What could your organization achieve if nearly every manager elevated their leadership impact within one year?
Westview Co-op (“Westview”) operates a variety of businesses spanning 300 kilometers of prairie, including gas stations, grocery stores, home centers, liquor stores, bulk petroleum outlets, and agricultural outlets. After several rapid acquisitions, Westview struggled to integrate its newly acquired locations into its existing systems and processes. Compounding this, managers at each location had varying levels of management experience and different approaches to leadership.
Seeing these challenges, Westview’s CEO, Mike, realized they needed to build a stronger culture and consistent leadership approach. He believed this would streamline operations and create the kind of positive employee experience necessary to provide first-rate customer service.
The Approach
Westview’s leadership development experience began with managers receiving feedback from their direct reports through an anonymous assessment. Based on the results, managers received coaching and a customized development plan. They then attended workshops, delivered in bite-sized virtual modules, to learn techniques to hold themselves accountable and how to support team accountability. Managers received practical tools to help them complete homework assignments and were required to report their progress at each meeting.
Changing an organization’s leadership culture isn’t only about learning new leadership techniques; it also involves making organizational changes to support the new behaviors. To facilitate this, Michael met regularly with the executive team to align organizational practices with the new leadership habits. Avail Leadership also provided simple and clear communication to keep participants informed throughout the engagement.
After a year, direct reports reassessed their managers to measure progress and help identify next steps in their development.
Results and Spotlights
Nearly every manager improved their leadership scores within a year, with about half achieving significant growth. Additionally, most managers’ self-awareness increased along with their leadership acumen.
Here are a few standout examples.
Elevating Others Through a Positive Attitude and Willingness to Learn
Shelley has managed a gas station and convenience store for 24 years and joined the program with no formal leadership training. Her initial assessment was strong, thanks to her upbeat nature and her habit of always thanking her team members for their contributions. However, she received lower scores in areas like providing positive feedback and seeking team input.
After receiving coaching, Shelly decided to work on clarifying what she was thanking her team members for and asking them for their suggestions. These adjustments led to a dramatic improvement in her scores and, more importantly, in her team’s performance. Shelley observed that her team became more willing to take initiative, try new things, and feel more valued. As a result, six of her team members are now being developed as future managers. Additionally, her store experienced a remarkable $500,000 increase in sales compared to the previous year.
Shelley’s story demonstrates that leadership growth can occur at any stage in one’s career, provided they are willing to learn and adapt.
From Self-Doubt to Confident Leadership
During the program, Chris was promoted to a senior manager overseeing all business-to-business operations. His most significant growth came in self-awareness and confidence. Initially, Chris underrated his leadership abilities. However, a year later, his self-assessment had risen significantly, aligning much more closely with how others viewed him.
Chris also made strides in key areas, such as asking for and providing feedback, and creating an environment where his team felt safer making decisions. These improvements directly enhanced his leadership impact.
For instance, when an employee complained to him about their manager, Chris used conflict resolution techniques from the program to mediate a resolution between the two. He began by stating, “First, we are each going to look at how we contributed to this problem.” After some discussion, the employee admitted, “Actually, I think I’m the biggest part of the problem.” Together, they outlined steps to support the employee to better handle similar situations in the future.
In addition to feeling more confident in his leadership role, Chris noted that having his team participate in the leadership program made giving feedback much easier because they are now asking him for it!
Chris’s experience highlights how learning a few leadership skills can make a big difference in driving positive outcomes.
Performance Management Made Easier
When Vaylene became manager of a home center, her initial assessment showed that she was already a good manager. Her team members particularly appreciated her positive attitude and willingness to admit mistakes. However, she scored lower in communication and making sure team members know how well they are performing.
Through the leadership training, Vaylene learned the importance of regular one-on-ones and lessons-learned debriefs. When she integrated these practices into her management routine, she saw immediate results. Regular one-on-ones and post-event debriefs opened communication lines, making employees feel less defensive. “Performance reviews used to feel one-sided, but now they’re part of an ongoing conversation,” she explained. This shift encouraged employees to take more ownership of operational goals.
According to her follow-up assessment, Vaylene’s communication and performance management scores had improved from weaknesses to strengths.
Conducting performance reviews with employees is perhaps the most challenging task for a manager. However, Vaylene’s experience shows that scheduling time with her team for strategic discussions makes that job far easier.
Keys to Success
Every management team that has participated in this leadership development program has shown improvement; however, some teams have achieved greater success than others. Here are the key factors that made Westview’s experience a standout success:
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The CEO Set the Example
A CEO’s willingness to learn and change is the most critical predictor of a leadership development program’s success. If the CEO sees the training as applicable to everyone but themselves, then so will everybody else.
At Westview, Mike was the keenest student and exemplified humble leadership. Recognizing his management team’s potential for growth, he sought help. Mike took every assignment seriously and regularly looked in the mirror to find solutions to organizational problems. Just as important, Mike enforced consequences for managers who resisted Westview’s new leadership approach.
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Individual Coachability
Those who believe they already know it all leave no room for improvement. Interestingly, coachability has less to do with experience and more to do with humility and confidence.
Insecure people are afraid of change. They are afraid that they won’t be able to live up to the new standards. Truly confident people know that their greatest superpower is not their knowledge or experience, it’s their ability to learn, adjust, and apply what they learn to their advantage.
Westview stood out because of the high number of its managers who are humble, hungry to learn, and willing to try new things.
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Team Commitment
The collective commitment of a management team has a significant influence on the program’s success. When all participants fully engage by attending every session and completing assignments, it encourages others to do the same. However, when a few individuals consistently miss sessions and put only a half-hearted effort into their assignments, it can undermine the experience for everyone.
To address this, participants sign a formal commitment to meet specific minimum engagement standards. While this doesn’t eliminate disengagement, it sets clear expectations and makes it easier to address unacceptable behavior if it happens.
Building a Leadership Culture that Endures
Creating a strong leadership team doesn’t have to be complicated, and it certainly won’t come from a couple of leadership retreats each year. It begins with a leader who is committed to learning and a management team that is willing to embrace change.
