Leading with Trust & Connection: Off-site Workshop for the Leadership Team of Sandoz
Background
After a period of significant organizational change and strategic growth, the Sandoz Leadership Team was entering a new phase, one that required deeper alignment, trust, and clarity in how they collaborate and influence. While the team had achieved impressive results and recognition externally, the internal focus was shifting toward how they lead together: how they make decisions, navigate competing priorities, and show up as a unified leadership presence across the business. We designed an in depth experiential training in order to meet Sandoz’s expectations for the day and initiate positive change.
Workshop Design
The session was intentionally designed to balance depth and safety, with structured activities that allowed leaders to reflect on both their personal leadership presence and their collective impact. We incorporated light warm-ups, group reflection, and appreciative inquiry to support both honesty and optimism, while also pushing participants to share authentically in order to uncover imbalances or areas of improvement for the team to thrive.
Key Activities
The workshop focused on building a shared understanding of what creates or erodes trust at the leadership level. Through structured reflection, small group dialogue, and peer discussion, participants explored how trust shows up in their day-to-day interactions, and where alignment and openness could be strengthened.
Participants identified behaviors that support trust, such as transparency, follow-through, and space for disagreement, as well as signals that may unintentionally undermine it. The group also reflected on how they currently function as a team, what’s working well, and where they want to grow in order to lead with more clarity, cohesion, and credibility across the business. These activities allowed for challenges to be uncovered in a safe yet meaningful way, creating a pathway for true transformation in view of the team’s ambitions and impressive goals.
Outcomes
Increased mutual understanding and empathy across leadership team members
Created shared language around presence, trust, and alignment
Surfaced critical but previously unspoken dynamics in a constructive way
Leaders left with renewed clarity on how their behavior shapes culture, and a commitment to show up with more openness and ownership
For more insights on workshops like this, check out our Learning & Development Programs.