Case Study 1: Leadership Development

I have developed and delivered more leadership programs than anything else. Literally thousands of leaders from executive to front-line. I am particularly proud of this program.

You have to challenge AND care as a leader. – Major premise of the program.

Business Need / Problem

Overhead Door Corp, a century old organization with operations across the United States, Canada and Mexico, faced significant workforce challenges. Turnover exceeded engagement problem. Turnover was 38%, with even higher attrition for new hires. Employee engagement data revealed recurring concerns around leadership effectiveness, communication, career development, and trust in management.

At the same time, the org was implementing a new Korn Ferry competency framework and recognized that, despite its long history, it had never established a formal leadership development program. They were looking to instill clear expectations of leadership across 6 companies and multiple divisions.

The Challenge

Designing a leadership program for a diverse and decentralized org presented unique challenges:

Multiple business units and brands operating independently, including Horton, Door Services, Genie, Creative Door, Wayne Dalton, and TODCO.
Leaders located across manufacturing plants, service operations, sales organizations, and corporate offices in three countries.
Limited connection to a shared leadership culture.
Many leaders promoted through operational expertise with little formal leadership training.
A sudden shift to virtual delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal was not simply to teach leadership skills, but to begin shaping a common leadership culture across the enterprise.

My Role

As the primary architect of the program, I partnered with the Vice President of Talent and a fellow team member to design, develop, implement, and facilitate the organization’s first enterprise-wide leadership development experience.

Solution

Using employee engagement data, turnover metrics, leadership assessments, and organizational priorities, we created a blended, cohort-based leadership program designed to build both leadership capability and organizational connection.
Rather than delivering a traditional two-day workshop, the program evolved into a five-week learning journey that combined:

Pre-work and assessments
Facilitated virtual workshops
Work-embedded assignments
Peer discussion and accountability
Leadership reflection and application

The curriculum focused on five core leadership competencies:

Employee Engagement
Communication
Conflict Management
Building Trust
Driving Results

These competencies were reinforced through a leadership model aligned with the organization’s Korn Ferry framework.

Key Design Elements

Key Design Elements:

Custom Leadership Style Assessment: I custom-built an assessment as pre-work that identified the style of leader of the participant, with the “Engagement” Style leader as the target. We dove into what makes that leader different – they challenge and care.
TKI Conflict Assessment
Learning Technology Integration: Oracle Learn LMS: Utilized for delivery of pre-work, assignments, attendance, capturing scores, completion, etc.
Work-Embedded Learning: Participants worked on assignment/homework such as Conduct an Engagement Conversation, a collaborative meeting, etc. embedded

Results

Improved Retention

While long-term measurement was still underway when I left the organization, several locations reported turnover reductions of up to 15%.

Enterprise Reach

More than 500 leaders completed the program.
Program translated into Spanish and successfully deployed in Mexico through a certified facilitator partner.

Participant Impact

High levels of engagement and participation throughout the program.
Strong positive feedback from leaders across business units.
Multiple requests from former participants to continue access to the content a

Stronger Organizational Connections & Leadership Mindset Shift

One of the most valued outcomes was the creation of relationships across business units and locations. Leaders who had previously operated in silos developed peer networks, exchanged best practices, and gained a broader understanding of the organization.

The program helped move leaders from a traditional command-and-control mindset toward a more engaging and people-centered leadership approach.

Participants regularly shared stories of applying what they learned immediately. One plant manager, after decades with the company, described how a simple listening conversation with an employee who intended to resign ultimately convinced the employee to stay.

The program created a space where leaders felt empowered to connect with employees in more meaningful ways while still driving performance.