Run over three years for top Executive talent, The League, a high-performance leadership program, was developed specifically for Telstra by Maximus. The League challenged the organisation’s best and brightest leaders to become more, both in work and in life. Developing purposeful leaders able to envisage many horizons of opportunity for Telstra, The League equipped them with the capabilities to drive the business forward.
Organisations the size of Telstra have no shortage of leadership roles – the top 25 of 2000 General Managers were selected each year for rapid development to step up to Executive level. That was the question posed by Telstra to Maximus – how to equip these GM’s with deep strategic and market understanding, and the courage to challenge the status quo. Our solution was an intensive, world-class, 12-month experience so successful it was delivered to three separate cohorts over a three-year period.
The League was designed to align with Telstra’s leadership capabilities of customer focus, personal leadership and strategic leadership – it developed the whole person, the leader within. It was both immersive and challenging with cohorts going on to have great impact across the market.
Each General Manager partook in an individualised learning journey as part of a diverse cohort drawn from different Telstra functions and geographies. The core of the program was a number of residential experiences in Australia. The year culminated in an immersive overseas study tour that connected participants with world-renowned academics, thought leaders and disruptors.
The content delivered in The League balanced theory with exposure and application using multiple interactive delivery platforms. In between residential sessions participants received one-on-one executive coaching and worked on real business opportunity projects.
A total of 45 of the 70 General Managers were promoted within a short window of time. Telstra also benefited from the direct application of what participants learned, with nine business unit strategy reviews conducted using the new tools and methods.
Of the 33 strategic and operational business opportunities developed during The League, four high-impact projects were presented to an executive panel. The League, in its essence, was not a program, but a passport to success.
“By far the best, most disruptive learning experience I have ever been involved with. It was incredibly inspiring — theoretical and practical at the same time.”
– Participant, The League
