. These daily behaviors signal what really matters, regardless of what the strategy says. That’s why high-performing organizations go beyond communicating direction. They turn strategy into clear expectations for how people should work, lead, and collaborate—and then reinforce those expectations through routines, incentives, and leadership behavior. Try this: Pick one strategic priority and ask: What should people be doing differently if this is truly our focus? If you’re not seeing those behaviors, there’s a gap. Ask yourself: Do our daily habits match the future we’re trying to build? 2. Use the levers you already own Culture change doesn’t have to start with a massive initiative. It can start with the levers you already own. Culture lives in the mechanics of your team’s work: how meetings are run, how frontline decisions are made, how failure is treated, and what behaviors leaders model. These small signals shape big beliefs. That’s why abstract values and vision statements alone often fall flat. They’re not wrong, but without action behind them, they’re just words on a page. Real change starts by zooming in on specific moments that shape how work gets done, and making small, intentional shifts. Want a culture of accountability? Focus on what happens after meetings. Want more innovation? Look at how failure is handled during team reviews. Start here: Pick one lever (like how meetings are run) and ask: What messages are we sending through how we meet? Who speaks up? Who stays silent? What actually gets decided? Then make small adjustments that reinforce the culture you want—not the one you’ve inherited. 3. Avoid the tempting pitfalls If you’ve ever rolled out a new set of values, launched a culture initiative, or shared a bold new vision, only to see behavior stay exactly the same, you’re not alone. Most culture efforts stall not because leaders don’t care, but because they start with what’s visible and familiar: messaging, posters, kickoff events. These feel like the right moves. But they rarely shift what people actually do, and rarely resonates in a meaningful and lasting way In our recent webinar, we shared six common traps that organizations fall into often with the best intentions. Here are three that come up again and again: Relying on values to do the heavy lifting. Most teams have clear values, but that’s not the problem. The challenge is turning those values into real habits. If the way you run meetings, make decisions, and give feedback doesn’t reflect what’s on the wall, people notice—and disconnect. Expecting HR or culture champions to lead the culture shift alone. HR and champions play a big role in culture, but they can’t do it without leaders. People take their cues from credible influencers in the business: what gets rewarded, what gets ignored, and how leaders show up under pressure. That’s where real culture change starts. Announcing culture change before actually changing anything. This is a classic case of show don’t tell. When leaders talk about change without shifting the day-to-day experience, people become skeptical. They’ve heard it before. What earns their belief and commitment is seeing leaders act differently in ways that directly affect their work. P.S. We’ve rounded up 3 more pitfalls worth avoiding. See them here. Start here: Surface the unspoken. Ask: What do people believe they’ll be rewarded for today? What would they have to believe to behave differently? Culture change requires shifting the mental models that shape behavior. 4. Shift the beliefs beneath the behaviors You can’t shift behavior without understanding the beliefs behind it. If teams aren’t collaborating across silos, it’s probably not because they don’t want to—it’s because they’re rewarded for competing, not collaborating. If leaders aren’t taking smart risks, it might be because failure has been punished, not treated as a learning moment. These everyday behaviors are just the surface—what’s driving them are deeper, often invisible beliefs that probably outlast the tenure of some of your employees. Start here: Ask: What are the unspoken rules here? What would someone need to believe for this behavior to feel natural, safe, and worth it? Until you name and shift those beliefs, culture efforts will stay stuck at the surface. 5. Don’t let your culture fall behind your tech Honestly, the real surprise would be if AI wasn’t reshaping your culture. Some organizations are going all-in on experimentation. Others are still figuring out what their approach will be. But wherever you are on the curve, one thing’s clear: this moment feels a lot like the wild west. And your talent is picking up on that. Leaders are signaling the need to adapt and innovate—but rewards and incentives often tell a different story. Without clear signals from the culture that it’s safe to try, valuable to learn, and worth the risk, even the smartest tools won’t be used to their full potential. Ask yourself: How are we capturing what’s working with AI—and making those insights visible and usable across the organization? What are we taking off people’s plates to give them the time and space to learn, experiment, and adapt? Have we updated the priorities, deliverables and expectations to reflect the new reality—or are we layering AI on top of an already full workload? Are leaders helping people see the personal value in this shift—so AI feels like a path to growth, not a threat to their role? 6. Start small, scale fast Most leaders assume culture change has to be slow and sweeping. But it doesn’t. We’ve seen major progress start with one small shift—the kind that’s visible, repeatable, and high-impact. The key? Start where the energy already is: a team that's eager, a leader who's ready, a process that’s stuck. Then focus on one behavior that’s holding things back—and change it. From there, scale what works. Start here: Use this simple 3-step exercise to find a small, high-impact place to start: Pinpoint a stuck spot: Where is strategy getting delayed, deprioritized, or lost in translation? Common areas include: Team meetings that always run long but lead to no decisions A new tool or process people aren’t adopting A frontline team disconnected from the broader strategy An area with low engagement or slow execution Identify the blocker behavior: What specific habit, mindset, or expectation is in the way? (e.g., defaulting to top-down decisions, rewarding speed over learning, fear of trying something new) Make one shift—and scale what works Change that behavior in one team, one moment, or one process. Capture the impact. Then share the story and replicate what worked. Change spreads through stories. Show people what’s possible, and they’ll move with you. Culture change is hard. Doing it alone? Even harder. We work with teams around the world to: Spot what’s working—and what’s getting in the way Test small shifts that create big ripple effects Keep momentum going as change starts to spread Reach out to us to start a conversation!
