SoulCycle — Case Study

OVERVIEW

This heavily expanding and fast-growing fitness company needed a pipeline of powerful new leaders to fulfill on their expansion needs. Senior management wanted studio managers to be capable of growing and developing thriving teams, and wanted leaders at all levels to create an inspired, mission-driven workforce. Individual contributors were deeply committed to high-performance, the company mission and customer joy, but lacked the leadership acumen to nurture vibrant teams underneath them. Senior leadership wanted to raise the bar for turning new and existing managers into exceptional people-leaders who could grow and develop other leaders, produce outstanding results within their teams, and create teams of happy and thriving individuals.

APPROACH

ThinkHuman created a set of customized, highly experiential leadership development modules. Trainings were conducted in bite-sized learning sessions so that that new behaviors and ideas were naturally integrated into culture and performance management over time.

• Communication that Counts – Hands on practicum focused on delivering feedback in a graceful and effective way that elevates communication and synergy in the team. Providing positive and negative feedback in real-time, and feedback on an issue that has been mounting over time.
• Empty the Bucket – Unprecedented sessions for leaders to elicit and receive direct, honest and high-impact communication from their team about what their team needs to thrive from other departments, each other, the leader conducting the session and company leadership. Establish a new base line of open, honest and productive communication that elevates team performance and eliminates gossip and back channel communication.
• Soulful Leadership — Equip and empower leaders to most effectively inspire and lead teams into the future. Topics explored include – role clarity, expectation setting, the “why” behind great leadership, a culture of accountability and performance management. New leaders developed and oriented toward; setting a vision, empowering and inspiring maximum contribution and engagement by knowing and building upon individual strengths, connecting individual to company mission, praising publicly and leading by example.
• Developing Your People — Train people-leaders to collaboratively create, manage and fulfill development plans that empower each team member and provide a clear pathway for growth in line with both company and personal development goals. Orient the attention of leaders toward developing and growing team members as a matter of their own success. Instill a corporate value that people are thriving in their lives and in their jobs as a way of doing business. Topics explored include – new tools and ways of thinking to approach everyday challenges and stressors in a way that not only produces great outcomes but leaves the individual and/or team’s well-being front and center, and how to maintain one’s own joy in the face of a high intensity/high results expectations’ environment.

RESULTS

• Developed a cadre of strong new leaders who supported thriving individuals and teams.
• Created the pipeline – ongoing developing and exporting of leaders to other parts of the organization to support expansion.
• Delivered exceptional services and experiences to customers, vendors, and colleagues. (Specific result, customer joy, feedback?)
• Achieved year-over-year doubling in location expansion fully equipped with highly effective leaders.