Beginning with OneWeb Satellites in 2020 and continuing with Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Impel Talent built a five-year leadership development partnership designed to strengthen leadership capability, improve cross-cultural collaboration and retain critical talent across international teams. Through seven EMERGE cohorts, leadership diagnostics, individual coaching and strategic alignment work, leaders from C-level to N-3 developed the confidence and human skills needed to lead effectively in a highly technical and rapidly evolving aerospace environment.

Client Overview

At the beginning of Impel Talent’s relationship in 2020, OneWeb Satellites was a joint venture between Airbus and OneWeb, established to design and manufacture satellites for the OneWeb constellation, which was developed to comprise up to 900 low-earth orbit satellites providing global connectivity.

The organisation operated across an international footprint, with satellite manufacturing in Florida, USA, and design and support teams based in Toulouse, France.

Now operating as Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, the business sits within a highly technical aerospace environment where engineering excellence, collaboration and effective leadership are critical to delivering against demanding operational and programme objectives.

With teams working across continents and many technically accomplished employees progressing into leadership positions, the organisation recognised the importance of developing the human skills required to lead people as effectively as they led technical work.

The Challenge

In 2020, OneWeb Satellites was navigating a period of significant organisational disruption.

The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with Chapter 11 proceedings affecting one of its shareholders, created considerable uncertainty across the business. Coming out of this period of change, the organisation needed to retain critical talent while continuing to deliver against demanding technical and operational deadlines.

At the same time, a number of employees had progressed into leadership roles because of their exceptional technical expertise, often with limited formal leadership experience.

The organisation wanted to invest in, upskill and unify its leadership team while creating a more consistent approach to leadership across its international operations.

Leaders needed to strengthen their ability to:

• Lead and develop people with greater confidence
• Build stronger emotional intelligence
• Collaborate effectively across the United States and France
• Navigate cultural differences and cross-regional working
• Provide meaningful feedback and coaching
• Build stronger relationships across teams
• Make decisions with greater confidence
• Role-model effective leadership behaviours throughout the organisation
• Create greater alignment around shared organisational goals

The challenge therefore extended beyond traditional leadership training. Airbus needed a development approach that could strengthen individual capability while also influencing culture, collaboration, retention and organisational performance.

Our Approach

Impel Talent began working with the organisation in August 2020, initially delivering the EMERGE Leadership Programme to a cohort of 16 leaders.

The first programme was delivered over six months and incorporated nine leadership development modules, customised workbooks, individual coaching and group learning sessions designed to encourage cross-regional collaboration.

What began as a single leadership programme developed into a five-year strategic partnership from 2020 to 2025, ultimately spanning seven EMERGE cohorts from C-level through to N-3.

Our approach evolved around several interconnected elements.

Leadership Diagnostics

Diagnostics conducted from N-1 established a baseline for development and helped identify the genuine leadership gaps within the organisation rather than relying on assumptions.

This allowed Impel Talent to design development around the strengths, challenges and requirements of individual leaders and the wider organisation.

EMERGE Leadership Programme

The EMERGE programme focused heavily on the core capabilities of Emotional Intelligence, with development centred around:

• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Management

These capabilities were embedded throughout the programme and applied directly to real leadership situations.

The initial programme included nine modules designed to bridge the gaps identified through diagnostics and strengthen both individual and collective leadership capability.

Individual Coaching

Every programme delegate was paired with an external coach.

Rather than limiting development to formal training sessions, coaching created a confidential space for leaders to reflect on challenges, receive independent feedback and apply their learning to real workplace situations.

Impel Talent’s coaches brought relevant leadership and industry experience, helping delegates connect leadership theory with the realities of managing people in demanding technical environments.

The coaching relationship also created accountability, encouraging leaders to practise new behaviours consistently and translate learning into lasting behavioural change.

Cross-Regional Collaboration

Group learning brought leaders from different locations together, particularly across the United States and France.

This provided an opportunity to address cultural differences, strengthen relationships and develop greater cultural intelligence across international teams.

By mixing cohorts across locations, leaders were able to build stronger connections and transform areas of friction into more productive collaboration.

Vision & Mission Alignment

As the partnership developed, Impel Talent also facilitated a dedicated Vision & Mission exercise with leadership.