Executive presence, demystified: Part 2
Adjusting your executive presence in moments of friction Nadia, a high-potential executive at a payment processing company, was grappling with this question: what does it actually look like to lead with both authenticity and awareness? She had recently completed the Bates Executive Presence Index (ExPI™), a 360° assessment that helps leaders understand how they’re perceived across 15 facets of executive presence. → Learn more about executive presence and the Bates ExPI™ in Part 1 of this series. During our debrief, one facet stood out: Authenticity. It was one of Nadia’s highest-rated dimensions—but also the most polarizing. | “People like that I’m direct,” she said. “But they also say I’m too direct. It feels like I can’t win. I’m either being real and upsetting people or holding back and not feeling true to myself.” It’s a tension many leaders feel, and it becomes even harder to navigate when something goes wrong. For Nadia, that tension surfaced clearly during a recent product launch failure. Her lowest-rated ExPI™ facet, Restraint, showed up in that moment. Her response to her team was swift and emotional: | “I can’t believe we let this happen, there will be hell to pay. What were you all thinking?” Some team members rallied, while others shut down. That’s when I shared a different way to think about presence—not as something fixed or all-or-nothing, but as something you can tune. The key isn’t choosing between being yourself or holding back. It’s learning to adjust your approach based on what the moment calls for, without losing your center. Nadia didn’t need to choose whether to be authentic; she needed to be thoughtful about how and when to be authentic. What does it mean to lead with authenticity? The term “authenticity” emerged in the business world in the 1990s – 2000s. It surged in popularity after the 2008 financial crisis, when trust in institutions and leadership sharply declined. Few leadership traits are as valued, or as misinterpreted, as Authenticity. People want to know the person behind the title to build trust and belief in the person setting the example. And yet, every move a leader makes today is more visible and risks destroying trust and belief. We’re often encouraged to ‘be ourselves’ no matter what. But that oversimplified version of authenticity assumes every situation calls for the same version of you, and that you, yourself, aren’t adaptive, evolving, and multi-dimensional. Effective leaders flex with intention. They don’t compromise who they are, but they do consider what the moment requires. Leadership presence isn’t an on/off switch, it’s a set of dials, and learning to use them well starts with understanding the difference between being real and being reactive. Reframing executive leadership I asked Nadia: “What if, in that difficult moment with your team, you turned the dial down on your strengths in Authenticity and Integrity and turned it up on another of your strengths, like Concern?” Within seconds, she reframed her message: | “You’re the best team in the company. That’s why we’re so disappointed today. This hurts. But I know we’ll figure it out and come back stronger.” Same core values, entirely different tone. And, likely, a better outcome. How to tune your executive presence Here’s a quick self-check to help leaders navigate tough moments: Pause a moment and ask yourself, “What does this situation call for?” Empathy? Curiosity? Candor? Am I leading with a behavior because it’s what’s needed, or just because I am comfortable with it? Is this a moment to leverage a strength, or to show a different side of myself? How can I meet the needs of the situation without compromising who I am? Presence is about intentionality. The best leaders flex their style based on audience, stakes, and context without losing their center. Using the dials Think of executive presence like a soundboard: Dial up Concern when helping others deal with uncertainty and change Dial down Authenticity when it’s more important to listen and understand than push your point of view Dial up Vision when teams need clarity about why something is happening and inspiration to get there Dial down Confidence when acting quickly is less important than building consensus and commitment The point isn’t to become someone else. It’s to show up as the best version of yourself—on purpose. Try this: Pick one important interaction this week. Before you walk in, ask: “Which dial do I need to turn up and which one should I turn down?” Watch what happens when you lead with that level of clarity. When we talk about executive presence, leaders often fear that we’re going to try to fit them into some sort of box where they have to look, speak, and act a certain way. The good news is this: you can be true to who you are AND be viewed as a leader with executive presence. If you can become more aware of how others perceive you and how that connects to driving business results, you can always find a way to dial up or dial down different aspects of yourself to be the best leader you can be.
