RFA partnered with Impel Talent to strengthen leadership capability across the organisation following a significant operational setback. Through a bespoke leadership development programme spanning five cohorts from C-suite to N-2, Impel Talent helped leaders develop a shared leadership language, strengthen collaboration across international teams and build the human skills needed to support RFA’s next phase of growth.

Client Overview

RFA operates across teams in Augsburg, Sweden and the UK, bringing together highly technical professionals working towards demanding rocket development and launch objectives.

In an environment where engineering excellence, speed and cross-functional collaboration are critical, strong leadership capability plays an equally important role. As the organisation continued to develop its technical teams, RFA recognised the need to strengthen the human skills required to lead people effectively, collaborate across locations and maintain a high-performance culture.

Working closely with the Head of HR, Impel Talent supported RFA in developing a more consistent leadership approach across multiple organisational levels, from the C-suite through to N-2 leaders.

The Challenge

Following a widely publicised hot-fire test incident that resulted in the loss of a rocket, morale across the organisation was significantly affected.

RFA faced an immediate challenge: reunite the team around a shared mission, rebuild belief and create the conditions needed to move forward quickly towards returning a rocket to the launchpad.

At the same time, many leaders within the organisation had progressed into leadership positions because of their exceptional technical expertise rather than extensive people-management experience.

The challenge therefore extended beyond recovering from a single operational setback. RFA needed to strengthen leadership capability across the organisation and equip technical leaders with the human skills required to:

• Lead teams confidently through uncertainty and change
• Build stronger relationships across international locations
• Create a shared leadership language across organisational levels
• Manage conflict constructively
• Coach and develop their people more effectively
• Strengthen cross-cultural collaboration
• Use emerging technologies such as AI effectively within leadership and decision-making

Building these capabilities became an important part of strengthening both organisational culture and future performance.

Our Approach

Working in partnership with RFA’s Head of HR, Impel Talent designed a bespoke leadership development programme built around our Integrated Intelligent Leader model.

The programme focused on four areas of modern leadership intelligence:

• Emotional Intelligence: Strengthening self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
• Cultural Intelligence: Helping leaders work effectively across teams, locations, cultures and different perspectives.
• Generational Intelligence: Developing stronger coaching, communication, feedback and people-development practices across generations.
• Artificial Intelligence: Helping leaders understand how AI can support productivity and decision-making while allowing leaders to focus more effectively on people.

Rather than delivering leadership development as a standalone training intervention, the programme was designed around practical application through Impel Talent’s three-step approach.

Coaching-Style Workbooks

Each module incorporated guided reflection designed to turn leadership concepts into personal goals and practical behaviours.

1:1 Coaching

Every leader was paired with an external coach who helped them apply their learning within real workplace situations and remain accountable for continued development.

Group Collaboration

Shared sessions gave leaders opportunities to build stronger relationships, exchange perspectives and develop greater alignment across teams and locations.

The programme also incorporated leadership diagnostics and 360 assessments, helping RFA identify underlying leadership and organisational challenges and use those insights to support meaningful behavioural change.

The Impact

Across five cohorts spanning leaders from the C-suite through to N-2, the programme helped establish a common leadership language and strengthen leadership capability throughout the organisation.

Cross-site collaboration between teams in Augsburg, Sweden and the UK improved, supporting stronger relationships and greater productivity across the business.

During this period, RFA moved from the significant setback of losing a rocket during the hot-fire test to having a rocket back on the launchpad in under 18 months, alongside the organisation’s broader efforts to rebuild momentum and performance.

Leaders benchmarked their skills against leadership best practice and reported significantly greater confidence in their ability to lead effectively.

The programme also supported the development and retention of internal talent, with delegates progressing into more senior positions within the organisation.

The reported programme outcomes included:

• 90% positive culture shift
• 8.3/10 leadership effectiveness
• 100% of participants applying the tools within their roles
• 5x growth in leader confidence
• Leadership development spanning five cohorts from C-suite to N-2
• Cultural intelligence development across an organisation representing 55 nationalities

The use of 360 assessment results also provided RFA with actionable insight that could be translated into changes in leadership behaviour, helping move development beyond theory and into measurable organisational practice.

Project Highlights

• 🚀 Five leadership cohorts delivered from C-suite through to N-2
• 🌍 Leadership development supporting international teams across Augsburg, Sweden and the UK
• 🧠 Integrated development across Emotional, Cultural, Generational and Artificial Intelligence
• 📈 90% reported positive culture shift
• 🎯 8.3/10 leadership effectiveness rating
• 💡 100% of participants applying programme tools within their roles
• 📊 5x growth in leader confidence
• 🤝 Shared leadership language established across organisational levels
• 👥 Internal talent retained and developed, with delegates progressing into more senior roles
• 🔄 360 assessments used to support meaningful behavioural and organisational change

Client Testimonial

“Impel Talent have been great at the support they have given our teams. They didn’t just come in to do a leadership program for our Team Leads but they helped us assess and diagnose the root of many of our challenges. They have helped us influence some critical changes with our Board as well.

The team have benefited from the C level down to our N-2 level of leaders and we are very happy with how the leaders have come together using a common language and leadership approach for our employees.

The biggest change has come from using the results from the 360 assessments to drive real change and transformation of behaviours.”

— Katja Eser, Head of HR, RFA

Our Expertise in Action

This partnership demonstrates Impel Talent’s ability to support highly technical, fast-moving organisations where leadership capability must develop alongside technical excellence.

Our strengths include:

• Leadership Diagnostics & Assessment: Using tools including 360 assessments to identify underlying leadership challenges, behavioural patterns and development priorities.
• Bespoke Leadership Development: Designing programmes around the specific organisational context rather than relying on one-size-fits-all leadership training.
• Integrated Leadership Intelligence: Developing emotional, cultural, generational and artificial intelligence as interconnected capabilities for modern leaders.
• Executive & Leadership Coaching: Providing individual coaching that helps leaders translate learning into practical behavioural change.
• Cross-Cultural Leadership Development: Strengthening collaboration and alignment across international teams, locations and cultures.
• Leadership Through Change: Equipping leaders with the confidence, human skills and practical tools required to lead teams through periods of uncertainty, pressure and transformation.

Through the partnership, RFA strengthened leadership capability across multiple levels of the organisation while building a more consistent leadership language across its international teams.

By combining diagnostics, bespoke development, individual coaching and collaborative learning, Impel Talent helped create the conditions for leaders to become more confident, connected and effective, supporting RFA as it rebuilt momentum and continued progressing towards its wider organisational and mission objectives.