Success Story

How One Utilities Company Built Trust and Strengthened Teams

A prominent electricity company needed to transform its Board of Directors, moving from a fragmented, past-oriented leadership to a unified, future-focused approach. With the industry evolving rapidly, the company sought a cultural and leadership shift to empower their leaders, improve collaboration, and attract younger talent.

Context & Challenges

The company, shaped by numerous mergers and acquisitions, faced significant internal challenges. The Board of Directors, representing a history of fragmented leadership, recognized the need for stronger collaboration and trust.

The rapidly changing industry required a shift from traditional leadership to a more authentic and empowered style.

Additionally, the company needed to attract and retain the younger generation of talent, requiring a profound transformation in leadership and culture.

Objectives

The aim was to create a unified, future-focused leadership team capable of attracting and retaining younger talent for long-term success.

QiLeader Approach

QiLeader was brought in to guide the leadership transformation with a tailored approach, including:

Mindset Workshops
Shifting towards a growth and empowerment mindset, essential for embracing industry changes.
Trust-building Sessions
Strengthening relationships within the Board to foster effective collaboration.
Leadership Transformation
Shifting from traditional hierarchical leadership to more authentic, empowered leadership styles.
Organizational Design and Values
Redefining the company’s structure and core values to align with the new leadership approach.
Targeted Team Workshop
Addressing low trust between a specific team and management, rebuilding trust in just one day.

Results

The intervention resulted in a cohesive, empowered Board of Directors, fully aligned with the company’s vision.

The shift towards authentic leadership resonated with the workforce and made the company more appealing to younger talent.

The targeted team workshop produced remarkable results, turning a low-trust situation into an engaged and dynamic team.

The Bottom Line

This case highlights QiLeader’s ability to drive deep leadership and cultural transformation in complex organizations. By addressing mindset, trust, leadership, and organizational design, the company unified its leadership and positioned itself for success in a rapidly evolving market, all while becoming an attractive employer for future generations.

Proven benefits of the QiLeader approach on results, profits, well-being, engagement and turnover

On top of reaching each company’s personalized goals, QiLeader also aims at rebooting leaders and their teams for more impact in fast & busy times, by deeply reprogramming their habits. Research among 500 respondents shows that a rebooted leader (i.e. a leader who adopted the 5 habits of fast & busy times, namely: Rhythm, Purpose, Growth Mindset, Resilience and Focus) shows significantly better results compared to a more traditional leader or employee. For instance, a rebooted QiLeader is 72% more motivated than a traditional leader or employee, experiencing less stress (by 59%) and a decreased workload (by 45%). The likelihood of this QiLeader looking for another job is also decreased by 50%.

The same research shows that rebooted leaders work on average 10% less than traditional leaders while having 47% more impact, impact being defined in terms of reaching one’s objectives.

Assessments taken by participants to QiLeader programs before and after the training show an increased adaptability to the fast & busy times, with an average progression of 28% across the 5 habits assessed in 3 to 4 months. Biggest improvements are visible in Mindset (moving from a fixed to growth mindset) and in Focus (From overwhelmed & operational to focused and strategic.

Decreased absenteeism

The cumulative effect of increased impact, energy and motivation, together with decreased workload and stress results in a significant drop in absenteeism. The QiLeader techniques applied by Murielle Machiels during her time as CEO of an educational publishing company resulted in a 50% decrease in absenteeism. QiLeader also relies on a number of testimonials from participants saying that they avoided burnout thanks to the principles learned through QiLeader courses.

In Belgium, absenteeism is estimated at 10% per year and research shows an average cost of absenteeism of 2.450€ per year per employee.

For a group of 20 leaders, the absenteeism cost would be approximately 49.000€.

Decreased employee turnover

Average employee turnover rate is 10% depending on your industry. The cost of replacing a leader varies between 50% and 213% of their annual salary cost. For a group of 20 leaders with an annual salary cost of 100.000€, the employee turnover cost would be at least 100.000€ (50% of the annual salary cost of 2 people). This cost includes loss in productivity, replacement costs, recruitment costs, onboarding costs… 

Our research shows that rebooted Qileaders are 50% less likely to look for another job. 