Executive presence, demystified: Part 1
Leadership today doesn’t come with the luxury of guesswork. Intuition, charisma, and old habits aren’t enough to carry us forward. In a hybrid world, where hallway conversations and informal cues have all but disappeared, small signals carry outsized weight. Your words, your silences, your facial expressions, how quickly or thoughtfully you respond to an email—these become the cues people rely on to interpret how you feel, what you expect, and how much they matter to you as a stakeholder. Add in constant Slack messages, Zoom calls, and email threads, and every interaction becomes a moment of truth. Communication gets dissected quickly, often without full context. Each moment can either build—or erode—credibility and trust. As a result, it’s no surprise that executive presence (the way your leadership is perceived) is under a brighter spotlight than ever. And yet, it remains one of the most misunderstood dimensions of leadership. Leaders hear it matters. They’re told when they have it, or don’t, but they rarely receive clear, practical insight to help them understand what it is or how to build it. Why leaders struggle to see themselves clearly Over the years, I’ve had hundreds of coaching conversations with senior leaders. And nearly every one has reinforced the same truth: even the most capable leaders rarely get honest, useful feedback on how they come across. Most of what they hear is filtered: shaped by hierarchy, team dynamics, or the desire to keep the peace. They may get regular input on business results or performance goals, but often they get very little feedback on presence itself. That makes executive presence hard to improve. You can’t shift what you can’t see. And when feedback is vague or inconsistent, it’s easy for leaders to default to habits that may no longer serve them. That’s where tools like the Bates Executive Presence Index (ExPI™) come in. The ExPI™ is a 360° assessment designed to help leaders understand how others experience them across 15 distinct facets of executive presence from Authenticity to Vision to Concern. “You’ve got to name it to tame it” One conversation about executive presence with a leader we’ll call “Maya” stands out. After we reviewed her ExPI™ results, celebrating what was working and exploring a few areas rated lower, I asked how the session felt. She paused for a moment and said: | “I know this wasn’t therapy, but it felt like it at times. And you know what my therapist always says? ‘You’ve got to name it to tame it.” That stuck with me, because it’s true: awareness is the first step to change. Before this, Maya had never had a clear picture of how she showed up with her manager, her team, or her peers. For the first time, she had language for the things she’d sensed but couldn’t pinpoint. And with that, she could make small, intentional shifts that would strengthen her leadership impact. Executive presence isn’t vague, it’s visible While executive presence often feels hard to define, that’s usually because it’s talked about in broad, subjective terms like “gravitas” or “charisma.” In reality, executive presence is grounded in visible, measurable behaviors. The challenge is that most people don’t have a shared language for what to look for. It’s not about being the loudest voice or “commanding the room.” It’s about how you build trust, communicate with clarity, and bring others with you, especially in high-stakes moments. Once you know what to look for, executive presence becomes less of a mystery and more of a skill you can practice and refine. So, let’s define it: Executive presence refers to the qualities of a leader that engage, inspire, align, and move people to act. Based on research, we have organized those qualities in a set of leadership behaviors that appear across three dimensions: Character, Substance, and Style. These are observable signals that shape how others experience your leadership. A framework for turning awareness into action Awareness of how others experience your leadership is a crucial first step, but it’s not enough: Leaders need to know what they can do to take action on this awareness. Here’s what we recommend: Where do I stand? Start with a reliable mirror. A structured tool like the ExPI™ helps you understand how others perceive your presence across key traits like Practical Wisdom, Composure, and Assertiveness. What strengths do I want to protect? Your superpowers are likely already serving you, but they can also become liabilities if overused. Appreciating both the upside and the risk of overusing it helps you use them more skillfully. What’s getting in my way? Common blockers include being too guarded, reactive, or intense under pressure. The goal isn’t to eliminate them but to recognize patterns and adjust intentionally. What small shifts could make a big difference? Executive presence isn’t about reinvention. It’s often about dialing one behavior up and another down in critical moments. Flexing just enough to shift how you’re experienced—without losing yourself. What leaders often learn from the ExPI™ When leaders first see their ExPI results, it’s rarely a total surprise. More often, they find that something they suspected to be an issue is having a much bigger—or different—impact than they realized. Here are some ways that might show up: The ripple effect you missed. You may know you’re blunt or reactive, but not realize it’s keeping people from bringing you problems or ideas. The missing detail. You might know you need to improve Vision, but the ExPI shows whether the gap is in strategic thinking, inspiring others, or both—and with whom it shows up. The “happy blind spot.” Others may rate you higher than you rate yourself—a sign that you may be need to focus less on that quality and more on another that is truly an area of opportunity. What got you here won’t get you there. Traits like decisiveness or bias to action may have served you well as an individual contributor, but they can backfire in a leadership role if they limit collaboration or inclusiveness. Character vs. Substance and Style. Many leaders score highest in Character (formed early in life) and lower in Substance and Style (skills built over time). Leaders are always pleased to see those high scores in Character but fret about the lower scores in the other dimensions. It helps to be reminded that what they are seeing are perceptions—and they can be changed over time. Everything’s connected. Improving one facet often boosts others—for example, raising Resonance can lift Concern, Humility, Practical Wisdom, Interactivity, and Inclusiveness. Insights like these turn vague impressions into concrete starting points for growth—without asking leaders to become someone they’re not. Presence is perception in action Many leaders spend a lot of energy trying to read the room, manage perceptions, or recover from moments that didn’t land well. When you understand how your presence is being read and have a language to interpret and adjust it, your work gets simpler. You stop worrying about how you're coming across and start operating from a place of calm clarity. Perception equals impact, and your presence is a shortcut to help you understand how others interpret your leadership. Those around you are picking up on how grounded your thinking is (Substance), how you engage in dialogue in the moment (Style), and what your behavior reveals about your values and intent (Character). Whether you need to show up as a strategic partner, drive growth, or shepherd people through change, how you show up shapes how your ideas land. Even small improvements in presence can unlock major shifts in influence, trust, and results. Try this to shape your executive presence Ask two trusted colleagues: “When have you seen me at my best as a leader?” Listen closely. Then ask yourself: “What was I doing that made the difference, and how can I do more of it on purpose?” When you name it, you can tame it, and that’s when your executive presence becomes a catalyst for impact. Want deeper insight into how you’re showing up as a leader? Explore the Bates ExPI™ to get clear, actionable 360° feedback from a certified expert. Contact us to get certified to use the ExPI™ with leaders across your team or enterprise. → Read Part 2 of this series to explore the ways you can fine-tune your executive presence, authentically.
