About Beyond.
As a global business Beyond is quickly becoming one of the prime digital design companies in the world. Having worked with companies such as Google, Montblanc, Snap, and MailChimp, they are on the forefront of outside-the-box thinking when it comes to design and user experience.
Beyond partners with their clients to go further, and are motivated to work with people who want to design a better future.
They bring cultural sensitivity to their work by understanding each product’s unique place in the world, and what they can do to best support and respect these norms.
"We are guided by a number of shared values - two of which are "make it better" and "relentless curiosity."
Why they came to us.
Beyond was not looking for an off the shelf leadership programme - they wanted to invest in their teams for the long run and ensure that they focus on the most relevant topics emerging through their growth. In 2021, they decided they would take a focus on female leaders within the company.
‘We wanted our inaugural leadership development program to bring our values to life through an engaging, challenging, and totally unique curriculum.’
- Molly McGaughan - Managing Director
Although they saw themselves as a company focused on DE&I, they had noticed that there was not a big enough number of women in higher leadership roles. They understood that it would take more than just the usual seminar or workshop on ‘women in leadership’ - they wanted to invest in a programme that would help change the culture of the company to enable everyone with the right space and support to grow within the organisation.
Our Approach.
The Women at Beyond Leadership program blended personal development with practical delivery. We designed a blind application process that measured participants' stretch goal (what they wanted to work on for themselves in the program) and their initiative (an initiative they could lead during the program that would drive Beyond forward as a business).
Collaborating with Overtime Leader, we were able to implement a program aimed at elevating the female leaders at Beyond in a way that was authentic to Beyond, and the results have been inspiring.
- Molly McGaughan - Managing Director North America.
A cohort of 20 of Beyond’s female leaders were accepted onto the program that blended:
Topical deep dives
1:1 coaching
Practical playbooks
Cohort based initiative accountability
Although we were focused on developing leadership qualities in our participants, their initiatives were an important part of the programme as a way to come up with their own solutions to driving the company forward. Initiatives ranged from focusing on re-energizing the workforce (post pandemic) to establishing a way to fully utilise feedback, and was supported by peer-lead accountability, and an executive sponsor to ensure participants had advocacy and agency.
“OTL are a fantastic partner - not only expert coaches and facilitators, they get stuck in with the planning as well to help us communicate the programme, manage the time allocation and set expectations, allowing participants to focus on them and their leadership challenges."
- Jess Tyrrell - Managing Director, Europe.
The topics we covered included;
Leading through change
Owning our leadership style and reducing the imposter
Confiendence in our communication styles,
How to influence stakeholders, peers and clients
Giving and receiving feedback for growth and opportunity.
For all of these topics we supported them with exercises and practical tools and resources to move forward with a greater understanding of how to implement each one in their day-to-day lives. Our aim was to give participants everything they need to organically become the leaders they want to be, and not simply provide a cookie-cutter leadership style that is one-size-fits-all.
What we they did.
Participants were given pre-thinking packs before each deep dive, which included research, reading and resources prior to group sessions where we uncover and bring to life first hand experiences of the topic. Participants came to the deep dives prepared and willing to share their personal experiences, which made the workshops more engaging and thought-provoking for all involved.
As our facilitator is also an executive coach, she was able to build strong connections through the coaching sessions and had her finger on the pulse of everyone, allowing her to masterfully develop trust and honest sharing of personal experiences among the participants, an invaluable situation for collective growth and strengthening relationships throughout the cohort.
“I left my 1-1 coaching sessions feeling like I could accomplish anything, and I really value the opportunities the programme gave me to connect with colleagues also on the programme, giving me a new support network I didn't know I needed.”
- Senior Design - UX
The combination of deep dives and 1:1 coaching allowed for the facilitator to truly tailor exercises or deep dives so that all participants get as much as they possibly can out of the programme. Having the personal information from the coaching sessions, the facilitator knew what each participant was working on and could then utilise that and create more engaging breakout groups, and put people together that are going to stretch each other’s issues. We were able to put someone who finds it difficult to delegate with someone who finds it too easy to delegate, and they were able to work through the exercises and help each other. Although the deep dives were group sessions, they were made exponentially more impactful and powerful due to the personal understanding the facilitator possessed for each participant.
The 1:1 coaching sessions were very well utilised by all participants, as it was a way to further elaborate on both their professional development and their individual initiatives. Throughout the programme, participants had check-ins with an initiative sponsor - a member of the senior leadership team who would assist and guide them. Collectively this allowed for initiatives to be consistently supported to ensure that they continued to be what the participant had imagined, while simultaneously ensuring that it fell into the Beyond culture and best served the business.
Many of the participants were both surprised and encouraged that so many of their fellow members were facing similar challenges and doubts. Imposter syndrome is unfortunately ever present in companies across the globe, and it can be very isolating - especially for women - when they don’t know that those around them are experiencing the same feelings. Honest and open communication and sharing of experiences had a huge impact on participants realising that they are not alone, which allowed for the development of growth and a support system for these women to now lean on when facing challenges moving forward.
The Impact.
“The most valuable thing I learnt about my peers was realising that we're all in the same boat. No matter the seniority or discipline, we all experience similar worries in our professional lives. Knowing that we're not alone, and that we have each other to lean on gives me confidence to take action, speak up and do the work.”
- Head of Project and Strategy
The value of this program was multi-faceted, resulting in both individual growth for the participant as well as a greater organisational cohesiveness.Participants got to know people from other parts of the business they wouldn’t otherwise work with. The program also led to much more assertive conversations being had within the company, as they were being pushed and taught to give feedback in their deep dives.
“It was so valuable to me as a mid level professional looking to excel and grow in my career. OTL carefully curated content and sessions tailored to the individual or group, and brought with them a wealth of expertise, skills, and anecdotes to help along the way; nothing felt like it was recycled or boilerplate.”
- Senior Project Manager
The personal and professional development the participants were able to get out of the programme has been substantial, with several senior leadership members stating that they have noticed a change in their team members who were a part of the programme. We have a long term partnership with Beyond and are working closely with their leadership team to shape the next program that will focus on enabling and supporting a key area of focus for them as a business.
