Mid Level Leader

The danger of stopping at skills

Skills-based hiring promised to change everything. And for a moment, it felt like it might. What started in the mid-2010s as a push for fairer, more flexible hiring gained traction fast—helping organizations look beyond résumés to what people could actually do. The pandemic only accelerated the shift, turning adaptability into the skill everyone suddenly needed. But momentum alone hasn’t delivered on the promise. Since then, the skills conversation has grown louder—and more crowded. AI-powered platforms promise to map every skill in your workforce. Consultants pitch taxonomies as the backbone of agility. And HR teams are working hard to translate roles into capabilities. But here’s what’s clear: skills alone won’t get you there. Yes, defining work by skills is a step forward. But most organizations stop at identification. They focus on tagging, categorizing, and matching—without specifying what actually drives performance. And in today’s environment—where AI is reshaping work, strategies shift in real time, and roles evolve faster than org charts—that’s no longer enough. Because skills don’t create value on their own. People do—when they can activate the right skills, in the right context, under real conditions. If your organization wants to be future-ready, you’ll need to go beyond mapping skills. You’ll need to understand how those skills show up in the flow of work—shaped by your culture, enabled by your systems, and developed through practice. That’s the difference between building a skills list—and building a workforce that’s ready for what’s next. The list is limiting: Why skills alone won’t do it We talk about skills all the time—but what is a skill, really? In talent strategy, a skill is a learned ability to perform a task or function with competence. It goes beyond knowledge or theory—it’s something that can be demonstrated and applied to produce results. Skills exist across a spectrum: from technical (e.g., data analysis, coding) to human (e.g., coaching, influencing) to cognitive (e.g., critical thinking, decision-making).

Resilient by design: How to build strategic agility amidst increasing uncertainty 

