The leadership of a large energy company in Saudi Arabia wanted to revitalize their culture and business for the future. A survey found they had a caring "family-like" culture but it limited setting boundaries, responsibility, and difficult conversations. [The leaders learned to have more open and honest discussions, be more humble and curious with employees, and normalize struggles.] They began integrating routines, rituals, and role modeling to create opportunities for employees to be more autonomous and innovative decision makers. After six weeks, the leaders demonstrated asking for more ownership from employees while maintaining their culture of care.

1. LEADERSHIP STORIES
ENERGY COMPANY, SAUDI ARABIA
theleadersLab
FROM THE michellemcquaid GROUP

2. theLeadersLab FROM THE michellemcquaid GROUP www.theleaderslab.net
The Challenge
Once upon a time there was a large energy company in Saudi Arabia,
who wanted to revitalize their culture and reorientate their business
to enable brighter possibilities for their future. But they weren’t sure
where or how to begin. Until one day, their new CEO stumbled upon
some unexpected insights from our team at The Leaders Lab. Could
it be true that when leaders express genuine care for their team, levels
of engagement, psychological safety, performance, and wellbeing all
improve significantly – especially during times of uncertainty?
The Opportunity
Research revealed that the company had a caring,
‘family-like’ culture which they were very proud of.
But the data also suggested that this culture meant
the leaders found it challenging to set boundaries,
encourage responsibility, and quickly have hard
conversations when needed and this was limiting
their opportunities for learning and growth across
their organization.
The Learning
After discovering that no one has all the answers or is getting it right
all of the time, the leadership group began to be more honest and
vulnerable with each other, more humble and curious with their people,
and more willing to normalize their own struggles and celebrate their
learning. Because of this, they began identifying small opportunities
across their team cultures to integrate new routines, rituals, and role
modelling for accountability, responsibility, or personal ownership
from their employees. In doing so, the leadership group were creating
opportunities for their people to be the autonomous and innovative
decision makers that they needed to be.
The Impact
Six weeks after the training was complete, the leaders
gathered for a final showcase during which they
could now speak honestly and authentically about
their leadership experiences. They were able to
demonstrate their skills and provide examples of how
they were asking their people for more ownership and
responsibility. And with humble pride they showed off
the tools they were using to build on their culture of care
and take it to the next level as they worked towards
brighter possibilities for the future together.

3. theLeadersLab FROM THE michellemcquaid GROUP www.theleaderslab.net
To begin, the twelve leaders – including their new CEO – were asked to complete the
Leading to Thrive Survey to assess the group’s existing skills and approaches. When
the data came back it clearly showed that the company had a caring, ‘family-like’
culture which they were very proud of. But the data also suggested that this culture
meant the leaders found it challenging to set boundaries, encourage responsibility,
and quickly have hard conversations when needed.
Because of this, the insights were used to open a conversation with the leadership
group. Together they explored what was working well, where they were struggling, and
why many of their traditional approaches to leadership may be broken in the face of the
ongoing uncertainty and disruption they were experiencing.
And they learned how THRIVING leaders “show up” with a different mindset by being:
• Tailored in their approach and able to flex their leadership style to suit different
contexts.
• Human-centered and actively seeking ways to bring out the best in their people.
• Realistic as they leverage instability, disruption, and unpredictability as needed.
• Inclusive and proactively inviting different perspectives.
• Value-driven as they create psychologically safe spaces for learning and growth.
• Energizing as they invited people to take ownership and foster accountability.
As the group stepped out of their comfort zone and began playfully experimenting
with their THRIVING mindsets, they agreed that it was time to let go of the belief that
leaders should have all the answers. And instead, they began to be more honest and
vulnerable with each other, more humble and curious with their people, and more willing
to normalize their own struggles and celebrate their learning.

