LSA Global Insights Newsletter: LSA Client Wins Bersin & Associates Leadership Development Excellence Award

June 6, 2010

LSA Client Wins Bersin & Associates Leadership Development Excellence Award

Santa Clara, CA, May 6, 2010 - LSA Global, the premier one-stop global training outsourcing and consulting firm that focuses on achieving measurable business results with a select group of life science, high technology and services industry clients, today announced that their client, Redwood Trust (NYSE: RWT), was selected by Bersin & Associates as the 2010 Learning Leader in the Leadership Development Excellence category. Redwood Trust has looked to LSA Global for their people performance needs since 2005 and began Leadership Development initiatives with LSA in 2007.

The prestigious award recognizes organizations which have developed and implemented best practice approaches to employee learning and talent management resulting in significant business improvement. According to Bersin & Associates, Redwood Trust was saluted “for its integrated leadership development, role realignment, and performance systems—all part of an initiative to change how the company develops talent. The effort includes programs which put emerging executives into actual business challenges.”

According to Russ Silva who heads up LSA’s Leadership Development practice, “Redwood’s Leadership initiative exemplifies LSA’s approach to executive learning and development—driving meaningful business results. In Redwood’s case, the results added up to a multi-million dollar increase to their bottom-line.” While those results are extraordinary for a leadership development initiative, Silva noted they are the result of designing Leadership solutions that are executed within the context of achieving a company’s strategic objectives.

This Action-Learning approach to Leadership Development puts managers and executives into situations that are highly relevant to the current and future success of the individual and the company. The action-learning process is designed around the real work of executives and has a strong results-based format. Silva explains that “LSA’s three foundational programs at Redwood included a web-based Executive Level Enterprise Simulation, a Case-Based Strategic Decision workshop, and an Action Learning/Challenge Assignment that accounted for the positive impact to Redwood’s bottom-line. Each of these programs places participants in situations where they must make executive level decisions and take meaningful executive action. The programs also provide an ideal platform for Senior Executives to share their knowledge, coach, and mentor developing executives.”

Silva continues, “While developing executives’ ability to execute on Redwood’s strategy was a prominent component, institutionalizing Redwood’s unique culture, leadership and organizational values were equally as important. To insure this leadership legacy, LSA has helped executives at all levels improve their coaching capabilities, developed a behavioral 360 degree survey that provides leadership feedback, and developed a performance measurement system that facilitates performance alignment and coaching conversations. The end result is an environment where individuals are responsible for their performance and leaders are true facilitators of learning.”

The Bersin report, “Learning Leaders 2010: Lessons from the Best,” provides an in-depth look at the best practices of the 25 award winning companies, including Redwood Trust in the Leadership Development Excellence category.


About LSA Global
Founded in 1995, LSA Global is a leading performance consulting and training firm that helps high growth technology, services, and life-science companies create a competitive advantage by powerfully aligning their culture and talent with their strategy. Learn more about getting aligned