The client

Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, with some 245 million mobile customers, 25 million fixed-network lines, and 21 million broadband lines. The company employs 206,000 employees in 34 countries.

Deutsche Telekom strategically wants to become the Leading Digital Telco and is yearly being awarded for being for being one of the best employers in Europe. They are in the forefront of digital learning and leadership development with their digital Level UP platform and the advanced TV-studio from where they deliver trainings, programs, and inspiration to ensure a continuous development and growth of their leaders.

Leadership in Telekom is centered around the 6 Leadership Anchors which is built on guiding principles and describe the organizational expectations of how leaders should act and represent the business. They provide orientation and support and further, they form our Group wide leadership framework.

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The Leadership Anchors form the foundation upon which we build our success and the roadmap for excellence at every level – because good is not leading!  The Anchors are more than just a set of principles; they represent a transformational approach that influences positive behavioral change, starting from our top leaders and rippling throughout the entire organization. The result? Benefits for all employees, our culture, and our business.

/ Duygy Barutcu, Squad Leader, Employee Well-being

The challenge

HR in Deutsche Telekom turned to LeadUp with a wish to introduce their Senior Leaders to the topic of Effortless Leadership. The idea was to further strengthen the leadership anchor “Act with respect and integrity” and with a focus on leading with honesty, care, and compassion. The Leaders had already gone through Keynote and workshop on Human and Compassionate Leadership, and with Effortless Leadership, HR saw an opportunity to further increase their Leaders awareness on how to lead their teams more effortlessly through a time where Deutsche Telekom undergoing a lot of change, which continuously is adding more pressure on their Leaders.

Our solution

In a joint co-creation Deutsche Telekom and LeadUp designed an Effortless Leadership Journey consisting of the following components:

In the 90-minute EFL-session the Senior Leaders experienced the 4 pillars in our Effortless Leadership Model  (Flow, Interaction, Resilience & Embodiment). They came out of the session with 2 concrete changes to integrate into their life, a new buddy to connect with on a weekly basis, and up to 4 Effortless Leadership practices to role model back towards their team/the organization.

The impact

In the past 18 months, the Effortless Leadership Journey have been rolled out to approximately 800 Senior Leaders, training up to 50 participants online at a time (from across Europe) The average evaluation from the workshops on a scale from 1-10 has been 8,5 which is on the higher end compared to evaluations of other workshops on the Level UP! Platform.

A testimonial from one of the Senior Leaders attending the Effortless Leadership Journey:

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Attending The Effortless Leadership Training was an unexpected and impactful experience for me. As a leader, my interactions with colleagues are driven by instinct, focusing my attention where it’s most needed. This journey resonated deeply with me, reflecting the core principles of my management style. Understanding my team members is fundamental, and identifying tasks that can put them in a flow state is crucial. Flow is immensely powerful, enabling individuals to achieve their best performances. Remarkably, flow can sometimes emerge during team meetings and spontaneous interactions. Being present, actively listening, and making others feel seen and heard is rewarding for everyone involved.

The Resilience Model, a key component of the Effortless Leadership Journey, offers a holistic view of each individual. Investing in our own development is essential as it enhances our ability to support others effectively. I highly recommend every leader at Deutsche Telekom to sign up for this journey.

 

/ Giuseppe Rindone, Vice President, Solution Sales Smart City, Deutsche Telekom

Our collaboration

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Effortless Leadership offers a truly holistic learning journey, demonstrating a deep understanding of the needs and demands of our leadership. This thoughtful approach seamlessly translates into actionable strategies that our leaders can immediately apply to their daily operations. What sets  LeadUp apart is their professionalism and their ability to adapt to our specific needs. Their flexible approach ensured that the collaboration was not only effective but also precisely tailored to our requirements, making the partnership truly unique.

 

Additionally, the consistent promotion of Effortless Leadership within our organization and the continuous follow-up on the implementation of the “Start with Tiny Habits” approach have been invaluable. This proactive effort has been positively received by our leaders and has had a remarkable impact on our company culture.

 

 

/ Duygy Barutcu, Squad Leader, Employee Well-being