Today, change isn’t just constant—it’s compounding. AI is reshaping roles. Supply chains remain volatile. Customer expectations evolve faster than annual planning cycles can keep up. In this context, a strategy that looks great on paper often falls apart in practice. Imagine a team, for instance, who spent months crafting a detailed strategy—every milestone mapped, every risk assessed. But when conditions shifted, their well-laid plan quickly felt more like a burden than a beacon. Sound familiar?  This is a reality many organizations face. The traditional top-down approach to strategy, where a select few create the plan and hand it down, is cracking under the pressure of a faster, more complex world. Organizations need a strategy that’s dynamic, resilient, and, most importantly, actionable by everyone. To make this a reality, today’s leaders must bring strategy to life through a more inclusive, flexible model that empowers teams to contribute and adapt in real time.  In this new approach, strategic planning is about more than a set of priorities and goals—it’s about creating a two-way dialogue with people across the organization, building a culture of ownership, and embedding adaptability at every level. Here’s how to reinvent strategy in a way that turns it from an isolated exercise into a collective movement, creating a fast track to impact and ownership.  Create feedback loops closer to the customer  In conventional strategy sessions, plans are often crafted behind closed doors, only to be revealed once they’re fully formed. This approach may feel efficient, but it leaves out insights from those closest to the work—and to customers. Without input from these critical perspectives, strategies risk being disconnected from the realities on the ground.  This doesn’t mean handing over the strategy process to every employee or crowd-sourcing big decisions. Leaders still set the direction. The key is being intentional about when and where employee input will sharpen the strategy. Rather than starting with a blank slate, offer specific, targeted opportunities for feedback—especially from those on the front lines.  From: Senior leaders make the strategy and inform employees of the plan  To: Employees are engaged at critical moments early in the strategy planning process  An example: A SaaS company set an ambitious goal to double in size within three years—but early alignment was missing. Leaders were energized by big ideas but lacked a shared direction. To clarify the path forward, they created a set of strategic alternatives rooted in a clear purpose. Rather than relying solely on executive input, they brought in next-level leaders to pressure test early ideas and offer real-world feedback. These leaders piloted key parts of the strategy in their markets and then offered insights from their experiences that helped sharpen the long-term strategy. By intentionally involving the right people at the right moments, the organization gained clarity faster—and built stronger alignment early on.  By building feedback loops at the right moments, you can:  Capture frontline insights that executives may not see, enriching the strategy.  Generate early buy-in by giving employees a voice in shaping the “how” of the strategy where they are better positioned to know what will work.  Align daily work with strategic goals by allowing employees to take the strategy for a test drive to identify where it will work and where it might fall down.  Create an environment where teams feel empowered to surface new insights and adapt.  A participatory approach at the right times along the strategy process doesn’t just inform the strategy—it makes it stronger and more grounded in real challenges, empowering employees to shape an outcome that feels both ambitious and achievable.  Cultivating ownership at every level  Even the best strategy is only as effective as the people who execute it. Ownership at all levels is essential to driving speed and adaptability, but it doesn’t happen by accident. When employees have clarity on how the strategy is aligned to their individual roles and on the decisions they can own, employees feel empowered and motivated to contribute to its success. This sense of ownership fosters a nimble, resilient organization.  By building purpose and clarity into every level of the plan, leaders can:  Empower informed decisions at the right level that support company goals.  Create momentum by showing employees their impact early on.  Encourage continuous learning and adaptability anchored in the customer and market, enabling teams to respond to change effectively.  Shift from static planning to an iterative, progress-driven mindset.  When employees see how their roles connect to larger goals and feel like they have the authority to make decisions, they are more willing—and prepared—to take ownership. This alignment, combined with a focus on purpose, drives momentum even in a shifting landscape.  From: Strategy execution is top-down, with decisions held at the leadership level. To: Employees at all levels have clarity on how their roles connect to the strategy and where they can make decisions, fostering ownership and speed. An example: One global healthcare company, having grown rapidly through acquisition, struggled with a fractured strategy—each business unit pulling in a different direction. Their turning point came not from a better plan, but from a unifying purpose. By helping teams see how they fit into a bigger vision, people could start seeing themselves in the future of the company. This shared purpose became a powerful driver of ownership—especially when disruption hit. When a major supply chain issue emerged just months later, teams didn’t splinter. Instead, they used that shared purpose as a compass, identifying new ways to deliver value and keep momentum going.  