Objective

To align leadership approaches and enhance team cohesion across ComfortDelGro Australia’s executive team, ensuring consistent leadership styles and fostering a culture that supports long-term business success.

Challenge

ComfortDelGro is one of the world’s largest land transport companies operating in 12 countries and its head office in Singapore. The business includes bus, taxi, car rental and leasing, automotive engineering services and non-emergency patient transport services.

When the Singapore office initially established ComfortDelGro Australia, the business structure was set up with state-based CEOs rather than a national structure under an Australian CEO.  This led to a successful but slightly disjointed and misaligned national business.

Soon after appointing an Australian CEO, a need for consistency and alignment across the key states was recognised. The new CEO was also keen to improve team performance and cohesion across different regions (NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia).

With the recent acquisition of A2B (Cabcharge) in April 2024, ComfortDelGro Australia faced the additional challenge of integrating two distinct leadership teams. The need to quickly establish rapport, align leadership styles, and build a shared culture among the expanded executive team was critical for seamless operations and future growth.

Solution

Beginning in 2022, to create a unified leadership approach, the executive team participated in a series of collaborative and practical workshops, in addition to targeted group and individual coaching sessions to clarify future goals and the options available to reach them:

1. Executive Team Workshop: The initial work with the Executive Leadership Team began in 2022. The aim of this initial work was to run a future-focused workshop to maximise the alignment of leaders across the organisation. Taking the time to come together in person to create a shared vision for the future, tapping into the rich diversity of thinking and communication styles across the group, and identifying potential synergies across states for a more holistic approach was both a positive and galvanising step. This workshop also targeted key leadership skills identified by the group as critical to future success, including learning frameworks such as the Cynefin model for decision-making, situational leadership, leadership coaching skills based on the GROW coaching model, the Steople BEARS framework for having difficult conversations and strategies to effectively lead change.
2. Group Coaching: A total of eight sessions were scheduled across the next two years, designed to reinforce learnings and adapt strategies as the team evolved. These coaching sessions were scheduled regularly and offered a consistent and supportive structure to help the group stay focused on the achievement of their agreed future priorities. The sessions were designed to empower expansive thinking and the identification of new ideas to make further progress, sharing learnings from across leaders and states to foster a whole-of-business mindset and approach.
3. Building Cohesion with the HBDI®: During the Group Coaching sessions various new needs were identified and discussed. Whilst most of the focus in the early stages was on the leadership capabilities of the Executive Team members and the alignment of their approaches to creating their desired culture, it became apparent that the team needed to also work on becoming a more cohesive team through building a deeper understanding of each other and to learn how to leverage the diversity within the team. The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®) was introduced. The team members all received individual profiles, which were used to gain a deeper understanding of each other’s thinking preferences and how they were both similar to and different from each other. This knowledge and understanding were used to find ways to adapt their communication approaches to leverage their differences and their strengths. A group profile was also produced that helped them understand their strengths and gaps as a team. Commitments were made to build and develop a more diverse and cohesive team.
4. Individual Executive Coaching for The Australian CEO: To maximise the success of the program of work, and to keep the agreed priorities at the top of the agenda, Nick also committed to a customised coaching program. This program was aligned with the broader program of work while supporting personal leadership growth.

Engagement and cascade

Engagement across the group and the broader organisation was prioritised through regular group coaching and individual development sessions. Once the Executive Team members had begun to embed the leadership frameworks into their daily habits and behaviours, they were encouraged to cascade these approaches by coaching their direct reports using the skills learned, fostering a coaching culture within their teams. This was to support communication, transparency, and trust and to strengthen manager relationships across the business.

Acquisition of A2B (Cabcharge)

1. By April 2024, the ComfortDelGro Executive Leadership Team was highly cohesive and functioning very well as a united and aligned leadership team. At this point, they acquired Australia’s largest taxi booking and dispatch services company A2B (previously known as Cabcharge). Clearly there was a need to develop a clear and deliberate plan to integrate these two businesses together for mutual benefit.
2. Firstly, it was important to understand the current state of play. In addition to initial discovery conversations between Steople and ComfortDelGro, it was clear that the group would benefit from a more thorough understanding of the communication and thinking styles underlying how the team work together, and across their shared priorities. This would help to create a strong foundation for agreeing on future priorities and strategies for effective teamwork.
3. An assessment was conducted to identify key areas of strength and challenge within the executive team, including how different leadership styles interact within the Australian team and the dynamics within the newly combined teams from ComfortDelGro and A2B. Given the success of the HBDI in building team cohesion with the ComfortDelGro team, it was again used as a foundational tool to gauge thinking styles and foster a shared language among team members.
4. Integration Workshop: A kick-off workshop was facilitated by Steople with the aim of beginning to integrate the two leadership teams. The workshop utilised the HBDI model to provide an understanding of whole-brain thinking, create a sense of how the team could effectively connect and leverage strengths, and open up conversations around differences and challenges that required focus. This helped to create an environment where important issues and challenges could be tabled openly and honestly, helping the team to work constructively through differences and toward a more unified outlook.

Results

The program successfully aligned leadership styles across ComfortDelGro Australia, leading to enhanced cohesion and performance. Key outcomes included:

1. Consistent Leadership Practices: The use of agreed models and frameworks created a common thinking frame and language across the leadership team, building a more consistent approach to decision-making, communication, and leadership. This created a highly aligned and unified culture and ultimately improved outcomes for the team and the business.
2. Improved Executive Team Cohesion: The HBDI tool facilitated a shared language and understanding among diverse teams, enhancing communication and collaboration.
3. Successful Integration of A2B Leadership Team: The rapid integration of A2B’s leadership team was achieved with minimal friction, leveraging HBDI insights to build rapport and a unified culture.

Overall, the initiative reinforced ComfortDelGro Australia’s leadership capabilities, driving a stronger, more cohesive executive team and a business prepared for future challenges.

Ready to align your leadership team and drive greater cohesion across your organisation? Contact Steople today to learn how our tailored workshops and coaching programs can transform your leadership and set your business up for long-term success.