Case Study: How Cambridge Management Consulting Implemented Effective Leadership Direction for ELIXIR Achieving Mission Clarity

Achieving Mission Clarity

In September 2021, we were contacted by ELIXIR CEO, Dr Niklas Blomberg, who discovered the Mission Clarity product sheet, part of our Leadership Development capability, on the Cambridge Management Consulting website.

ELIXIR was in the middle of an organisational transformation, following a period of intense and rapid growth over the preceding 6-month period.

Dr Blomberg recognised the need for clarity in ELIXIR’s mission and that help was required to define their values. Following initial discovery discussions with members of the Cambridge MC Management team, a bespoke plan was created. In December 2021, we signed the agreement to provide a two-day Mission Clarity workshop in early 2022 for the 8-person Senior Leadership Team, which would be the first in a series of workshops and coaching relationships.

The Strategy

During the design phase, the Cambridge MC team ensured that our approach lined up with ELIXIR’s expectations, and we held much careful discussion to listen and understand their key objectives. 

The preparation phase followed, which involved a series of remote 1:1 coaching sessions and assessments to help us get to know the 8 members of the Senior Leadership Team who would be present for the sessions. 

January 2022

The ELIXIR team gathered for a two-day offsite workshop.

We structure our process around 5 points of evaluation:

• Mission (why are we here) identity (what are we doing)
• Values (how do we behave)
• Strategy (what’s our next step)
• Responsibilities (who will do what).

The sessions were shaped, led and guided by the Cambridge MC facilitators who allowed the team the time and space to explore and discuss these key issues. The results were a set of properly defined and carefully thought through statements which the ELIXIR team felt truly represented them and could form a foundation for their organisation’s activities going forward.

The team decided they would like Cambridge MC to return to run two further workshops to benefit the rest of the ELIXIR team.

April-May 2022

The ELIXIR Communication team actively rolled out consolidated results to the wider ELIXIR community.

Team workshops were designed and delivered to translate the Mission Clarity results via two separate 1-day workshops. The aim was to allow the ELIXIR community to truly define what the values looked like in their own working lives.

This was a chance to explore, question, refine & personalise the new company values and to align them to their everyday work activities – a key point being that these values would be truly lived and understood for all ELIXIR people.

July 2022

We delivered a 2-day workshop with a smaller team.

This successfully aided ELIXIR team members in planning their strategy, building engagement and cooperation between one another with group exercises and assessments, as well as jointly owning and building their deliveries for the next year.

January 2023

This workshop was focused on deepening the application of the previously defined values in the leadership team and the broader organisation, in a 2-day offsite session with the 8-strong management team. 

2022 saw a period of intense growth and success for ELIXIR. Throughout the year, the defined values were expertly communicated throughout whole organisation and became truly embedded within the leadership team.

This session refined commitment to build awareness and strengthen the centrality of them to whole team. We facilitated a structured group discussion of high impact initiatives for 2023 and in-team innovation exercises which enabled an even greater depth of clarity around ELIXIR’s goals for the coming year. Knowledge & Skills

The Team

The Cambridge MC team was made up of Mirren Mace (former Chief of Staff) and Ben Clarke. 

Mirren oversaw relationship management and project coordination for the duration of the 12-month programme. She also supported Ben and led sections of the workshops. Her background in the pharmaceutical industry provided an extra layer of insight and understanding to the project.

Ben used his expertise in Leadership Development and Organisational Design, to create the content and lead the delivery of the workshops. His extensive experience coaching business leaders across a wide variety of industries and his own science background proved invaluable to this engagement. 

Results

The workshops delivered genuine clarity of mission & purpose and the defined values have helped the ELIXIR team to confirm their identity and form a framework to live and work by. The dedicated sessions allowed the teams the time and space to reflect and develop ideas through facilitated conversations. 

In the initial sessions, consensus was reached regarding the key directions for the organisation which helped lay the foundation for significant grant success. 

There was time to reflect on the current position of the organisation and identify risks to growth, future requirements and both tactical and strategic approaches and the direction to take. 

These key issues were steadily communicated by the exceptional internal comms team at ELIXIR, to ensure the engagement of the wider organisation, further enabling the organisation to have their desired impact on the world.