Aligning BMS World Mission’s Executive Leadership for Strategic Clarity

The Challenge

BMS World Mission, a Christian mission organisation, was at a pivotal juncture in executing its five-year strategy amidst a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA+) global context. The organization’s Executive Director Team (EDT) recognised the need to build strategic alignment, clarify roles, and establish cohesive ways of working to effectively lead BMS towards its polycentric mission vision.

The EDT sought to openly discuss the organisation’s purpose, align behaviours, and focus on key priorities. Achieving this required facilitating candid dialogue, collaboratively managing differences, and uniting the EDT around a shared understanding of the new strategic vision. Furthermore, the EDT needed to address structural and operational challenges to support the polycentric vision and strategy implementation.

The Approach

Tricordant partnered with BMS’s EDT in a comprehensive approach involving a leadership workshop and an organisational structure review. Leveraging our experience in leadership and organisational development, we collaboratively designed tailored interventions to address key issues and build shared understanding.

For the leadership workshop, we utilised Lencioni’s High Performing Teams framework to provide structure for fostering trust, enabling productive conflict, driving commitment and accountability, and focusing the EDT on collective results. Through facilitated exercises and discussions, we supported the EDT in addressing critical questions around BMS’s identity, strategic priorities, and individual roles. Tools such as polarity mapping helped explore and navigate complex tensions and build alignment.

In parallel, we conducted an in-depth review of BMS’s organisational structure and operations. This involved confidential interviews with EDT members, desktop reviews of strategy and operational documents, and facilitated workshops to co-develop design principles and structural options. The review process culminated in a proposed EDT structure aligned with the polycentric vision and strategy, enhancing capacity for culture change, strategy implementation, and internal coordination.

The Results

Through our comprehensive engagement, the BMS EDT achieved:

• Improved trust and understanding as a leadership team.
• Greater clarity on BMS’s strategic framework, implementation plan, and polycentric vision.
• Consensus on key actions to advance the strategy and enable the polycentric shift.
• Enhanced alignment between departmental plans and overall priorities.
• Shared commitment to new ways of working, decision-making, and dialogue.
• A proposed EDT structure to support the polycentric vision, strategy implementation, and organisational development which was approved by the Trustees.

By providing the environment, frameworks, and expertise for this important alignment and restructuring work, Tricordant supported BMS in laying the foundation for continued transformation. With increased strategic clarity, leadership cohesion, and an optimised organisational structure, BMS is well-positioned to advance its mission and navigate future challenges in a challenging context.

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