Align strategy and culture  All too often, strategy and culture are treated as separate domains. Yet, no matter how robust your strategic plan, it can only succeed if it aligns with the organization’s cultural norms and ways of working. For example, adopting a more agile operating model might mean shifting the culture toward quicker decision-making and cross-functional teamwork.  To create alignment between strategy and culture, leaders should:  Identify key behaviors and ways of working that support strategic objectives and those that are getting in the way.  Focus on how these behaviors show up in everyday actions and decisions, and start making small shifts that will reinforce what is needed to execute the strategy.  Experiment and iterate and as you start to see success to formalize new ways of working.   When strategy and culture move in harmony, they generate powerful momentum. Strategy then becomes part of the organization’s DNA, reinforcing behaviors that propel the company toward its goals.  From: Strategy and culture are treated as separate priorities.  To: Strategy and culture are intentionally aligned, with behaviors, ways of working, and decision-making reinforcing strategic goals.  An example: A company formed through a series of acquisitions faced a challenge: culture fragmentation. With each acquired unit operating by its own norms, there was no shared way of working—and no clear basis for making strategic tradeoffs. Before any strategy could take hold, leadership recognized that the organization needed a common foundation. The breakthrough wasn’t a new plan, but a cultural one: reconnecting people to why they were part of the same company and what future they were building together.  By identifying consistent ways of working across teams and aligning on a shared purpose, they built the cultural scaffolding needed to execute strategy effectively. When external conditions changed, teams responded not with confusion, but with cohesion. Cultural alignment became the engine that made adaptive strategy possible.  Build in flexibility and adaptability  Even the best strategies need room to flex. But too often, organizations treat adaptability as an exception—something reactive, triggered only when disruption hits.  In a world where the conditions you plan for rarely match the ones you execute in, flexibility can’t be an afterthought—it must be a built-in feature of how strategy takes shape and stays alive.  The problem? Most strategy processes are built for control, not change. They prioritize precision over learning, timelines over feedback, and reporting over reflection. The result: strategies that look solid on paper but crack under real-world pressure.  Everyone talks about agility. It’s become a fixture in executive keynotes and strategy decks. But what’s often missing is the how—the operating system that actually enables teams to move quickly and stay aligned when conditions shift.  To build that system, leaders need to rethink not just their planning cadences, but the behaviors, structures, and decision-making norms that shape how strategy is executed day to day.  Here’s what that looks like in practice:  Empower teams to surface real-time insights and propose tactical shifts—so strategy stays grounded in frontline reality  Support rapid adjustments without losing strategic direction—aligning short-term moves with long-term outcomes  Strengthen leaders’ resilience and decision-making under pressure—so they can lead through ambiguity without stalling progress  Establish structured feedback loops and clear decision rights—so teams know when to escalate, when to adjust, and when to act  These shifts aren’t abstract ideals—they’re already reshaping how leading organizations approach strategy execution. One global logistics company, facing rapid expansion and constant external pressure—from shifting customer expectations to volatile supply chains—recognized that reacting faster wasn’t enough. They needed to design for adaptability from the start.  Instead of relying on rigid quarterly plans, they implemented a 30-, 60-, and 90-day strategy rhythm. These weren’t status updates—they were structured checkpoints designed to challenge assumptions, surface real-time insights, and recalibrate execution before small issues became big ones.  So, when disruption came—as it inevitably does—the teams didn’t freeze or fall behind. They flexed with purpose and kept moving, not because they had all the answers, but because they were built to shift. Adaptability wasn’t a reaction—it was how the organization worked, by design.  A new era of strategic planning  Strategic planning today isn’t about crafting the “perfect” plan—it’s about building the capability to learn, adapt, and align at scale. What’s different now? Disruption is no longer episodic—it’s constant, compounding, and often coming from directions leaders didn’t anticipate. AI is rewriting roles. Markets move overnight. And decision-making is no longer confined to the top—it’s distributed across teams, functions, and geographies.  In this environment, traditional planning cycles collapse under pressure. The organizations that thrive won’t be the ones with the most polished strategy deck—they’ll be the ones with the strongest strategic muscles: the ability to sense, shift, and stay aligned in real time.  By replacing rigid plans with dynamic systems, leaders can activate strategy as a living, participatory process—shaped by insight from every level, reinforced through culture, and tested through execution.  Because in a world that won’t wait, the real advantage isn’t having the right answers upfront—it’s building an organization that knows how to respond when the questions change. 

