Starting Point
An insurance corporation with over 4,000 employees had adopted an ambitious digitalization strategy. Yet a growing gap emerged between board-level decisions and operational execution. Projects were delayed, budgets exceeded, and leaders operated largely in isolation within their respective units.
Challenge
- Strategic objectives were formulated but not translated into operational leadership logic
- Decisions systematically escalated upward instead of being resolved laterally
- Second-tier leaders felt like executors rather than co-creators
Objective
- Establish a leadership system that bridges strategy and operations
- Consistently delegate decision-making authority downward
- Structurally anchor lateral collaboration across business units
Approach
- Diagnosis phase: interviews and shadowing across three leadership levels
- Design phase: co-creation of a new leadership model with the extended board team
- Pilot phase: testing in two business units with regular retrospectives
- Methods: delegation matrix, decision architecture, OKR cascading, team alignment formats
Outcome
- Clear decision architecture with defined accountabilities at every level
- Decisions are made faster and closer to the work (as reported by the leaders)
- Lateral coordination formats established across business units
- Second-tier leaders report significantly greater autonomy and room to shape outcomes
“Strategy was never the problem. We lacked the leadership system to bring it to life.” — Division Board Member, Engagement Sponsor (paraphrased)
Anonymized and condensed: to protect clients, details have been changed and experiences from several engagements combined or split across cases. Quotes are paraphrased.