Future-Proofing Leadership in Financial Services.
Partnering with a leading European financial services firm to future-proof its leadership bench, creating a clear, scalable system to spot potential and accelerate development of its next gen leaders.
3 Big Wins
1
Clear Distinction Between Performance and Potential
strengthening the quality and depth of the leadership pipeline.
2
Scalable, High-Impact Assessment Program
delivered to 400+ leaders at three levels over six years, embedding consistency across the enterprise.
3
Trusted Talent Data
objective, unbiased insight guiding targeted development and enabling stronger promotion outcomes.
The Challenge.
In the face of tightening regulation, digital disruption, and shrinking margins, a leading financial services provider in Central and Eastern Europe faced a critical challenge: future-proofing its leadership pipeline.
The CEO was clear: “We don’t just need more leaders, we need the ‘best of the best’ – adaptable, decisive and ready to lead in volatility.”
Yet succession decisions were still informal, politically influenced, and overly reliant on past performance. The organization needed a consistent, objective way to distinguish performance from potential and build a future-ready bench of leaders able to thrive in disruption.
This went beyond talent identification. It made leadership potential visible and actionable -giving us a clearer view of our people, and giving every participant a personal plan to grow.
Our Approach.
We partnered with the client to design a talent identification experience that was credible, insightful, and owned by the business from day one.
Key Moves:
- Co-created with senior leaders– Brought executives into the design to build trust, secure buy-in, and embed the model in the culture.
- Defined potential vs. performance– Created a shared, practical definition of leadership potential to anchor assessment, development, and succession.
- Built a future-focused simulation– Designed a 1-day immersive exercise set three years in the future, testing judgment, agility and leadership behaviors under pressure.
- Upskilled leaders as assessors– Trained senior leaders and HR partners to deliver the experience alongside us, driving ownership and scale.
- Delivered deep individual insight– Each participant left with a tailored report, expert feedback, and a clear development plan. High potentials were fast-tracked into flagship leadership programs with a leading business school.
This program changed the way we think about leadership talent. Our pipeline is stronger and our first instinct is now to look inside when roles open up.
The Impact.
Over six years, 400+ individuals took part in the program, creating a sustainable, scalable pipeline of future leaders.
- The simulation became a trusted lens for spotting and differentiating leadership potential, from early-career to executives.
- Succession planning gained rigor and objectivity, moving the business beyond intuition and favoritism.
- Regional talent pools were established, with visible “ready now” successors for critical roles – accelerating mobility and reducing time-to-fill.
- Senior leaders credited the program with raising the bar on leadership expectations and strengthening the bench across the organization.
- 91% of participants said they would recommend the experience – confirming it delivered value to both the organization and individuals.
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