Merger of Two Companies

A construction company with revenues of $3 billion was in the process of acquiring a privately held business in the same industry. Besides wanting to ensure a smooth transition to becoming a new company, they needed to make sure that the new leadership team was well integrated and aligned with a shared vision and strategy. This was a huge change management effort — internally, in bringing these two companies together, and externally, with customers and partners who needed to be brought onboard very quickly.

The acquisition team of the acquiring company put together a formal one-year integration plan, using every feature of the Leadership Agility® framework and the Leadership Agility® 360 instrument. The language of the Leadership Agility® 360, centered on leading organizational change, building teams, and engaging in pivotal conversations, helped blend these two executive teams in terms of vision as well as the branding of the new company. A leadership summit focusing on the change management that attended these two organizations coming together was also facilitated by the framework described in the Leadership Agility® research. Looking back, the new combined leadership team recognized the need to move beyond the “expert achiever” leadership level to mastering the skills needed to be “catalysts” for change.