Leadership Development
Essent.be is one of the players in the Belgian energy market. Their competition is a bit bigger– with greater resources and impact force– and therefore has a louder bark. Essent didn’t want to run just to stand still, they wanted to see how they could begin to carve out a piece of their own terrain. Though they knew well where they wanted to go, their mission statement and strategies weren’t necessarily positioned to point them there. Time for action: literally and figuratively.
If you wanna get things movin’ and shakin’ and you have limited resources, you’ve got to work smarter. Assess your strengths and see where you apply them. The Essenters: an internal powerhouse. With the right approach, they could become the poster child of Essent. By poster child, we mean the beacon that others see from afar. Before a single euro/dollar is spent on advertising.
With limited resources it is also senseless to plan long, expensive workshops. The trick here is to take just a few like-minded people and flesh out a plan that can then be independently applied to the whole company.
We didn’t sit the whole company down in a meeting room. For Essent it was much more efficient (and cost effective – remember, limited resources) to train a core group as leaders, so that afterward they know how can be spread to the rest.
We have, together the Essent trainers, created a very detailed toolkit that afterward can be independently applied. Detailed, meaning these trainers don’t have to be total experts to facilitate their colleagues. Independently, meaning they will have to go and face the real life challenges in the workplace and put their boots on the ground. Those who lead must also dare to suffer a little bit.
After the initial creation time, we trained our training team in just half a day.
Despite the sweat, the session was active and humorous. No Clockwork Orange like brainwashing. It was a collaborative sculpting of the script, a playful dialogue. After which the trainers were set loose on the rest of the Essenters, and all the previous sweating proved valuable. All the know-how contained in the manual made it possible for exceedingly efficient and independent work to be done. With beautiful results.
The trick here is to take just a few like-minded people and flesh out a plan that can then be independently applied to the whole company.
Workflow
One of the values from Essent’s mission manual is positive energy. That became readily apparent after the workshops. This translated into new habits like brainstorming exercises for proactive problem solving, monthly ‘energizers’ to bring more positivity into the workplace, and group lunches (connected colleagues make connected teams). Yes, Essenters really became the shining beacons of the company!
Let’s sit down and we’ll pour you a cup of consultancy advice. With a spoonful of energy, sprinkled with sparkling ideas.
A community of seasoned consultants. Or as we like to call ourselves: Beans. Every Bean brings his/her unique experience and expertise to the table — with a splash of bravery. Want to level up your culture, leadership, teams, and organization? Give us a call!
