Two colleagues high-fiving in an office setting, smiling, sitting at a desk with a laptop and papers.

Leadership

We help organisations solve problems and develop a strategy to implement the solutions, with a roadmap for implementation.

Our focus is on sustainable behavioural change, founded on neuroscience-based personal growth programs.

 A typical Balance Partners leadership development program includes:

  • Working with client C-Suite executives to understand the organisation’s strategic needs and the leadership capabilities required to achieve them

  • Crafting a bespoke program, based on the well-proven Lead Self, Lead Teams, Lead Organisations model, combining facilitated group workshops with individual coaching, 360-degree diagnostics, Individual Development Plans, and Development Council sessions with supervisors.

  • Integrating real workplace projects into the LDP, as ‘grist to the mill’ for leaders’ growth, as well as using the LDP to enhance connectivity and collaboration

  • Branding the program and creating a ‘buzz’ around participation and the personal growth it provides, culminating in a graduation event.

 

Once an organisation reaches a certain size and level of aspiration there is real value in developing a bespoke leadership model, aligned with purpose, vision, values and strategic needs. It is especially impactful if this is integrated with a deliberate approach to evolving the organisation’s culture.

 

Case examples of leadership work we have done include:

  • Agribusiness company (USA, Europe, Latin America, Oceania, 24 people) – designing a 1 year global program for Country Heads and Sales & Marketing Heads, underpinning a new go-to-market strategy

  • Military organisation (Australia, 44 000 people) – developing a leadership model and continuum, and a program and implementation model to instil it sustainably at all levels from initial entry to senior ranks

  • Steel manufacturer (India, 18 people) – top team leadership program, underpinning a growth and market expansion strategy

  • Educational institution (Australia, 12 people)– executive leadership development program, incorporating a high-priority strategy development initiative

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Strategy

We help organisations solve problems and develop a strategy to implement the solutions, with a roadmap for implementation.

In doing this, we invest in deep analysis of the problem itself, then a structured process to frame and address the issues involved, research best-practice, then generate and evaluate options and how these integrate with the organisation’s particular circumstances. Recognising that most (around 70%) organisational transformations and strategies fail in implementation, we help ensure the necessary changes are deeply embedded and followed-through.

Strategy is not a fixed plan, it is:

  • Understanding your purpose, and having a clear vision for fulfilling it.

  • Knowing what success will look like, en route and in a mature state.

  • Developing clarity on what problems need to be solved.

  • Establishing a start state, with the necessary capabilities, resources, and responsibilities allocated, then getting moving.

Case examples of strategy work we have done include:

  • Tier One construction company, Australia – developing a strategy to grow a Defence business, then implement it.

  • Military service – repeated operational deployments as a planner and strategist, most recently as the Head of Plans and Coalition Coordination for the campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

  • Government department – implementing a portfolio approach to decision-making and resource allocation, with associated governance and structural changes.

  • Government-owned organisation – independent review of leadership development, providing solutions to overcome persistent cultural and operational performance issues.

Group of people sitting on bean bags using laptops at a tech event.

Culture

Culture really matters – it is what drives behaviour on a daily basis, and it deeply impacts on people’s lived experience. We know that culture change is far from easy, and that it must be a sustained effort, working across multiple levers of influence.

We analyse and transform workplace cultures by aligning behaviours with business objectives and values. Our approach fosters engagement, trust, and performance, ensuring that strategy execution is supported by the right mindset and values.

 

Typically, our approach will include:

  • Taking the time to understand the organisation’s aspirations (stated purpose, vision, values and culture) and strategic needs.

  • Conduct a diagnostic assessing the current state of the organisation (observations, reports, interviews, surveys).

  • Prepare a gap analysis comparing current to desired state, and the critical shifts required.

  • Mapping out a transformation process, addressing all the levers of influence (senior leadership role-modelling, capability-building, communications, and the reinforcing mechanisms of policies and procedures).

  • Helping set up a transformation team to follow through and help the organisation achieve change

We also have extensive personal experience and formal training in working across cultures and can help organisations prepare their people for that. This is far more than simply understanding the culture of a particular geographic location or ethnicity: it also applies across professions and workgroups. Developing the right mindset is essential to communicate effectively, collaborate well, maintain personal and organisational values, and stay resilient under pressure.

 

Case examples of culture work we have done include:

  • Military organisation (Australia, 500 people) – designing then leading a large-scale resilience program, incorporating Resilience

  • Government Department (Australia) – developing a model for working across cultures, and a training package applicable to all roles and levels