Sparking Change: How BTS Spark and Tostan are building grassroots leadership for sustainable impact

In a world where transformation often feels complex and distant, real progress is often sparked at the community level, through leaders who create change from within. In Senegal, a partnership between BTS Spark and Tostan, a nonprofit dedicated to community-led development across Africa, is bringing this idea to life. It’s a reminder that sustainable leadership isn’t built by imposing new systems. It grows when people are equipped to lead themselves. A ground-up approach to lasting change Since 1991, Tostan—whose name means "breakthrough" in Wolof—has partnered with rural African communities to advance human rights, health, literacy, and economic development. Its Community Empowerment Program (CEP) weaves together practical knowledge and human rights education, enabling communities to define and pursue their own visions of progress. Across eight countries and more than five million lives, Tostan’s approach has led to deep-rooted changes, including the voluntary abandonment of harmful traditional practices. Not by directive, but by choice. It’s an approach that shows leadership capacity isn’t something to be delivered from outside. It’s something to be nurtured from within. Meeting communities where they are In 2024, BTS Spark deepened its collaboration with Tostan through an in-person leadership workshop, led by a BTS Spark consultant, following a year of virtual engagement. The visit coincided with a leadership transition at the executive level—a pivotal moment requiring clarity, continuity, and resilience. Through targeted coaching and workshops, BTS Spark worked alongside Tostan’s leaders to support the transition and strengthen leadership capacity at every level of the organization. The focus wasn’t on delivering a model. It was on listening, amplifying existing strengths, and equipping leaders to navigate complexity with confidence. Practical tools for complex challenges As part of the ongoing collaboration, BTS Spark also provided custom-designed micro-simulations focused on sectors vital to community sustainability: climate resilience, microfinance, and agriculture. These micro-sims offer leaders a chance to engage with real-world decision-making challenges in a safe, practical environment—an approach that mirrors how leadership development increasingly happens: not through theory alone, but through repeated, real-world application.   It’s a reminder that growth is rarely linear. It’s built through practice, reflection, and adaptation over time. Building leadership that endures The work between BTS Spark and Tostan reflects a broader truth: Leadership isn’t confined to titles, industries, or regions. It emerges where people are given the tools, trust, and space to act. Sustainable change, whether in communities or organizations, happens when leadership capacity is strengthened closest to where challenges are lived every day. The partnership also highlights the power of investing in local capability: focusing on what’s already working, building resilience from within, and preparing leaders not just to meet today’s challenges, but to shape tomorrow’s opportunities. Moving forward: Scaling with purpose The work in Senegal is continuing to evolve. BTS Spark and Tostan are exploring ways to extend leadership development to more communities, deepen their impact, and continue supporting transformation through shared expertise and partnership. It’s a model rooted in respect, collaboration, and the belief that leadership is most powerful when it reflects the realities and aspirations of the people closest to the work.

Built to shift: How great organizations move with the moment

Disconnect between talent priorities and executive expectations 

AI is reshaping how work gets done—automating tasks, accelerating decisions, and raising expectations for speed and precision. Strategy is shifting faster than structures can adapt, leaving many leaders operating in systems that weren’t built for what’s being asked of them now. Employees are asking more of their managers—while the business is asking more of them, too. And leaders are stuck navigating it all with development priorities, operating norms, and support systems that weren’t designed for this level of speed, ambiguity, or stretch.  As expectations rise, leadership capability is under scrutiny. But are development efforts evolving fast enough to meet the moment?  