Why One Leadership Success Story Became an Organization-Wide Strategy
The Story
From a leadership experience to an organizational strategy
What began as a developmental experience for a group of leaders evolved into a broader organizational effort to make coaching part of how leaders lead, develop and enable their people.
As the organization evolved, so did its leadership needs. There were significant leadership transitions, four generations working together, and people coming from different professional backgrounds, personalities and experiences.
The Indian office of the organization wanted to strengthen leadership capability — but more importantly, change the quality of conversations across the organization. The ambition was to see how it could become part of the wider leadership system.
The Client
A global provider of smart, sustainable vertical mobility solutions, headquartered in Switzerland, serving buildings and infrastructure networks across markets worldwide.
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How It Began
It started with a leadership experience
The journey began with two senior leaders experiencing the value of coaching firsthand — seeing how it could shift conversations, deepen reflection and change leadership behaviours.
I was able to discover more about me. It wasn't a comfortable journey. The unlearning happened. The acceptance happened for myself and I got more comfortable in my own skin.
The worst program I have ever attended and the best program that you can attend — reflecting the deeply uncomfortable but rewarding self-journey he went through.
These moments became powerful reflections on how leadership was being experienced by others. Leaders began noticing that the language of their conversations was changing. Relationships improved. Trust increased.
The Bigger Question
How could coaching move beyond individual leaders and become a capability embedded across the organization?
The opportunity was to move from coaching as an individual development intervention to coaching as a way of leading, developing and enabling others.
The Need
What was their need
The organization was going through a period of significant transition, including leadership changes. At the same time, four generations were working together, alongside people from different professional backgrounds, personalities and experiences.
A single leadership style could no longer serve everyone. Manager feedback surveys also highlighted differences in leadership styles.
The organization saw an opportunity to equip leaders with coaching as a cultural capability — helping them listen differently, involve people in decisions, create ownership and adapt their leadership to different people and situations.
The ambition was not to introduce another standalone programme. It was to create a system in which coaching could fit. And for that system to sustain, the capability needed to move internally, with ownership from leadership.
The Approach
The journey
Have external coaches — experience impact
The first step was to give leaders the opportunity to experience coaching firsthand. External coaches created a space for leaders to pause, reflect and examine how they were showing up. The experience created moments of self-awareness, unlearning and acceptance.
"The unlearning happened. The acceptance happened. I got more comfortable in my own skin."
The impact extended beyond the coaching room. Leaders began noticing changes in their conversations, relationships and levels of trust. That created the first important realization: if coaching could change the way leaders showed up, could it change the way the organization led?
Create internal coaches
Meeraq designed a 30-hour Leader as Coach programme, combining learning, peer practice and reflection. The focus went beyond teaching coaching techniques.
Leaders were equipped to bring a coaching mindset into everyday leadership conversations — around performance, development, accountability, decision-making and growth.
Extend coaching as an integral part — democratizing
The next step was to extend coaching to Hi-Potential talent. 29 ICF global coaches delivered 1:1 coaching, creating another layer of personalized development beyond the leadership programme.
For participants, coaching began to feel less like an exclusive intervention and more like a personalized development experience.
"Am I getting a personalised coach?"
That shift in perception mattered. Coaching was becoming more accessible — moving beyond a small group of leaders and becoming part of a broader development ecosystem.
The Shift and the Scale
From a leadership programme to an organizational capability
What began as a leadership-development experience became a broader organizational capability. The model connected:
The scale was not simply about reaching more people. It was about creating sustainability through internal capability and leadership ownership.
The Outcome
What changed
The intervention changed the way leaders approached development and everyday conversations.
Break the conditioning: from telling to coaching
Leaders began moving away from always having the answer. They developed greater patience to listen, ask questions and create space for others to think, rather than immediately tell, direct or solve.
Less telling. More listening.
Less directing. More enabling.
Inculcate more interest from the younger generation
As expectations around leadership changed, younger employees increasingly wanted to think, contribute, make decisions and feel involved. Coaching gave leaders a way to create that space.
The way trust developed
As leaders became more comfortable with authenticity and vulnerability, conversations became more open. Listening improved. Interpersonal relationships strengthened. Trust became less about hierarchy and more about connection.
From one programme to an ongoing capability
The approach continued beyond the initial intervention, with the programme renewed for new leaders and Hi-Potentials. The capability was no longer dependent on one cohort; it could continue to grow through the organization itself.
The Impact
The numbers behind the scale
Beyond the Numbers
Impact felt beyond the workplace
The intervention also contributed to stronger communication and people skills across leaders.
And the Journey Continues
The program didn't end with the first cohort. It became part of how the organization developed its leaders. What started as a leadership-development intervention had become an ongoing capability-building journey.
The Leader as a Coach program is consistently run every year for new leaders. The continued program for new leaders and fresh Hi-Potential cohorts reflects how the intervention evolved into an ongoing leadership capability.
The Meeraq Perspective
A coaching culture isn't created by putting more people through coaching. It is created when leaders begin to coach differently — and that behaviour becomes part of how the organization works.