From day-to-day management to long-term leadership

How WBS helped the Executive Committee of Financial Reporting Council (FRC) create space for strategic thinking. 

 

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Executive Committee had a strong foundation: experience leaders with deep expertise across their respective areas. But for CEO Richard Moriarty and his colleagues, the opportunity was to go beyond being a group of functional experts and develop a stronger sense of shared purpose as a collective leadership team.

The primary aim for this customised programme we developed for FRC was to enhance team cohesion and strengthen leadership effectiveness across director members. This development day was not focused on organisational strategy or performance. Rather, it was centred entirely on how the directors function as a leadership group, both inside and outside of formal meeting settings, and how its members can collectively elevate their collaborative practices.

Working with WBS, the FRC Executive Committee took time away from the demands of day-to-day business to reflect on how they worked together, what motivated them individually and collectively, and how they could create greater impact for the organisation.

The result was not simply a day of leadership development, It prompted a fundamental shift in how the Executive Committee approaches its meetings, its priorities and its role in shaping the future of the organisation.

 

Creating a shared sense of purpose

“We have a relatively new executive team and whilst everyone is very strong in their domains, I was keen to ensure we also developed clarity of purpose about how we added value as a collective leadership team,” explains Richard.

The challenge was to create a genuine sense of common purpose and vision, while ensuring the Executive Committee was spending its time on the issues where it could have the greatest organisational impact.

For Richard, this meant creating the opportunity for the team to step back and ask an important question: what should we, as an Executive Committee, be doing that nobody else can or should do?

The WBS session provided the time and environment to explore that question openly.

 

Making space for the conversations that matter

One of the most valuable aspects of the programme was simply having the time and space to have conversations that can easily be pushed aside in the pace of executive life.

“The WBS facilitated session allowed us to explore, in a safe space, our motivations, how to get the best from us, and what we need from others. We don’t get a format for this reflection in our business as usual.”

Expertly facilitated by WBS faculty, the session gave the team permission to pause. Away from the office and the immediate pressures of their roles, they could focus on how they worked together and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities they were facing.

Richard found the experience particularly valuable because these are conversations that leaders often recognise the importance of, but rarely have the time to prioritise.

“We know the conversations are there, but we never end up having them as we are focusing on the task in hand. Allowing the time to have this development opportunity for everyone was huge.”

The safe environment also enabled the team to explore more personal aspects of leadership, including their individual motivations and potential demotivators.

“We all had assumptions about each other and how we operate. To have those tested in an open and safe environment was valuable and enhancing to the team development.”

By sharing experiences and personal drivers, the team developed a better understanding of how to get the best from one another. It also created space for greater openness and vulnerability within the group.

 

Challenging assumptions to strengthen the team

The programme deliberately did not attempt to cover everything in a single day. For Richard this was an important part of its success.

“We deliberately did not try to do too much in one day, because we needed the time and space to really tease out the right conversations.”

Rather than moving quickly through a packed programme, the session focused on creating meaningful discussion and allowing the team to explore the issues that mattered most.

Had the day been filled with too many topics, Richard believes the conversations could have remained superficial, making it harder for the team to translate the experience into meaningful change.

Instead, the approach enabled the Executive Committee to focus on the quality of its conversations and ultimately, on how it could work differently as a leadership team.

 

Reframing the role of the Executive Committee

One of the key outcomes was a renewed focus on how the Executive Committee uses its collective time. The team recognised that too much of its meeting time was being spent on day-to-day management, leaving less opportunity for the longer-term conversations required to shape the organisation's future.

The solution was not simply to increase the number of hours the Executive Committee spent together. Instead, the team looked at where it could delegate and empower others, while retaining the appropriate levels of oversight, accountability and performance management.

“We had a recognition to be more proactive in these meetings, not just day-to-day management, but the strategic vision.”

This led to a practical change in the way the Executive Committee structures its meetings. Rather than attempting to cover operational management and long-term strategic thinking within the same three-hour session, the team now alternates its focus. One meeting is dedicated to day-to-day management, while the next focuses on longer-term strategic discussions. For Richard, this simple change has had a significant impact.

“It’s really all about mindset. It’s a real challenge for individuals to switch from long-term exploratory conversations about strategy to day-to-day business-as-usual conversations within one three-hour meeting.”

By separating the two, the team is better prepared for the type of conversation required.

 

Empowering leadership beyond the Executive Committee

The impact of the programme is extending beyond the Executive Committee itself.

By creating greater clarity around what the senior team needs to own and what can be delegated, the approach is helping to empower colleagues across the organisation.

“People are welcoming the extra empowerment and delegation and we are seeing it trickling down to the teams, which our senior leadership team are hungry for.”

For FRC, this is helping to create a leadership culture where the Executive Committee can focus more deliberately on organisational development, strategic positioning and the future, while giving others the autonomy to lead on operational matters.

The ambition is clear: less time managing the day-to-day, and more time building the organisation for the future.

 

A programme designed around FRC's needs

For Richard, the experience also demonstrated the value of a genuinely bespoke approach.

“The WBS team were professional, discreet, and expertly able to bespoke and tailor the programme to the needs of our organisation.”

Rather than feeling like a standard leadership programme applied to a different organisation, the FRC experience was shaped around the specific dynamics, challenges and ambitions of its Executive Committee.

“We didn’t feel like we were being thrown into a process that could have been designed for any organisation – it felt personal to ours.”

That level of tailoring, combined with expert facilitation and the willingness to create space for meaningful conversations, helped the team move from reflection to practical action.

 

As Richard reflects on the experience, the biggest lesson may be a simple one: effective leadership development does not always come from trying to do more. Sometimes, it comes from creating the space to stop, reflect and have the conversations that are too important to leave to another day.

 

 

On-going programme sponsorship for FRC leadership

The FRC has made an organisational commitment to sponsor participants in leadership roles, to consistently draw value from WBS open programmes through a formal partnership agreement. This creates a consistency of dialogue, that enables ongoing exchange of directed learning for individuals at different stages of their leadership journey. The themes selected have been aligned with the more immediate requirements of the FRC, and focused on the development of broader strategic perspective, enhanced AI leadership capability, and a deeper understanding of behavioural change.

The role of WBS as a partner for the FRC is wider than single-impact development, with a more expansive role that can empower leaders not only to navigate complexity themselves, but also to shape how others adapt, decide and perform. This creates impact well beyond the programme sessions. It strengthens confidence, sharpens judgement, and equips participants with practical approaches they can bring directly into their roles, making the investment a tangible contributor to organisational capability, leadership effectiveness and long-term performance.

 

Are you interested in developing a stronger, more cohesive senior leadership team?

WBS Executive Education works with organisations to design bespoke leadership development experiences around their specific challenges, opportunities and strategic priorities. Get in touch with a member of our team to discuss your business needs.