Leading through complexity: how Cegos transformed leadership development at Generali France

When a newly appointed Director joins the leadership teams of one of Europe’s largest insurance groups, the speed and effectiveness of that transition matters. At Generali France, senior leaders — known internally as the G80 — carry a heavy responsibility for strategic decision-making and organisational change.

Getting leaders up to speed quickly and confidently is not simply a learning and development challenge. It is a business imperative.

In 2024, Generali France partnered with Cegos Bespoke Team to redesign and deliver “Lead & Succeed” — a flagship leadership development program that had run since 2012 but needed to reflect a rapidly transforming business environment and new expectations on leadership posture and vision. The result is a nine-month developmental journey.

Business case for new approach to Leadership Development

By 2024, Generali France’s senior managers were navigating increasing cross-functional complexity, hybrid engagement pressures, and a decisive shift from operational control to coaching-oriented leadership.

The original program, effective in its time, no longer reflected these realities.

Yet Generali France’s Executive Committee continued to sponsor the initiative and remained actively involved. They recognised that a deeper redesign was needed, so updated expectations for the G80 leadership posture and invited Cegos to co-create a program that could meet them.

Cegos’ design methodology: co-creation as a foundation

Cegos began with an immersive co-design session, bringing together its own consultants, Generali France Academy representatives, Executive Committee sponsors, and alumni from previous cohorts.

Using Learning Experience (LX) Design principles, the Generali and Cegos project team, included Executive Committee sponsors, mapped the intended learner journey, identified real organisational issues, and established the behavioural, strategic, and operational objectives that would shape the renewed program’s architecture.

This process generated both pedagogical rigour and collective ownership, both of which were critical for adoption.

Cegos then coordinated a network of specialist partners:

• Foresight collective Le Coup d’Après created preparatory content and facilitated futures-thinking sessions
• University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) hosted the immersive Design Fiction workshop within a dedicated learning expedition on its French Campus with special guests such as start-ups and keynote speakers

Maintaining coherence across these contributors while preserving Cegos’ overall pedagogical vision was central to the program’s success.

Generali France’s Academy noted that Cegos stood out among providers for its understanding of the strategic expectations attached to the G80 population, its disciplined design methodology, and its capacity to craft a coherent arc combining introspection, strategic projection, and practical application. This pedagogical depth was decisive in building internal confidence in the new program.

A Leadership Development journey in 5 phases

The program unfolded across five phases over nine months, incorporating ten full training days per participant. Each phase covered a distinct developmental moment within a single, coherent arc:

• The Takeoff established strategic alignment and cohort identity, anchored by an executive keynote on leading through uncertainty.
• My Leadership was a two-day immersive seminar, drawing on Human Element methodology to help participants examine their habits of inclusion, openness, and control.
• Our Future invited participants to project Generali into 2035 through Design Fiction and Backcasting workshops, generating strategic artefacts that were later presented to the Executive Committee.
• Changes built advanced change-leadership capabilities through cultural assessment, stakeholder mapping, and a structured peer-coaching session.
• The Closing Session brought the full cohort together with all Executive Committee members and the France CEO to present learnings and commit to ongoing leadership practice.

Five co-development sessions – held at various points across the journey – enabled participants to work on real business challenges with peers. Demand was such that the cohort requested a fifth session, which was added later.

Measurable shifts, lasting community

Cegos designed the measurement framework with the same rigour applied to the pedagogy.

Participants completed the same self-positioning diagnostic six months after finishing the program. This allowed them to compare their progress across seven leadership areas: inclusive, inspiring, innovative, strategic, transformation-driven, courageous, and responsible leadership.

Overall, improvement was clear and consistent across all seven areas. Participants described themselves as more deliberate, more confident in communicating with impact, and better equipped to lead through change.

“After only a few sessions, the cohort reached a level of sharing and understanding which allowed us to work a lot on ourselves as individuals and also as a collective,” noted Pierre-Emmanuel Fortune, Head of Operations and Pension Claims.

Beyond individual growth, the program created something more durable: a cohesive leadership community. Peer interactions established during the journey continued months after completion, with participants actively sharing challenges and solutions across functions.

“The program established a direct correspondence between the tools we used and our daily lives. The cohort continues to move forward, exchange, and share on our challenges,” said Armance Chatagner, Head of Treasury and Credit Management.

The decision to launch a new 26/27 cohort — with co-design work already underway involving alumni, sponsors, and the Generali Academy — is the clearest endorsement of all.

If you would like to learn more about how Cegos can support your organisation in designing high-impact leadership development programs, contact us today.

Generali's video testimonial

Find out more about the project in this video where Sylvie Peretti, Member of the Executive Committee in charge of Human Resources and Organisation at Generali and two participants share their insights.