See this participant’s testimonial: “It was a crisis moment for me at that point, because I was choosing between ‘Do I stay in this company? Maybe I should go someplace else…’ or ‘Do I find a way to make myself more motivated? And doing the course remotivated me.” (full testimonial here: https://youtu.be/zwRw0h7DeW0).
In Belgium, absenteeism is estimated at 10% per year and research shows an average cost of absenteeism of 2.450€ per year per employee.

For a group of 20 leaders, the absenteeism cost would be approximately 49.000€.

The ROI of the program based on previous results & research (only taking into account absenteeism and retention)

The program costs:

30.000€ for 20 leaders

Estimated 50% reduction of absenteeism:

24.500€ lower costs

Estimated 50% reduction in employee turnover:

50.000€ lower costs

Estimated profit increase:

44.500€

Mindset-based training increases profits three times more than standard business training

A World Bank study, conducted in partnership with the National University of Singapore Business School and Leuphana University, revealed that mindset-based training increases profits with 30% while traditional business training increases profits with 11%. This study was conducted among 1,500 entrepreneurs divided into 3 groups. One group didn’t receive any training and served as base to compare the other two. One group received a business training and one group received a mindset-based training.

The cost of the mindset- based training was already repaid within the first year thanks to increased profits and is 3 times more profitable than a classic business training.

QiLeader is a mindset-based training and is more sustainable in the long-term as employees and leaders are better equipped to deal with change but also to whatever challenge they face. More traditional business trainings (focusing on hard skills only) get rapidly obsolete as techniques evolve rapidly in the market.

What we offer

Programs for busy leaders

Teams and organizations

Regenerative In-Company Program

A tailor-made program for teams and organizations who want to take the path to authentic transformation and success thanks to regenerative leadership habits.

  • Restores Focus and Productivity
  • Revitalizes Empowerment and Autonomy
  • Regenerates Employee Well-being
  • Strengthens Sustainable Leadership Skills

Team Leaders

Regenerative Leadership – Collective Shift

A unique program to drive collective transformation, empower resilient teams, and foster sustainable success. Designed for leaders ready to inspire adaptive, purpose-driven cultures in today’s fast-paced world.

  • Drive Collective Transformation and Engagement
  • Build Team Resilience and Agility
  • Foster Empowerment and Ownership
  • Create a Culture of Sustainable Performance

For Individual Leaders

Regenerative Leadership – Foundations

An unique blended program to become a regenerative leader, have more impact and reach your goals. Designed for busy leaders facing the challenges of these fast and busy times

  • Enhances Agility and Adaptability
  • Boosts Resilience and Work-Life Balance
  • Fosters Purpose-Driven Leadership
  • Cultivates a Growth Mindset

They also succeeded

Empowerment

Co-Creating a Tailored Growth Program for High Potentials in the New World of Work

An international industry company faced the challenge of aligning the aspirations and capabilities of its high-potential employees with the evolving demands of the business and global context. QiLeader was engaged to co-create a leadership development program that empowered these individuals to shape their growth journey, ensuring future leadership success and organizational alignment.
Navigating the Shift in the Automotive Industry

Agility

Navigating the Shift in the Automotive Industry

A prominent car distributor faced the existential challenge of evolving into a mobility provider due to rapid industry disruption. QiLeader guided the company through a leadership and cultural transformation, empowering managers to navigate the shift with resilience, agility, and a forward-looking mindset.
How One Utilities Company Built Trust and Strengthened Teams

Agility

How One Utilities Company Built Trust and Strengthened Teams

A prominent electricity company needed to transform its Board of Directors, moving from a fragmented, past-oriented leadership to a unified, future-focused approach. With the industry evolving rapidly, the company sought a cultural and leadership shift to empower their leaders, improve collaboration, and attract younger talent.