What leaders need to know about ChatGPT-5
When OpenAI launched GPT-5, the reaction was muted. No flashy new tricks or “wow” demo moment. If you stopped there, you might think nothing’s really changed. But the real story is bigger and far more important for leaders. OpenAI didn’t just release an updated model, they triggered a collapse in the cost of top-tier intelligence across the market. That cost shift will accelerate innovation in ways we’re only beginning to imagine, and it’s happening already. It’s important to note that there are two main ways people and companies use GPT-5. Through the ChatGPT app, individuals and teams interact with the AI directly, writing prompts, asking questions, or creating content. It’s plug-and-play, no coding required, and now GPT-5 is the default model even for free users (with some usage caps). Through the API, companies connect GPT-5 to their own systems or products so it can power customer support tools, automate large-scale analysis, or run AI features inside other apps. The headline here is that OpenAI cut GPT-5’s API price to $1.25 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens numbers that would have seemed impossible not long ago. In simple terms, tokens are chunks of words. A million tokens of input is roughly 750,000 words, which is the equivalent of several full-length books. “Input tokens” are the text you feed into the model, and “output tokens” are the text it generates in response. The new API pricing makes a big difference for large-scale, embedded use cases. Companies can now process massive amounts of data, run more experiments, and serve more customers for a fraction of the cost. Workloads that once felt budget-breaking are now affordable, opening the door to AI innovation at an entirely new scale. Combine this new cost structure with the decision to make GPT-5 the default in ChatGPT, and you have a dual shift: high-powered AI is dramatically cheaper for heavy users and instantly accessible to hundreds of millions of people, including your competitors. Intelligence that once required careful budgeting and scarce expertise is now abundant and that abundance changes the game entirely. When intelligence gets cheap, the game changes Just a couple of years ago, AI was expensive and resource-intensive, so leaders had to be selective about where and how they applied it: Licensing and compute costs were high: Running large models at scale through an API could cost thousands of dollars a month, even for modest use cases. Access was limited: The best models were behind higher subscription tiers or enterprise contracts. Specialized expertise was needed: Integrating AI often required dedicated data scientists or engineers, which added cost and slowed speed to value. Budget trade-offs were constant: Leaders had to choose a few high-priority projects for AI investment and delay or reject others. In other words, leaders had to ration AI usage just like any other scarce, expensive resource. In a low-cost world, the constraint shifts from budget to imagination. The central question stops being “Can AI do this?” and becomes “How can we reimagine the way we work if this is possible everywhere?” That’s when innovation accelerates. Experiments that once required hard trade-offs can now be run in parallel, testing ten ideas for the cost of one. AI copilots can quietly monitor, reconcile, and draft decisions in real time, expanding your team’s capacity without adding headcount. Entire archives or research libraries can be parsed in minutes. Intelligence can be embedded into the devices your people already carry, putting expertise within reach at any moment. Two ways leaders commonly get this wrong For some, the old assumption still holds: AI feels too expensive or too specialized to deploy widely. Their only exposure has been high-cost pilots, niche specialist teams, or consulting projects where each experiment felt like a big-ticket gamble. That may have been true last year it’s not true today. For others, the issue isn’t what they say, it’s what their strategy reveals. They’ll tell you they know AI is now cheaper and more accessible but they still budget and resource it like a premium feature. It’s reserved for high-priority initiatives or “innovation” workstreams, rather than being built into core workflows and systems. In both cases, the result is the same: they’re underestimating how radically the playing field has changed. Intelligence is now abundant. The gate is no longer money it’s imagination and execution speed. The organizations that win will be those that treat AI not as an experimental add-on, but as infrastructure integrated deeply enough that the question isn’t whether to use AI, but how to keep evolving it as the cost curve continues to drop. Strategies built without this shift in mind risk missing opportunities in a competitive landscape that’s already moving forward. The advantage now belongs to those who experiment, learn, and adapt faster than the cost curve drops. We’d love to help you with your AI strategy: Contact us to get started.