Where priorities and expectations diverge  Most leadership development programs today emphasize foundational strengths:  Executive presence  Personal purpose  A growth mindset  Empowering others  Stretching others  In contrast, senior executives in the BTS study identified a different set of capabilities as most critical for leaders right now:  Accountability  Transparency  Enterprise thinking  Divergent thinking  The contrast reveals a disconnect between what development programs are building—and what executives believe their organizations need most from their leaders today.  How did we get here?  The expectations placed on leaders—especially at the middle—have always evolved alongside the business landscape.  In the 1990s, leadership development focused on emotional intelligence and team empowerment. The 2000s brought globalization and lean operating models, with a sharper focus on efficiency and agility. Then came digital transformation, agile ways of working, and flatter, more matrixed structures.  Each wave expanded the leadership mandate—asking leaders to become connectors, coaches, and change agents.  What’s different now is the pace and proximity of change. Strategy no longer shifts annually—it flexes monthly. And mid-level leaders are no longer simply executing someone else’s vision. They’re expected to interpret it, shape it, and deliver results through others—in real time.  At the same time, the psychological contract of work has changed. Employees want more meaning, flexibility, and support—and they often look to their managers to provide it. Add in the rise of AI and the frequency of disruption, and the expectations placed on leaders have outpaced what many development efforts were designed to support.  What’s driving the disconnect?  What we’re seeing isn’t disagreement—it’s a difference in vantage point, shaped by the distinct challenges each group is solving for. This isn’t about misaligned intent—it reflects different priorities and pressures.  Talent and learning teams often prioritize foundational capabilities because they’re proven, scalable, and critical to developing confident, human-centered leaders. These programs are designed to grow potential over time.  Executives, meanwhile, are focused on the immediacy of execution—strategy under strain, shifting priorities, and the need for alignment at speed. Their focus reflects where progress is stalling now.  Both perspectives matter. But when they remain disconnected, development risks falling out of sync with business reality—and the gap is most visible at the middle, where expectations are rising fastest.  What’s the takeaway for talent leaders now?  This moment offers more than a gap to close—it offers insight into how leadership needs are evolving.  What if the differences between these two capability lists aren’t in conflict, but in sequence? Foundational strengths help leaders show up with purpose and empathy. Enterprise capabilities help them lead across systems and ambiguity. The opportunity isn’t to choose between them—it’s to connect them more intentionally.  What’s uniquely now is the acceleration. The stretch. The pressure to reduce friction and support faster alignment. Talent leaders aren’t just being asked to build capability—they’re being asked to build momentum. That means designing development experiences that reflect complexity, enable cross-functional thinking, and help leaders decide and adapt in real time.  It also means listening more closely. The capabilities executives are calling for aren’t just wish lists—they’re signals. Signals of where transformation slows, and where leadership must evolve for strategy to move forward.  This isn’t about shifting away from what works—it’s about expanding it. To connect what leaders already do well with what the business needs next—and to do it in ways that are grounded, human, and built for today’s pace.  Shifting momentum  Leadership development isn’t just a pipeline priority. It’s a strategic lever for how your organization adapts, aligns, and accelerates through change.  This research doesn’t just reveal a skills gap—it surfaces a systems opportunity. The disconnect between talent priorities and executive expectations highlights where momentum gets lost, and how leadership development can close the space between vision and execution.  Talent leaders are uniquely positioned to reconnect the dots—between individual growth and enterprise outcomes, between what leaders learn and how they lead, between what the business says it needs and how that shows up in behavior.  So the next question isn’t just: What should we build?  It’s: How do we enable leaders to build it into the business—faster?  Every organization is navigating this differently. If you’re revisiting your development priorities or rethinking what leadership looks like in your context, let’s connect. We’re happy to share what we’re seeing—and learning—with others facing the same questions. 