4. theLeadersLab FROM THE michellemcquaid GROUP www.theleaderslab.net
The survey data and conversations that followed also highlighted that while the leaders
felt that they were often prioritizing a culture of care, their people didn’t agree with
this assessment. A common challenge found in many workplaces, the leadership team
wondered how they could possibly do more with all the responsibilities they were juggling.
Studies suggest that cultures of care have a significant impact on the wellbeing and
performance of leaders and their teams. The good news is that small leadership kindness
can have a big impact when leaders prioritize:
• Compassion by reaching for curiosity and generosity, rather than leaping to
assumptions and rushing to judgements. Teams are able to quickly and effectively have
hard conversations and move forward together.
• Appreciation by encouraging people to ask for help and give each other effective
forms of support, creating genuine opportunities for kindness and gratitude. When
leaders model this behaviour as the norm, teams are able to more quickly harness their
individual and collective strengths, reduce wasted time and effort, and minimise burnout.
• Responsibility by inviting ownership, clarifying commitments, and holding people
accountable. When they insist on personal responsibility and collective accountability,
teams step up and learning and outcomes improve.
• Emotional wisdom by viewing emotions – even the uncomfortable ones – as
“information” to be interpreted, rather than something to be avoided. This allows leaders
to harness the energy generated from positive emotions, build a tolerance for being
comfortable with negative emotions, and embrace the reality that thriving and struggle
fuel resilience and support growth.
The leaders agreed that these were important behaviors. But how could they increase the
frequency of these interactions within their very busy teams?

5. theLeadersLab FROM THE michellemcquaid GROUP www.theleaderslab.net
Cultures are shaped by the Routines (the formal ways of working together), Rituals (the
informal team practices), Role Modelling (the behaviour of leaders) and the Rhythm that
brings it all together.
Each leader sat down and on a single page began to map the culture they were shaping in their
team. They captured their:
• Organizational Routines: For example, the weekly team meetings, performance management
processes, work design policies, strategic decisions, etc. that impacted their team.
• Team Rituals: For example, their welcoming of new team members, weekly team building
activities, learning opportunities, etc. that they had introduced for their team.
• Role Modelling: For example, their compassion for team members who were struggling,
their appreciation for team members’ accomplishments, their willingness to hold their team
members accountable, and the emotional wisdom they demonstrated to create a safe and
positive team climate.
Then they reviewed their maps with each other and sought each other’s feedback and guidance
on the rhythm of the care culture they were creating.
And because of this they realized that the family culture they were so proud of was actually holding
them back. Their routines, rituals and role modelling weren’t creating enough opportunities to
help their people stretch themselves outside their comfort zone, hold themselves accountable, or
quickly have uncomfortable and robust conversations when needed.
While there were lots of opportunities for Compassion and Appreciation, the leaders weren’t
asking for accountability, responsibility, or personal ownership from their employees. And this was
limiting their employees’ ability to be the autonomous and innovative decision makers that they
needed to be.

6. theLeadersLab FROM THE michellemcquaid GROUP www.theleaderslab.net
How might the leaders encourage more responsibility
and accountability within their teams, without damaging
the family culture that was so important to their
organization? The answer was found in identifying the
unrealized opportunities and assessing the gaps across
their culture maps.
As The Leaders Lab explained the ‘Leader as Coach’
approach, in contrast to the ‘Leader as Expert’ approach,
the group saw how they could give autonomy back to their
team members. They could do this by simply incorporating
thoughtful questions into their daily conversations with their
team, such as:
• “What outcomes do we need to achieve together?”
• “What is the best way for us to do that?”
• “What do you see as your responsibilities here?”

7. theLeadersLab FROM THE michellemcquaid GROUP www.theleaderslab.net
For the next six weeks the leaders experimented with all that they had learned about their THRIVING
mindsets, their CARE culture maps, and their COACHing conversations. Then they gathered once
more to showcase what impact – if any – these ideas were starting to have.
One leader shared that he had given an important task to his team and taken a step back, only to realize
that “people can learn, and I can depend on people to get things done even better than I could, since
everyone has different approaches in work life.” The experience gave him the insight that “it’s important
to let go and have trust in your team, as they will feel more empowered, motivated and engaged”. He
decided that moving forward, in each meeting he would role model choosing at least one project he could
let go of and empower others to own and celebrate. He would also create the rituals of field trips and
celebrating successes.
Another leader spoke of routine face to face meetings with his team where open and honest conversations
could be had. One individual said he would role model the idea that “every success starts with trying
something, and we need to normalize struggle, and never giving up, whilst setting clear boundaries”.
One member of the group shared that he wanted to role model being “honest, humble, caring and fun,
always wanting to learn and grow”. He would ensure meals with his team on business trips, monthly
review meetings and personalised ‘seasons greetings’ cards to his team and customers.
And finally, one of the team had noted that he would “keep replacing blame with curiosity”, and any
time they won or lost a deal, he would conduct a meeting to understand how they can learn from the
experience.
While it had taken some time, the leaders were now honestly and authentically talking about their
leadership experiences with each other. They were demonstrating their skills at asking their people for
more ownership and responsibility. And they had the tools to build on their culture of care and take it to
the next level as they worked together towards their brighter possibilities for the future.