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Transforming Leadership at Swiss Re

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Participants
300
Industry
Financial Services
Solution
Talent Management
About

Impact and Swiss Re first worked together in 1997. The relationship evolved to Impact working across almost all leadership levels on a global basis. This programme combined Impact's experiential learning approach with the Swiss Re business context.

In partnership with Swiss Re Academy, Impact designed and delivered a transformational leadership programme. The project was a huge initiative targeted at developing the interpersonal leadership skills of the top 300 people in the organisation worldwide.

As attendance on this CEO sponsored programme was mandatory, the stakes were high. It was essential to create something that would engage participants immediately and develop a positive 'word of mouth' reputation.

Impact knew that the participants would rightly be demanding and looking for immediate value. Their intellectual capability was very high and most of them had experienced several leadership development initiatives in the past. As a design partnership Impact and Swiss Re Academy were committed to enabling behavioural transformation at an individual level and ultimately a transformation of the prevailing leadership culture at Swiss Re.

Together we designed an interactive, challenging and innovative five-day learning journey. During the programme 24 participants worked together in four groups. The programme is preceded by a 1:1 coaching discussion and a 'creating breakthrough strategies' workshop. The programme itself was very intensive, comprising of three parts which progressively shift the focus from the organisation to the individual leader. 

The leadership enquiry - this three stage process is designed to build a picture of the business context against which individual leadership capability needs to be developed. 

The leadership simulation - a 24 hour simulation based on the challenges of a fictional global market, was researched to be entirely realistic and specific to Swiss Re. The simulation involved actors, journalists, film crews and Swiss Re executive board members.

Intensive feedback - the simulation culminates with a number of sessions which deliver personal feedback accompanied by behavioural analysis data.

Swiss Re's Transforming Leadership programme ran for four highly successful years, during this time almost all of the top 300 Swiss Re leaders took part.

Impact and Swiss Re won the Excellence in Practice Award for ‘Partnership in Organisation Development’ from the European Foundation for Management Development.

Testimonials
See what our customers say about us
Piero Beltrame
HR Development, SE Europe
Ericsson
“Our programme was a great success. The participants were deeply involved and gained awareness and motivation about ‘who I am’ and ‘what I want to change/achieve’. Many have said this was the most memorable development event they’ve ever participated in. Co-operation with Impact was excellent. We especially appreciated their consultative skills and creativity in designing the programme, their ability to listen to our needs and also their observation and feedback abilities with the participants."
Anna Rossetti
Training and Development Manager
Partesa
"The workshop was a great training and team building experience for all of us, underlining the role and impact we all have on our credit policy. Impact facilitation helped us to find the right methodology to share key messages and work effectively together. It wasn’t easy bringing 60 people – including the CEO, Finance Director and HR team together, but Impact facilitated the different groups, and brought together our experiences and ensured everyone was involved."
Andy Fell
General Manager
Westpac
"After a long working relationship with Impact in the UK, I was eager to engage them in my early days as the General Manager of Premium Financial Services. We ran two sessions, one for my leadership team and another with some of our outstanding talent. Both events were brilliant. As a participant and a leader I saw immense benefits on a personal and business level. We now have clarity of vision, purpose and direction along with a unique bond that will allow us to soar to new heights."