Case study
Culture shift at scale: Working with leadership teams as a lever for transformation
Ten teams, one transformation – inside a multi-team engagement in a FTSE 50 financial services business.
How do you evolve the culture of a regulated, risk-conscious organisation without losing the strengths that made it successful?
That was the opportunity we faced when partnering with one of the UK’s largest financial services organisations, as it embarked on an ambitious transformation journey.
The context
A newly appointed CEO with a tech-forward background had set a bold direction. The goal: to modernise the organisation, digitise the end-to-end customer experience, and unlock future growth. The vision was compelling, but making it real would require aligning aspiration with the deep-rooted cultural fabric of the business.
This was an organisation with a rich institutional memory, a strong sense of identity, and a culture of careful, considered action. These qualities had helped it weather financial storms and build long-term trust with customers. At the same time, they presented a unique challenge: how to adapt without losing the integrity of what had come before.
The task
The task was to navigate this balance: to retain the value of rigor and consensus while creating space for new ways of thinking, experimenting, and delivering at pace.
Our role was to help leadership find the tempo and tone that would allow meaningful change to take root – building on strengths, not working against them.
What we did
Working with the system, not against it
From the start, we knew this couldn’t be a top-down communications exercise.
So we worked directly with ten of the organisation’s most senior leadership teams. These consisted of capable, committed people with deep expertise. But many of them were still operating in silos, prioritising their own functional logic over the wider system.
We used the client’s own leadership language as a frame and worked with each team to understand where they were strong, and where they were stuck.
Some needed to develop the courage to challenge up and across. Others needed to slow down, listen better, and build trust. In all cases, the work wasn’t just cognitive; it was behavioural. We facilitated live sessions where unspoken dynamics could be surfaced, feedback exchanged, and new ways of relating practised in real time.
From “me and mine” to “us and ours”
What started to shift, across teams, was posture. Leaders began to let go of overly cautious committee-based decision making and step into bolder, more accountable action. They moved from protecting their patch to owning the enterprise. From prioritising process to prioritising purpose.
This was especially important in a system where clarity was often assumed, but rarely contracted. We helped teams clarify their primary task – not just their outputs, but the shared purpose they were collectively responsible for delivering. That created a shift from parallel leadership to true collaboration.
Coaching the connections
This work wasn’t done in isolation. As we engaged with each team, we also tracked patterns across the system, surfacing insights about cultural blockers, structural tensions, and leadership norms. Those insights were fed back to the Group Executive to help shape and support the ongoing transformation.
The power of this kind of work lies in its layering, in having a grasp of the company-wide picture. Team development, individual coaching, system insight; each piece contributes to a broader shift in how leadership happens across the organisation.
What made it work?
We worked with the culture, not against it.
Rather than trying to overwrite what was there, we helped leaders build on their strengths – then stretch into new ways of thinking and acting.
We used teams as the unit of change.
Culture lives in relationship, not in individuals. By working with intact teams, we created the conditions for real shifts in dynamic, accountability, and alignment.
We connected behaviour to ambition.
The transformation wasn’t abstract – it needed to show up in how leaders actually led. By making those links explicit, we helped the change become real.
There’s more to do. But the work so far has laid the foundations for a different kind of leadership culture – one that honours the organisation’s history, but paves the way for success in a very different future.
What our client had to say
“ig has been instrumental in my transition into a complex, high-profile organisation. They provided personal coaching to help me navigate the shift between cultures, support my leadership development, and shape my approach to building a new executive team.
They also worked closely with that team, helping us focus on effectiveness, engagement, and shared purpose. Their approach creates a safe space for challenge, holds people to account, and encourages honest, useful reflection.
The counsel and interventions from ig have had a positive impact – on me personally and on the broader leadership group.”
Senior Executive, FTSE 50 Financial Services Business
