The Situation

Rapid growth created a leadership gap.
The organization had promoted many high-performing subject matter experts into people leadership roles. Technically strong, they were now expected to:

• Lead difficult conversations

• Navigate conflict

• Communicate change

• Solve problems instead of escalating them

The result wasn’t a lack of effort — it was leaders operating without shared leadership behaviors while the system around them was scaling fast.

Why This Became a Business Risk

Without shared leadership behaviors in place, early signs of strain began to appear:

• Inconsistent leadership decisions across teams, slowing execution

• Escalation instead of ownership, pulling senior leaders into operational issues

• Unable to communicate change effectively, which created too much organizational noise

• Cross-team relationships were weakening just as collaboration had become more critical

None of these showed up as a single “problem.” Together, they signaled a system under pressure.

What Leadership Needed?

The Innovation and Talent team recognized that a one-time intervention wouldn’t close this gap.
What was needed was:

• A shared set of leadership behaviors that enable growth and development at scale

• A way for leaders to practice needed behaviors in real work

• A structure that could scale across a large, distributed tech organization

• An approach that respected leaders’ time and didn’t pull them away from their day-to-day responsibilities

That insight shaped the approach.

Our Approach

We partnered with the Innovation and Talent team to design a year-long peer-to-peer leadership program for all tech leaders.
The design centered on:

• Short, focused learning moments aligned to real work

• Peer coaching with colleagues at the same leadership level

• Immediate application through live leadership challenges during program sessions

Each leader was paired with a peer coach and met regularly for 30-minute coaching conversations, focused on real situations they were navigating with their teams - both during sessions and in between.
The program was fully remote and designed for active participation, not passive consumption.

What Changed

Leadership behavior shifted at scale
Executive leaders observed more leaders taking ownership of problem-solving, consistently applying communication practices, and addressing conflict directly rather than escalating issues.

Peer coaching became self-sustaining
Leaders consistently named peer coaching as the most valuable element of the program. Many began using the same coaching approach with their own teams, without being prompted.

Engagement remained high across the year
Despite being remote, leaders participated actively, shared openly, and stayed engaged throughout the program.

“We’ve never experienced this level of engagement or practical impact from a leadership program — especially at this scale.” — Executive Leader, Technology Organization

Why This Worked

This wasn’t about teaching leaders what to do.
It worked because leaders practiced leadership behaviors together, in real time, on real work; creating shared language, shared accountability, and stronger relationships as the organization continued to grow.

Who This Is For

Organizations that:

• Promote technical experts into leadership roles

• Are scaling faster than leadership capability

• Need leaders to solve problems, not escalate them

• Want leadership development that shows up in day-to-day work