From fragmented to integrated: Why talent is now a business imperative
We have more tools, technologies, and data than ever, yet talent challenges are only growing more complex. AI is reshaping how work gets done, shifting roles and the skills required. Remote and hybrid models continue to redefine how teams collaborate, lead, and build culture. Economic pressure is forcing organizations to do more with less, making talent efficiency a business necessity. And employee expectations are rising people want more purpose, growth, and flexibility than ever before. These shifts aren’t just complicating the landscape; they’re rewriting the rules. For years, talent operated one step removed, supporting strategy, but not shaping it. That worked when business was linear and predictable. Strategy was set at the top, cascaded down, and talent filled the gaps. But that world is gone. Today, strategy shifts in real time. You can’t launch a new go-to-market plan, integrate an acquisition, or drive cultural change without people who are aligned, capable, and ready to deliver. And that readiness can’t be an afterthought, it has to be future-back. That’s why a new kind of talent leadership is emerging, one that moves beyond standalone programs and focuses instead on building integrated systems. It’s a shift from reacting to problems to anticipating what the business will need next; from patching broken processes to designing for performance from the start. In this model, talent strategy is no longer fragmented. It becomes a connected ecosystem where hiring, development, performance, and culture work in sync, aligned to business priorities and built to deliver results. In this environment, integrated talent strategy isn’t just good HR, it’s how business gets done. The AI revolution and its real-world talent application AI is revolutionizing how organizations attract, develop, and retain talent. From automating performance reviews and job descriptions to enabling personalized career path development, the promise of AI is clear. However, many warn of a trough of disillusionment. Reality often falls short due to insufficient data, immature infrastructure, and misaligned objectives between business leaders, talent leaders and across functions. Without a clear problem definition, technology risks accelerating misalignment instead of solving meaningful challenges. Organizations must first define the outcomes they seek whether efficiency, insight, engagement, or growth before deploying technology solutions. As AI adoption expands, success will depend on whether organizations match the right tools to the right problems. Having the discipline to make this evaluation will be game-changing when it comes to delivering impact. Skills-based organizations: substance or semantics? The rise of skills-based models reflects both a desire for innovation and a rebranding of long-standing HR practices. While the framing may have shifted, the underlying work—job analysis, development planning, and performance alignment remains constant. Many of today’s talent challenges aren’t new; they’re longstanding issues being reframed under new labels. To move the conversation forward, leaders must avoid fixating on language and instead focus on what truly drives performance when it comes to talent models: clear role expectations, relevant development paths, and contextualized application of skills. Prioritizing the right core activities will deliver the talent performance you need, regardless of what it’s called. Manager capability as the linchpin The most innovative talent strategies still rely on a critical success factor: the people manager. Whether it’s performance enablement, development conversations, or cultural reinforcement, execution hinges on manager capability.. The success of most talent initiatives ultimately depends on whether managers are equipped to implement them effectively. Manager enablement is the operational layer that determines whether talent strategies deliver impact or stall. Managers also shape the day-to-day experiences that influence engagement, growth, and retention . Investing in scalable, practical, and embedded manager development is essential to unlock the potential of any talent system. Currently this remains a challenge to plan and execute in many companies, while some at the leading edge have leaned into this and are making progress. Looking forward, organizations that prioritize preparing their managers for delivering what’s next will yield more rapid results for the business. Integrated talent management: moving from silos to systems Gone are the days when talent functions could operate in isolation. Today’s organizations require an integrated approach that connects succession planning, workforce strategy, learning, performance, and employee experience. For business leaders, the structure of HR functions is secondary to receiving actionable guidance that accelerates hiring and performance outcomes. Achieving true integration means moving beyond siloed initiatives and building a connected system where talent strategies reinforce one another across data, design, and delivery. It’s not about where each piece sits, but how well they work together to deliver consistent, business-relevant outcomes. For example, when identifying successors for executive roles, the best organizations take a systemic approach. They leverage business leader input to nominate high-potentials based on a consistent set of standards. They add rigorous assessment of people and business capability (often using external support) to reduce bias, confirm potential for more complex roles, and identify gaps. They then employ tailored development, run in partnership among the business, talent, and learning with external support, to address identified gaps. This multi-faceted approach incorporates perspectives from the business and HR while leveraging best practices from inside and outside the company, and ties outcomes to business imperatives. Bringing “Integrated Talent” to life in your organization Integrated talent refers to the intentional alignment and coordination of all talent-related functions such as hiring, learning, succession, performance, rewards, and workforce planning under a unified strategy that directly supports business goals. Instead of fragmented programs running in parallel, integrated talent strategies are designed and executed as a cohesive system, with shared data, consistent language, and a focus on outcomes that matter to the organization. It’s about designing for the whole employee lifecycle, not just optimizing parts of it in isolation. The most effective partnerships, including those with consultants and external experts, often blur internal and external boundaries, delivering seamless support to business leaders. Key recommendations for talent leaders to move to an integrated talent approach So what does it take to lead effectively in this environment? Several key priorities are emerging: Understand the evolving business context: Start with a clear understanding of the organizational environment, where the business strategy is going, and the role of culture in supporting growth, before proposing solutions. Customize with purpose: Balance tailored approaches with scalable standards to drive consistency. Build your internal base: Credibility is built by understanding internal politics, brand sensitivities, and cultural norms. Elevate the employee experience: Amid ongoing disruption, meaning, purpose, and psychological safety are essential stabilizers. Make this a priority, and the business will follow. Build meta-skills: Leadership development must focus on adaptability, resilience, empathy, and systems thinking; the capacities needed to lead through complexity. Develop an enterprise mindset: Today’s talent leaders must be business-centric, fluent in financial and strategic conversations, and capable of integrating disparate talent functions to construct a coherent whole. They must translate data into compelling narratives and foster strong partnerships both within HR and across the enterprise. Most importantly, talent leaders must see themselves not just as HR professionals, but as organizational architects, designing the systems, cultures, mindsets and experiences that enable growth. Conclusion: Talent strategy integration isn’t a trend. It’s your edge. The world of work is not simply changing. It is being fundamentally redefined. Integrated talent strategy is no longer a future aspiration; it is a current imperative. To deliver on this mandate, talent leaders must: align their strategies tightly with business priorities; build managerial capability at scale; and use technology with precision and discipline. They must create strong, trusted partnerships across internal and external boundaries, and focus on clarity over complexity. The siloed HR model has reached its limits. The future belongs to those who embrace integrated talent strategy as a core business driver.