Meetings as culture, Part 3: Your behavior matters 

Put it into practice  At the nonprofit, assessing meeting behaviors over time led to better individual behaviors, stronger team results, and a shift in the way staff meetings contributed to the mission. As old behaviors that previously dominated or derailed staff meetings declined, the meetings became an even more valuable time for organization-wide connections and storytelling. This approach and discipline to meetings was adopted by the individual leaders’ meetings. Meetings all around the organization improved. While getting there took longer than predicted, the shifts lasted, and the organization’s outcomes improved. People began to expect good meetings that were productive and contributed to action and success.   Meetings are more than just a tool for getting things done—they’re a powerful reflection of a microcosm of your organization’s culture. When approached with intention, they can drive behavior change, foster collaboration, and align teams with strategic goals. Simply by developing five fundamental behaviors, the way you and your teams show up in meetings can transform how your company works together and accelerates progress. Ultimately, meetings are where culture is built, one conversation at a time.  

Radical Adaptability: Culture and Belonging in Constant Change

Reorg ready roadmap part 3: What great leaders do after the change

The reorganization is complete. The structure is in place, job titles are assigned, and reporting lines are formalized. From the outside, it may look like the change is over. But this is where the real work begins. At this stage, teams are no longer navigating ambiguity about where they sit. Now, they are trying to figure out how to operate in a new system. This is the phase where leaders must move from concept to execution, turning design decisions into daily reality.  The reality: The structure is set, but the work is just beginning You now have clarity on roles and reporting, but that does not mean people know how to work together. Expectations are still being defined, cross-functional collaboration is still forming, and pressure to deliver results is growing. Your teams are worried about ensuring their own success as well as that of the organization. The mistake many leaders make is to assume the structure will carry itself. But an operating model is only as effective as the behaviors it enables and the decisions it guides. This is where leadership matters most.  Four things great leaders do after the reorganization Commit to making the model real This means going beyond knowing what the new structure looks like. You must understand why it was designed and how it is meant to function. Your ability to help your teams thrive in the new organization rests on being able to live the new model yourself. Consider these steps:  Revisit the intent behind the operating model. What problems was it built to solve?  Use that intent to guide how you set priorities, coordinate with peers, and shape decisions.  Treat the structure as a framework, not a finished product. It gives shape to the work, but it does not dictate how the work gets done. This is where you and your teams come in, and where you can help them make the leap.  Adapt the 'how' while staying anchored to the 'why' Things will not unfold exactly as planned. That does not mean the plan is wrong, it means reality is offering new input. Your adaptability as a leader to keep the focus while incorporating information as you go is key to your success – and your team’s. Now’s the time to:  Refine how work happens without losing sight of what you are trying to achieve.  Be disciplined in your purpose, flexible in your methods.  Keep it balanced. Resist both rigid adherence and constant reinvention.  Practice detachment and purposeful ownership You are not here to protect a system. You are here to make it work. It’s easy to get swept up in the emotions of a new environment as you and your team have to navigate day by day. Now is the time to keep those emotions in check and focus on the end game: leading towards the vision for the new organization.  Stay focused on outcomes. Take ownership for how your team contributes to the bigger picture.  When something fails, do not personalize it. Use it as input. The best leaders treat operating models as living systems, not fixed mandates.  Make inclusion intentional and strategic Including others in shaping the work is not about being agreeable. It is about unlocking the full capability of the organization. People get behind new ways of working when they have helped to shape them. This means tapping the wisdom and insight of the organization. Your role is to make sure this happens effectively and with purpose:  Be specific about who you bring into decision-making and why. Inclusion must serve the work, not dilute it.  Avoid informal circles of influence that leave others confused or sidelined. This will quickly erode trust and engagement.  Inclusion, when done well, increases clarity, alignment, and speed. When ignored, it creates drag and disconnection.  Four common post-change pitfalls to avoid  Pitfall #1: Assuming that the operating model will work automatically. It’s never the case that you build it, and people come. Acknowledge up front that making it work is the real work.   Pitfall #2: Abandoning the design too early instead of learning through it. It’s tempting to give up and even revert to the old way of working in the face of the challenge the transformation brings. Shifting your perspective to embrace resistance as information makes it possible to stay the course.  Pitfall #3: Overcorrecting at the first sign of friction. Particularly in organizations where harmony is prized and dissent feared, it can be easy to react too strongly and too quickly to discomfort and challenge. This does not actually solve the problem—it only creates more uncertainty and makes it much harder to move to the new vision successfully.    Pitfall #4: Making inclusion broad and vague rather than targeted and purposeful. While it may seem desirable to make everyone feel like they have a voice in everything, this has the opposite effect. It’s impossible to make that a reality, and ultimately no one feels heard or part of the change. Focus on getting the right voices in on the right decisions, at the right time to move things forward.  Key takeaways  The operating model is not the solution. It is the starting point.  Leadership after the reorganization means interpreting and adapting the model in service of outcomes.  Inclusion is a strategic behavior that drives performance when applied with intent and discipline.  Call to action: Post-reorganization  If you are leading after a transformation, ask yourself: Am I helping this model function as intended, or am I assuming that structure equals success?  This is part of a 3 part series. Be sure to read the other two here: Part 1: What great leaders do before the change and Part 2: What great leaders do during the change

