When IHG set out to improve performance across its global business, they didn’t start with new strategy decks, slogans, or mandates from on high.
They started with a leadership shift.
Across functions and levels, they asked: What are we practicing as leaders and is it helping us move forward?
This snapshots what was learned, what changed, and what leadership practices made the difference.
The Problems They Were Up Against
- Culture wasn’t keeping up with strategy
There was growing clarity that the current culture – while collegial and stable – wasn’t creating the kind of performance edge the business needed. - Accountability was inconsistent
KPIs and metrics existed, but weren’t being reinforced consistently across teams. Some teams hit goals. Others didn’t. Few had meaningful follow-up. - Leadership felt top-heavy
Senior executives carried the load on vision and execution. Meanwhile, mid-level managers were waiting for direction instead of leading change themselves.
What Changed and the Leadership Practices Behind It
- Naming the Gap
- While working with CLA, IHG’s top 200 leaders developed a shared understanding of the gap between their current culture and the culture needed for high performance.
- Participants began speaking more honestly and precisely about what was getting in the way.
- Culture conversations became specific, not vague, and connected to results.
Lesson: You can’t close a gap you haven’t named. Getting honest about culture created clarity and urgency.
- Keeping Work at the Center
- Performance conversations shifted from abstract updates to focused dialogue on what was working and what wasn’t.
- In one example, an entire hour of a leadership meeting was spent exploring where teams were failing – Not to shame anyone, but to learn together.
- Teams started using business outcomes as the anchor for leadership conversations.
Lesson: When those practicing leadership focus on real work – not politics or optics – teams follow their lead.
- Distributing Leadership
- Managers across all levels began to step up. Leadership became a shared responsibility, not just something that flowed down from the top.
- Teams engaged directly in conversations to improve business delivery, rather than waiting for HQ to intervene.
Lesson: Leadership at scale requires leaders at every level.
- Aligning Rewards with Reality
- Bonus structures were redesigned to reinforce the business results that mattered most.
- Hiring shifted: instead of defaulting to internal candidates, they brought in outside experts with a proven track record of driving change.
Lesson: Structure signals value. When rewards and hiring practices aligned with strategy, performance followed.
- Naming the Elephants
- Teams began speaking what was previously left unspoken in the room with more confidence and skill.
- Difficult conversations became more regular, less personal, and more productive.
Lesson: Avoiding hard conversations slows progress. Having them builds trust and unlocks learning.
What Came of It
- Clearer alignment on what culture change looked like and why it mattered
- More accountability around performance.
- A common language around leadership challenges and adaptive work.
- A record-breaking quarter this Spring. The best IHG has ever had!
Final Thought: Change Follows Practice
IHG didn’t transform overnight. But by changing what leaders practiced, how they talked, decided, rewarded, hired, and confronted challenges, they built sustained momentum.
Leadership isn’t a trait. It’s a series of choices and behaviors. And when those behaviors shift across a system, real change becomes possible.