High Impact Leadership Development
In today’s climate of uncertainty, organizations are becoming increasingly cautious about investing in talent. Meanwhile, AI is fundamentally reshaping how organizations and individuals grow and develop. Talent Leaders now face a dual challenge: How can we drive greater organizational impact with fewer resources? How can we become true strategic partners to the business? We’re excited to launch a digital simulation designed for Talent Leaders in China. Join us and step into the critical scenarios and trade-offs that High-Impact Talent Leaders face—unlocking new levels of influence and strategic value within your organization. Register now to secure your spot!
From Strategy to Execution: How BTS and Sounding Board are Transforming Coaching
In this Brandon Hall Group™ Excellence at Work Podcast, Michael Rochelle, Chief Strategy Officer, engages in an insightful conversation with Katrin Mulford, SVP and Global Head of Coaching at BTS, and Christine Tao, Co-founder of Sounding Board. They explore the transformative impact of BTS’s acquisition of Sounding Board on leadership development and coaching. The discussion delves into how organizations can leverage coaching to drive leadership effectiveness and organizational change at scale.
Are hyper-local SKOs on the rise in 2025 and 2026?
Traditionally, Sales Kick-Offs (SKOs) were large, centralized gatherings, designed to align teams, spark momentum, and roll out the company’s go-to-market strategy. But as global businesses expanded, that one-size-fits-all approach began to show its limits. Even before 2025, forward-thinking companies were experimenting with more localized formats to meet rising complexity and regional nuance. As international operations expanded, centralized SKOs began to strain under the weight of market variability, logistical challenges, and cultural differences. Regional activations emerged as a way to make strategy more relevant, and more actionable, at the local level. Then came COVID-19. Travel restrictions, distributed teams, and new ways of working forced companies to reconsider the value, and feasibility, of large-scale gatherings. Virtual and regional alternatives emerged not just as stopgaps, but as smarter, faster, more focused activations. That shift planted the seeds for what’s now taking hold: a hybrid model, where flagship events are amplified, not replaced, by a network of hyper-local strategy activations. Why hyper-local SKOs have gained traction in 2025 Tighter budgets, tariff volatility, region-specific complexity, and faster-moving markets have made the traditional SKO model harder to justify, at least for now. But what’s emerging isn’t a downgrade. It’s a high-impact alternative built for today’s realities. Hyper-local SKOs offer: Budget-conscious impact: Less spent on travel, more invested in enablement. Regional relevance: Local markets demand tailored approaches. Faster execution: Smaller events mean shorter planning cycles and more agility. Stronger engagement: Intimate settings foster real dialogue, trust, and retention. Done right, hyper-local SKOs deliver sharper alignment, deeper enablement, and faster activation, without the logistical drag. But this approach only works when it’s connected to something bigger: A clear, unifying story A strategy that flexes by region Tools and experiences that build competence, not just motivation They’re not replacing the flagship event, they’re extending its reach, bringing strategy to life where performance happens in the field. What to consider if you’re going local in 2026 Start with a unified strategy Without a cohesive message, fragmentation becomes a real risk. That’s why leading companies align early on messaging, strategic pillars, and storylines, then empower regional leaders to bring them to life in context. Centralized intent, decentralized delivery. That’s the sweet spot. Use simulation and AI-enabled practice to scale what matters Smaller doesn’t mean shallower. Digital tools, like AI-powered practice platforms and immersive simulations, let teams stress-test decisions, sharpen skills, and internalize strategy. Instead of hearing strategy, reps experience it and leave ready to act. Cut costs, without cutting connection The savings from reduced travel and venue spend are real, but the return comes from reinvesting in high-value enablement: stronger coaching, sharper content, localized insights, and sustained follow-through. Be thoughtful about how you redirect your budget. Spend to increase the outcome you desire. Match the way your teams actually sell Modern GTM teams flex by region, segment, and product line. Hyper-local SKOs let teams focus on what’s actually happening in their markets. It’s not just about relevance, it’s about reps feeling seen and set up to win. Create space for meaningful dialogue Large SKOs can default to performance over participation. Local formats flip the script. Smaller rooms enable deeper conversations and real-time alignment. Candor goes up. Trust goes up. Impact goes up. Move faster, stay closer to the market Planning a traditional SKO can take six months or more. In a world where pricing shifts monthly and competition evolves weekly, that delay is a liability. Local events can launch quickly and adjust mid-stream, by design. It’s not a replacement. It’s a complement. The flagship SKO still has value, especially to launch a new strategy or bring global teams together. But leading organizations are building a drumbeat of activation through local SKOs that reinforce, tailor, and sustain that initial momentum. Think about the tradeoffs and choose a flagship SKO versus localized experience based on the desired goal of the event. Understand the risks and how to avoid them Hyper-local SKOs bring opportunity, but also potential pitfalls if not well-integrated. Key risks include: Fragmentation of message and priorities Without a strong central narrative, messaging drifts, and alignment erodes. Uneven quality and experience When local teams aren’t equally equipped, outcomes vary. Some teams leave inspired. Others don’t. Loss of cross-regional connection Flagship SKOs build culture through shared experience. Without intentional connection, silos can deepen. Underinvestment in enablement If companies view local SKOs purely as cost-saving, they risk missing the moment to truly invest in seller capability. Leadership misalignment If local and global leaders aren’t working from the same playbook, sellers get mixed messages, and lose confidence. How to mitigate these risks: Anchor every SKO to a common strategic narrative Equip regional leaders with tools, training, and facilitation support Invest in shared enablement assets like simulations and AI tools Create cross-regional touchpoints to build culture and community Track impact and reinforce key messages over time Finding new ways to perform and adapt In a time of uncertainty, the best sales organizations aren’t pulling back on alignment, they’re finding new ways to deliver it. Hyper-local SKOs offer a strategic evolution: reducing spend, increasing relevance, and accelerating execution. It’s not just a budget decision. It’s a better way to make what matters go further. The question isn’t “What can we do with less?” It’s “How do we get more out of every moment?”
