What happens when a large company realizes its hierarchical structure is blocking growth? If the number of people making decisions isn’t growing with the company, future success may be jeopardized. This was the situation facing a large, international retailer with 30,000+ employees, 100 stores and a management culture that inhibited teamwork, individual leadership and, ultimately, the company’s growth.

In 2005, when CLA was brought in to work on individual leadership skills, it was soon clear that the problems were more extensive and represented adaptive challenges that would require people to change beliefs as well as behaviors. There was no teamwork; each division only followed the direct orders of the chief executive. There was little autonomous decision-making; the army-like culture encouraged dependence on authority. There was almost no communication between divisions; they worked independently, quick to blame each other for problems.

Beginning with the top executive group of about 40, CLA conducted workshops to introduce the concepts and practical skills of Adaptive Leadership™, followed by work with small groups and indi- viduals as well as periodic follow-up workshops. Wealso arranged interdivisional meetings so that managers could begin to work as a team, discussing problems, identifying both their individual responsibilities and their contribution to the problem.

Adaptive Leadership helped everyone see conflict from a broader and clearer perspective, As long as each division had focused solely on its own interests, the real work needed to move the company forwardhad been continuously avoided. Change gradually became evident. Silo behavior and finger- pointing diminished as teamwork improved and managers saw themselves jointly responsible for the company’s success. Encouraged to act more autonomously, managers began making more decisions more quickly, speeding up the implementation of important initiatives.

We began working with second line management and within the stores, actively involving managers from the first phase of training. Our next step is to bring these operational and cultural changes to every level of the company, particularly the hierarchy’s base, where many problems can be solved by better teamwork and leadership. Also on tap are programs for newcomers and plans to introduce Adaptive Leadership to the other companies in the larger international holding company.

There are still conflicts, but managers are now orchestrating them, bringing all parties to the table to discuss and resolve. They are also thinking more systematically, depending less on authority, voicing their opinions and taking the initiative where once they would have waited for direction from above. Our goal is to reach a point where the company has the capacity to identify and move through its adaptive issues, encouraging at all levels of the organization the discussion, ideas, and solutions that will propel progress and create competitive advantage.