The process helped align senior leaders around a shared vision, mission and set of values, providing greater clarity and a common direction for the organisation.

Ongoing Performance Support

Leadership development continued beyond the formal EMERGE cohorts.

Individual performance support and ongoing coaching helped leaders remain accountable for applying their learning in real time.

Regular engagement also enabled Impel Talent to gather insights from leaders and provide recommendations to the organisation, creating a two-way partnership in which leadership development could inform broader organisational improvements.

The Impact

Across the five-year partnership, Impel Talent delivered seven EMERGE cohorts spanning C-level through to N-3, helping embed stronger leadership behaviours across multiple levels of the organisation.

Leaders benchmarked their capabilities against leadership best practice and reported becoming more confident and effective in their roles.

Participants were able to apply leadership tools and methodologies directly within their day-to-day work, with improvements reported in areas including confidence, decision-making, coaching, communication and people leadership.

Leadership behaviours also began to cascade through the organisation as senior leaders role-modelled the approaches developed through the programme.

A particularly important outcome was the improvement in collaboration and cultural intelligence between teams in the United States and France.

Bringing leaders from different sites together through shared cohorts helped turn areas of conflict into stronger collaboration, with improved cultural intelligence contributing directly to increased productivity between locations.

The partnership also delivered significant talent retention outcomes.

90% of key talent remained with the organisation for at least two years following the programme, with some individuals remaining for as long as four years.

The programme demonstrated the wider organisational value of investing in leadership development. By giving technically accomplished leaders the tools, coaching and support required to become stronger people leaders, Airbus strengthened leadership capability while supporting engagement, collaboration and retention.

Project Highlights

• 🚀 Five-year leadership development partnership from 2020 to 2025
• 👥 Seven EMERGE cohorts delivered from C-level through to N-3
• 🎯 Relationship established in August 2020, beginning with an initial cohort of 16 leaders
• 🧠 Nine-module leadership development programme informed by leadership diagnostics
• 🤝 External coaching provided to every programme delegate
• 🌍 Cross-cultural leadership development connecting teams across the United States and France
• 🧭 Shared Vision & Mission exercise delivered with senior leadership
• 📈 Increased leadership confidence and capability
• 🔄 Leadership behaviours role-modelled from senior leadership through multiple organisational levels
• 🌐 Improved cultural intelligence and collaboration between international teams
• 📊 90% of key talent retained for at least two years following the programme
• ⏳ Up to four years of retention achieved in some cases

Client Testimonial

“The thing that sets Impel apart is really the time they take to build the relationship with you as a company, and then providing solutions that are custom to what we’re doing. We really see working with Impel Talent as a partnership rather than just a provider of our leadership training.”

— Damen Tolley, HR Director, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense

Our Expertise in Action

This partnership demonstrates Impel Talent’s ability to build long-term leadership development programmes within highly technical, international organisations where leadership capability, cultural intelligence and talent retention directly influence organisational performance.

Our strengths include:

• Leadership Diagnostics & Assessment: Establishing a clear baseline for development and identifying genuine capability gaps before designing interventions.
• Bespoke Leadership Development: Creating programmes around the organisation, its leaders and its specific challenges rather than applying a standardised training model.
• Emotional Intelligence Development: Strengthening self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management as practical leadership capabilities.
• Executive & Leadership Coaching: Providing personalised coaching that helps leaders translate learning into sustainable behavioural change.
• Cross-Cultural Leadership Development: Strengthening collaboration between international teams and helping leaders work more effectively across cultures, locations and perspectives.
• Leadership Alignment: Bringing senior leaders together around a shared vision, mission and values to create greater organisational clarity.
• Talent Retention Through Development: Helping organisations retain high-value talent by demonstrating meaningful investment in leadership development and career growth.
• Long-Term Performance Support: Extending development beyond formal programmes through coaching, accountability and continued application of leadership learning.

What began in 2020 as a leadership programme for an initial cohort of 16 leaders developed into a five-year partnership spanning seven EMERGE cohorts and multiple levels of the organisation.

Through diagnostics, structured development, personalised coaching, cross-cultural learning and leadership alignment, Impel Talent helped Airbus U.S. Space & Defense build more confident leaders, strengthen collaboration across international teams and create a leadership culture capable of supporting both its people and its long-term organisational performance.