Tariffs are impacting strategic selling
In 2025, sales organizations are navigating more than just competitive landscapes. They’re contending with intensifying trade tensions, evolving geopolitical alliances, and the cascading effects of global tariffs. These forces aren’t abstract, they’re showing up daily in pricing pressure, delayed shipments, shifting forecasts, and customer churn. And they’re transforming how companies approach go-to-market strategy, starting with how they design and deliver their Sales Kick-Offs (SKOs). Tariffs are no longer edge-case scenarios. They’re sending ripple effects across every link in the value chain. Sales teams are contending with pricing instability as supplier costs swing unexpectedly. Delivery timelines are harder to pin down. Customers are pushing back on cost hikes or walking away altogether. And forecasting? It’s become a moving target. What was once considered a background risk is now a central variable in sales planning. In this climate of constant flux, SKOs are evolving from motivational moments into serious strategic platforms. Several themes are rising to the surface: 1. Redefining “adaptability” in sales strategy Tariffs have amplified economic turbulence. With global cost structures in near-constant motion, organizations are being forced to sharpen how, and how fast, they respond. While “agility” has been a staple of business language since COVID-19, today’s landscape demands something deeper: adaptability built on scenario planning, data fluency, and customer-centered pivots. Sales teams are being asked to do more than react. They’re adjusting pricing mid-cycle, sourcing new suppliers, and rethinking product priorities based on margin impact or availability. SKOs need to reflect this reality. It’s not just about preparing for change it’s about practicing for it. Teams need exposure to the messiness of mid-quarter shifts, trade-offs across functions, and pressure-filled decisions that can’t wait. 2. Flexible pricing models are pushing teams to focus on customer value As tariff-related costs climb, many companies are left with little choice but to raise prices. But doing so without a strong value narrative is risky, especially in a market shaped by caution, cost sensitivity, and competitive noise. Sellers can’t afford to lead with price. They need to lead with relevance. That means helping customers connect the dots between solutions and the outcomes that matter to them, faster ROI, mitigated risk, and sustained performance. The more the landscape shifts, the more essential it becomes to differentiate through clarity and confidence, not discounts. 3. Relationship-building, referrals, and longer sales cycles In unpredictable environments, trust becomes a competitive advantage. Tariffs introduce new friction—delivery delays, price changes, procurement constraints, that sellers must help customers navigate. As buyers face more internal scrutiny, decisions slow down. Sales cycles stretch. Consensus is harder to build. All of this puts relationship quality front and center. Sellers who understand their customer’s world, anticipate challenges, and offer real partnership, not just pitches, are the ones who earn the right to stay in the conversation. Advisory behaviors and referral networks matter more than ever. Investing in long-term trust has become a short-term differentiator. 4. Shaking things up with cross-functional insights The effects of tariffs aren’t siloed. They ripple through procurement, finance, operations, and strategy. Sales teams without visibility into those pressures risk overpromising, or missing opportunities for smarter collaboration. That’s why more organizations are bringing cross-functional voices into the SKO. Procurement leaders are spotlighting sourcing constraints. Finance is unpacking cost structures and trade-offs. Operations is clarifying where flexibility exists, and where it doesn’t. These perspectives help sellers see the system they operate within and bridge the gaps that often slow down execution, from misaligned incentives to regional friction. 5. Leveraging AI and data to support shifting targets for frontline sellers In a tariff-impacted world, data is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a real-time edge. As market signals shift faster than humans alone can track, AI-powered tools and predictive analytics help surface patterns, sharpen messaging, and guide better decisions. Forward-looking companies are embedding AI into the SKO itself. Tools like BTS’s Verity give reps the ability to practice, iterate, and refine in real time, coaching them through tough conversations, pricing trade-offs, and shifting buyer behavior. It’s not about replacing reps. It’s about expanding their ability to adapt, stay sharp, and lead confidently through constant change. 6. Preparing for longer sales cycles and negotiations As cost pressures rise, customers are taking longer to commit. Deals are dragging. More stakeholders are weighing in. Pricing discussions are stretching further than before. SKOs are a chance to help teams get ready for that reality. Sellers need to build fluency in managing drawn-out conversations, navigating objections, and reinforcing value over time. Practicing those skills now ensures they can show up with confidence and consistency, especially when the path to close is slower and more complex than expected. Rethinking your SKOs for shifting ground Tariffs aren’t a temporary disruption, they’re part of a broader pattern of global instability that sales organizations must plan around. The question isn’t how to avoid the turbulence. It’s how to lead through it. That’s what the best SKOs are doing in 2025 and into 2026: grounding teams in the real conditions they’re facing, building strategic muscle, and creating alignment across the business. It’s not about hype. It’s about capability. Done right, your SKO becomes more than a kickoff. It becomes a catalyst, one that equips your team to win on uncertain ground.