Reorg ready roadmap part 1: What great leaders do before the change

In today’s climate of continuous transformation, especially across manufacturing and engineering, many organizations are launching new operating models while managing significant workforce reductions. The weeks before "go live" are often the most ambiguous, yet they carry disproportionate weight in shaping how people interpret and engage with the change. In this early stage, leadership presence sends strong signals. What executives say, how they show up, and the questions they ask all begin to shape the culture of the new organization. The challenge is because so much is uncertain at this stage, the signals you send can get mixed up, exacerbating the problem of your team’s engagement and focus.  The reality: You're leading before the structure is ready This period before the reorganization goes live means leading in an abyss, before the new structure and roles are clearly defined and announced.  At this stage, your future as a leader is still in flux:  Some leaders know their new roles but not their teams or decision rights.  Others are being pulled into decisions for parts of the business they do not yet fully own.  And some still do not know if or where they fit in the new organization.  And yet all have to act.  This creates a leadership paradox. You are expected to influence outcomes in a space where your authority is informal, your team is undefined, and your context is incomplete. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to move forward successfully.  Four things great leaders do to navigate pre-organization Prioritize the play-by-play, not the organizational chart When formal clarity is missing, do not wait. Focus on how to work together in the moment, and take these steps:   Treat major tasks or decisions like individual plays. Huddle up, assign roles based on strengths, and move forward.  Recognize that progress comes from coordinated actions, not from waiting for the full design to finalize. Keep the focus on making smaller moves, together.  Resist solving for the whole system As you press forward, you will notice inefficiencies and gaps. You will feel pressure to fix everything. Pause and remember:  Now is not the time for sweeping changes. You do not yet have the full information.  Stay focused on solving the immediate problem while keeping broader implications in view.  Make notes you can come back to later when you know more.  Be aware of the shadow you cast In times of uncertainty, your influence is amplified. Even casual comments you make can set unintended actions in motion. As you communicate to your team, use this as a guide:  Assume everything you say will be interpreted as direction, so be careful what to tell your team to do.  Speak with intention, even when you are still forming your own understanding.  Make decisions that can be revisited Remember that most early decisions will not – and should not – be irreversible. Focus on keeping things moving, not setting the future in stone.  As your guide:  Make smart calls that can be adjusted as new information emerges.  Aim for progress and learning, not permanence.  Three common early-stage pitfalls to avoid   There are three common pitfalls we see leaders make in this “pre-reorganization” stage; keeping an eye on these watch-outs can smooth your path.  Pitfall #1: Trying to fix everything at once. This fragments your focus and is impossible to achieve, while creating the risk that you will miss important smaller wins and solutions that will propel the team more successfully forward.  Pitfall #2: Applying past playbooks too quickly. What has worked before does not always work in a new and different environment. Jumping too quickly to past approaches can blind you to quick pivots you need to make now, a bring your team off course along with you.  Pitfall #3: Waiting for certainty. By nature of the “pre-reorg” fog, certainty is not going to come anytime soon. And important work still needs to get done. Getting stymied by awaiting big decisions and key direction will leave you and your teams far behind.  Key takeaways  The "before" period is not a holding pattern. It is a critical window to shape tone, relationships, and ways of working.  Curiosity, not control, earns early trust.  The habits you form now will influence how others operate once the structure is in place.  Call to action: Before the reorganization  If your organization is approaching a major reorganization, ask yourself: “What signals am I sending today, and are they building the foundation I want for tomorrow?”  This is part of a 3 part series. Be sure to read the other two here: Part 2: What great leaders do during the change and Part 3: What great leaders do after the change

Agentes inteligentes: rediseñando la experiencia

Una conversación inspiradora sobre cómo la IA aplicada al mundo corporativo está evolucionando rápidamente hacia agentes inteligentes que automatizan, asisten y potencian tanto sistemas como personas. Una visión integral de la nueva interfaz hombre-máquina desde la experiencia de Amadeus con Cytric, la solución para viajes corporativos. Este evento presencial ofrece una oportunidad única para conectar con líderes del sector, intercambiar ideas y explorar cómo la transformación digital impulsada por IA está reconfigurando el futuro del trabajo. Desde casos de uso reales hasta conversaciones estratégicas, será un espacio para anticipar tendencias, inspirar decisiones y activar el cambio dentro de las organizaciones.

