How Lumina Sparked Positive Change in India’s Top Hair Company

Taking Wella’s Executive Leadership to the Next Level

“My team is very talented, coming from the best pedigree colleges and with world-class industry experience. While we did well initially to capture the Indian market, somewhere now, we seem to be losing the plot.” – Wella CEO

So said the CEO of one of the top hair care companies in India. He had asked me to run a 2 day offsite programme with his CXO team consisting of 8 leaders.

The team was a spin off from one of the top FMCG companies in India All eight  are as talented as they are driven. However, there was a problem:  while growth was strong, the team seemed to be losing effectiveness. Further, they were facing challenges of talent attrition below them which was leading to execution delays. In an industry which was seeing tough competition and high innovation, you have to be on your game.

Executive leadership development by Priti Agarwal, Founder and Coach of The Catalyst.

What was the problem?

To better understand the nature of the problem, we interviewed the HR leader and the CEO .

Here’s what we discovered:

1) While the team was able to hold each other to account, it failed to hold the team under them accountable.  This in turn led to execution lapses.

2) The team was very collaborative and worked well together but sometimes shied away from conducting difficult conversations.

3) Each individual in the team was gifted and ambitious and looking for fast-tracked career paths, but was unable to put systems and processes in place to ensure sustained execution and growth.

Enter Lumina Learning

We designed a bespoke 2 day classroom program based on Lumina Spark. Three key questions informed our approach:

1) Who am I and what are my preferences?

• Building a better understanding of our key Qualities, how they show up, how they serve us and others.
• How do our strengths over-extend and become weaknesses at times?

2) How do I connect with my peers?

• Who is my peer team? What are their strengths and gaps?
• What synergies can I explore with others?
• Are there any gaps in our ability to communicate with each other/ build relationships with each other?

3) How do I lead others?

• What are my leadership strengths and gaps?
• How can I build a high-performance culture in my team?

Full and frank self-disclosure, feedback, group coaching, peer coaching buttressed by next-gen mobile apps, cards, not to mention oversized mats as big as helicopter pads-we pulled out all the stops.

The result? An immersive deep dive into dynamics of one of India’s top teams.

From the first we were at pains to make the experience as relevant to Wella as possible. Thanks to Lumina Spark, we were able to answer two of the most important questions any business must face: first, what should we do? And second, why?

Two days later, each participant emerged brimming with energy r and armed with a brand new action plan which helped them. This gave the team a detailed personalised blueprint with which to:

• build themselves up as leaders
• support their peers while holding them accountable

We shared the team profile with the CEO and HR leader. At a glance they could see where the strengths and weaknesses of the team lay.

What’s more, Lumina Spark gave them actionable ways in which to help the team unlock its enormous potential

This prompted a lengthy and highly productive discussion as to what the CEO could do both to help the team and individuals to take more calculated risks and accelerate business growth.

In addition, we also used Lumina Spark to help the CEO to better understand himself so that he was more aware of how he could communicate and lead his team toward the broad sunlit uplands of innovation and growth.

Results

All in all, the program was a resounding success and received glowing reviews. Here’s what they had to say:

• CEO

“Thanks Priti for the wonderful session using the Lumina Spark. The session was very helpful and insightful for all of us as individuals and as a team. With your deep knowledge on this subject, ability to link the insights to business situation and sharing your personal examples, you were able to inspire all of us and spark a positive change”

• CFO

“Amazing session Priti. Something which we all should evaluate and be aware of … Eye opener and awakening! Loved the session with respect to its content, format and insightful discussion. Kudos to your efforts, experience and enthusiasm!”

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