Why executive transitions go wrong – and what to do about it
Day 42: A newly hired Group Strategy Director is still at her desk at 9:00 p.m. She was brought in to lead a major transformation – one that’s been discussed for months but never clearly defined. She was hired because she’s capable, and there’s often an unspoken belief that capable leaders should just “get it” and move. Her inbox is overflowing. Priorities keep shifting. Her peers are polite but distant – unclear on her mandate, protective of their turf, and too busy to engage deeply. Conversations stay surface-level. She’s been invited in – but not set up to succeed. It’s a common story: a strong leader, dropped into a high-stakes role without the clarity, structure, or support to land well. Whether new to the company or stepping into a bigger role, many executives spend their critical first months navigating complexity alone – while being expected to deliver from day one. Research has held steady for years: around 40% of leadership transitions fail within 18 months when the right support isn’t in place. Too often, companies focus on choosing the right person – then overlook what it takes to truly integrate them. Without structured, human-centered support, even the most capable leaders struggle to succeed. Why this matters more now Transitions have always been high-stakes moments. But in today’s climate, the pressure is rising and the timelines are shrinking. Leaders are stepping in during disruption – not stability. Most aren’t inheriting status quo – they’re hired to fix or accelerate something. Hybrid work delays trust-building and blurs cultural cues. Visibility is high. Expectations form early and often. In short: less room for error. More risk when it goes wrong. Different paths. Same risks. It’s tempting to think internal promotions are easier. But each path comes with invisible traps: External hires lack historical context and relationships yet are expected to drive change. Internal promotions bring familiarity but struggle to reset relationships and lead differently. In both cases, leaders are often left navigating ambiguity alone once onboarding ends. What’s missing Most organizations do onboarding. Few do transitions. And that’s where things break down. What’s often overlooked: A clear and aligned mandate Shared definitions of success across key stakeholders Insight into unspoken cultural and political dynamics Active sponsorship from the manager A longer runway to build trust and momentum Board-level clarity and engagement for senior roles The result? Leaders are under pressure to perform – while still finding their footing. The quiet rejection Leaders are often hired to shift the system. But once inside, they encounter subtle resistance: Their pace feels too fast. Their questions challenge norms. Their style doesn’t match unspoken rules. Suddenly, trust is withheld. Expectations shift. Peers disengage – but don’t say why. The very qualities that got them hired now work against them. Confidence erodes. Performance stalls. And promising transitions quietly derail. This isn’t just an onboarding issue. It’s a readiness issue – on both sides. The cost of getting it wrong A failed executive transition doesn’t just impact the individual – it ripples across the organization. It stalls momentum, fractures teams, delays results, and undermines trust in leadership. It’s also expensive. Between lost productivity, re-recruitment, and missed goals, the cost can easily reach several times the leader’s salary. When transitions go off course, it’s not just a talent issue – it’s a business one. What needs to change Organizations that get transitions right do five things well: Treat transitions as enterprise critical. Ask: What’s at stake beyond this one role? Define success together. Ask: Are expectations aligned across leader, manager, and stakeholders? Equip the manager to lead the transition. Ask: Are they prepared to sponsor – not just evaluate? Provide real support – not just warm welcomes. Ask: Have we created space for the leader to reflect, adapt, and build capability? Extend support beyond day 90. Ask: What happens after the honeymoon ends? The gray zone Most leadership transitions don’t fail during onboarding – they stall in the murky middle. That stretch between onboarding and full performance. Too late for checklists, too early for formal reviews, and too often overlooked. This is when the leader is highly visible but still gaining footing. The system assumes they’re up and running. But what they actually need is time to reflect, context to navigate, and support to show up differently. Without that space, small misalignments become big ones. First impressions stick. And promising transitions quietly derail – not because the leader isn’t capable, but because they’re left to navigate complexity alone. This “gray zone” isn’t anyone’s job to manage – and that’s the problem. The role of transition coaching Transition coaching provides a confidential, strategic space to: Navigate unspoken dynamics Build confidence and clarity Reflect and recalibrate in real time As Greg Smith, CEO of Teradyne, put it: “We’re investing in executive coaching because we want our senior leaders to lead with confidence from day one-not figure it out by month six.” And the research backs it up.⁷ Coaching accelerates traction, strengthens alignment, and improves long-term performance. But it only works when paired with system-level readiness: aligned stakeholders, engaged managers, and a clear plan for integration. Final thought Transitions aren’t just about setting a leader up to succeed. They’re a mirror for whether your organization is ready to evolve. Because every new leader brings change – and every transition is a test of how well your system absorbs it. If you’re hiring or promoting this year, the question isn’t just “is this the right person?” It’s “are we ready to change with them?” BTS helps leaders – and the systems around them – thrive through transition. Let’s talk. Sources McKinsey & Company (2023), Leadership Transitions: Making the Move from Operational to Strategic Harvard Business Review (Ciampa & Watkins, 1999), Right From the Start CEB/Gartner Executive Research (2016), Why Successful Executives Fail DDI Global Leadership Forecast (2021), Assessing the Risks in Leadership Transitions McGill, P., Clarke, P., & Sheffield, D. (2019). From “blind elation” to “oh my goodness, what have I gotten into”: Exploring the experience of executive coaching during leadership transitions into C-suite roles. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring. Oxford Brookes University. Greg Smith, CEO of Teradyne, as quoted in BTS webinar (2025) International Coaching Federation (ICF, 2021), The Value of Coaching in Leadership Transitions