How leadership transformation drives long-term success in engineering 

Client need  A global engineering organization with a 170-year legacy of innovation had long thrived on its ability to evolve—advancing technology, expanding into new markets, and solving complex industrial challenges at scale.  But as the pace of change accelerated—driven by emerging technologies, shifting customer demands, and mounting sustainability pressures—the leadership team recognized a deeper challenge. Traditional strengths in technical expertise and operational excellence were no longer enough. To succeed in a more complex and fast-moving world, the company needed a culture where leadership behaviors like accountability, collaboration, and adaptability were deeply embedded.  Leaders saw the opportunity to strengthen the link between strategy and execution by activating consistent leadership behaviors across 15,000 employees, four divisions, and more than 50 countries. Embedding these behaviors into how work gets done, how decisions are made, and how people lead through change became a central part of preparing the business for its next chapter.  Solution  BTS partnered with the organization to build a program that would embed the desired culture shift deep into daily operations—across 15,000 employees, four business units, and more than 50 countries.  It began with a comprehensive discovery process—20+ stakeholder interviews, dozens of employee focus groups, and deep analysis of culture and engagement data—that surfaced both the strengths and structural blockers within the organization’s leadership approach. These insights shaped a bold, multi-phase transformation effort designed to activate the right leadership behaviors consistently, across levels and geographies.  Armed with these insights, BTS co-created a leadership experience that would start small—then scale with intention. The first step: an immersive, digital-first development program for a pilot cohort of 100 senior leaders. Hosted on a customized platform, the experience balanced global consistency with local relevance and equipped leaders with the skills to lead—and model—real change.  Key elements included:  Immersive learning modules with videos, role-based simulations, and interactive content grounded in the organization’s business realities.  Instructor-led workshops focused on high-impact behaviors, change readiness, and cross-functional collaboration—driving a clear line between strategy and day-to-day execution.  Peer pods and action labs to build community, accountability, and real-world application of new leadership habits.  Activation tools including behavioral dictionaries, meeting-in-a-box toolkits, and cultural ambassador materials to scale the shift from the ground up.  To sustain momentum, selected pilot leaders were trained as internal facilitators—enabling them to cascade the program further, coach peers, and serve as visible culture carriers throughout the business.  Results  The program sparked strong momentum across the organization, activating a culture of shared accountability and adaptive leadership.  Leaders reported:  High engagement and relevance of the experience, with an average program score of 3.63 / 4  Strong facilitation and safe space for reflection, rated 3.81 / 4  Clearer understanding and application of desired leadership behaviors, rated 3.61 / 4  Most notably, follow-up employee engagement surveys showed:  New leadership behaviors ranked among the top 5 most recognized organizational shifts, signaling early traction in the culture transformation.  The organization continues to invest in this work, recognizing that building a truly adaptive, behavior-led culture is not a one-time intervention—but a strategic capability for navigating complexity and change. 

La tua seconda chance? Creala con l’AI

Ognuno di noi, prima o poi, si trova ad affrontare conversazioni che contano sul lavoro, ovvero quelle in cui si ha poco margine di errore e le conseguenze sono difficilmente rimediabili. È il caso di un manager che comunica la mancata promozione a un talento chiave per l’organizzazione, o di un account manager che presenta una proposta a un cliente strategico. O ancora, di una manager che deve dare un feedback di miglioramento a un collega. Questi esempi sono momenti decisivi nella vita professionale di una persona. In queste situazioni, una solida preparazione, una pratica costante e un feedback mirato sono la chiave per il successo. Il VP di una nostra azienda cliente, ad esempio, dedicava due intere settimane per preparare la presentazione del piano strategico di area al CEO, supportato da un coach esperto in comunicazione. Non tutti hanno accesso a questo genere di supporto, ma oggi possiamo replicare la stessa preparazione, pratica e feedback in modo scalabile all’interno delle organizzazioni, grazie all’intelligenza artificiale. Inoltre, applicare l’AI per questo obiettivo permette di generare dati e insight fondamentali per il successo dell’organizzazione.