Duality Leadership: Balancing Execution and Exploration for Sustainable Growth

About AtkinsRéalis previously known as SNC-Lavalin
Le défi du client
AtkinsRéalis is a global engineering and project management company renowned for its ability to navigate complexity and deliver innovative solutions. Headquartered in Canada, the company operates across multiple sectors, including infrastructure, energy, and technology, leveraging its expertise to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Formerly known as SNC-Lavalin, the organization rebranded as AtkinsRéalis in 2023 to reflect its evolution and emphasize a focus on creating sustainable and transformative outcomes. With a strong commitment to operational excellence and innovation, AtkinsRéalis has cultivated a culture that balances execution efficiency with a drive for exploration and growth, enabling it to remain competitive in an ever-changing global landscape.
Le défi du client

The transformative journey from 2019 of an engineering organization that moved from a culture focused on execution and risk management to one that embraces growth, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking. This transition started in required a change in leadership behaviors and the development of a new behavioral framework. The organization focused on resolving dilemmas such as balancing reliable performance with future growth and individual accountability with collaboration. They implemented a “through-through” approach, teaching servant leadership principles and engaging in workshops to define and embed new behaviors.  The importance of top-level sponsorship, honest assessment of current versus desired culture, and the necessity of investing time to build a strong foundation for change.  This success is documented in Duality Leadership At AtkinsRealis: from an Execution to Exploration Growth Culture.

Notre approche du leadership
1RECOGNIZE2RESPECT3RECONCILE4REALIZE

Recognise

Identification and acknowledge the contrasting cultural values and dualities within AtkinsRéalis, such as execution versus exploration and growth. By using Trompenaars’ framework, the leadership recognized the inherent tensions between maintaining operational efficiency and fostering innovation. This phase involved analyzing organizational dynamics to uncover these dualities, which are often perceived as oppositional but can coexist harmoniously when properly managed.

Respect

Demonstrated through the leadership’s commitment to understanding and valuing the differences in perspectives across teams and functions. Rather than suppressing conflicting viewpoints, AtkinsRéalis cultivated an environment where employees could openly express diverse ideas. Respecting these differences enabled the organization to create a platform where both execution-focused and growth-oriented mindsets were appreciated as essential to the company’s long-term success.

Rapprocher

Reconciliation was at the heart of the duality leadership approach towards a Leadership Behavioral Framework. AtkinsRéalis leveraged Trompenaars’ model to move beyond mere acknowledgment of differences, focusing instead on integrating execution and exploration into a cohesive strategy. This was achieved by aligning their culture and processes to embrace both stability and change, using practical tools and frameworks to turn potential conflicts into synergies that drive growth.

Realise

Embedding reconciliations into the organizational culture. By rooting the principles of duality leadership, AtkinsRéalis established a foundation for sustained growth and innovation. The leadership ensured that the reconciled values of execution and exploration were not only part of strategic discussions but also reflected in day-to-day operations and decision-making, enabling the company to navigate complexity with a balanced and adaptive approach.