Elevating PUMA’s managers for agile leadership

The Opportunity: Developing Stronger Managers

In recent years, PUMA has navigated a dynamic market landscape, demonstrating resilience and a commitment to sustained growth. While challenges persist, the company continues to make strong progress, reinforcing its position for future success. Manager enablement rose to the top of priorities for the people team and would need to lean into resilience, equipping leaders with the skills to build strong teams that can navigate challenges and emerge even stronger when the market rebounds. During periods of uncertainty, employee turnover tends to rise, making it even more critical to invest in leadership, culture, and retention strategies. 

That's where Electives comes in—a modern learning and development platform dedicated to helping people grow with the vision that learning should be fun. With a shared passion for growth and innovation, our teams collaborated to design a 9-part learning series, tailored specifically for PUMA’s leadership development needs.

Together, the partnership aimed to ensure managers walked away with practical tools to empower their teams while gaining the confidence and skills needed to navigate challenges, drive engagement, and cultivate a positive workplace culture.

The Solution: A Leadership Learning Series

The people team at PUMA wanted leaders to empower those around them by fully embracing PUMA's core values: Bravery, Confidence, Determination, and Joy. These values are not just words; they are embedded in performance reviews and are truly lived by the people. To bring this vision to life, they needed programming that could seamlessly connect with these values, inspiring leaders to integrate them into their daily interactions. 

The cohort consisted of 75 managers from North America, most overseeing two or more direct reports, making them a key audience for leadership development as they directly influence team performance and organizational culture. Participants came from a variety of teams, creating a valuable opportunity to build cross-departmental relationships. Managers were invited to participate in at least 7 of the classes to earn a certificate, ensuring commitment and engagement. Every class was live, delivered over Zoom in 60–90-minute increments, and structured as an interactive workshop to maximize learning. 

Electives and PUMA met in person to strategize the matching of competencies to instructors, knowing how important it was to bring a variety of perspectives into the program. The people team was seeking instructors who could offer fresh insights and match PUMA’s energy, whether that be an athlete, a Wharton Business School professor, a former product leader at a startup, or even a former CEO, to name a few. Each instructor brought their unique approach and expertise, aligning with the key competencies we aimed to address: building trust, ensuring alignment, supporting engagement, and boosting productivity. By carefully selecting instructors who could speak to these competencies, we ensured the training would resonate with PUMA’s leaders and meet their development needs.

To craft a seamless learning experience, instructors were brought together to align on PUMA’s goals. While each instructor brought a unique perspective, the sessions were intentionally woven together to build on one another. Instead of isolated lessons, the series functioned as an interconnected course, reinforcing key themes across sessions.

This thoughtful approach set the stage for an impactful learning experience. In the opening keynote, the Head of the U.S. Cross-Country Ski Team spoke about the importance of team connectedness and the power of having a clear philosophy to guide decision-making and collaboration. Another standout moment came from a former school leader who emphasized accountability in management, beginning his session with a personal touch, sharing a photo of his daughter proudly wearing a PUMA soccer jersey.

The Results 

The program fostered a collaborative mindset, helping managers build relationships and develop a growth-focused approach. After attending the course, 92% of learners said that the session would help them become more effective managers at PUMA. They valued the relevant topics, relatable instructors, and hearing from diverse points of view each time. The series NPS exceeded industry training benchmarks, with three sessions scoring over 73.

The program saw strong engagement, with an average class size of just over 30 learners per session, allowing for a personalized and interactive learning experience. The 76% registration-to-attendance conversion further demonstrates the participants’ commitment to the program, showing that while most managers prioritized the sessions they enrolled in, emerging challenges sometimes impacted their ability to attend. This high conversion rate reflects the value participants placed on the content and the importance of the skills being taught. Sessions were also recorded and available for playback for folks who missed them.

Aligned with the core value of Confidence, success was defined early on and measured by managers developing the skills to navigate difficult conversations, moving from avoidance to proactive problem-solving.

The learners demonstrated their increase in confidence:

I liked that what I learned today was for self-improvement so that I can in turn be a better leader and share my learnings. The fact that I was able to take away actionable items that I can start incorporating into my routine right now leaving the class is inspiring.

The one lesson I think of most often is from Part 8: Delegation. “If a task is routine, it is not growing my skills anymore. It can be delegated to help grow my direct report.”

The specific lesson helped me elevate my direct report! I trust her, I know she does a great job. Realizing that my previous boss did this with me, and I appreciate her so much for doing it, I needed to let go and delegate these tasks to help my direct report grow. Since this training, I have been a better leader and received this feedback…I would highly recommend it to colleagues! Thank you for having me be a part of it!

And reaffirmed the powerful mix of perspectives:

The series provided a well-balanced mix of focus areas. Some sessions served as valuable refreshers, enhanced by expertise from other fields (e.g., Delegation), while others introduced entirely new perspectives (e.g., Coaching for Performance and Super Productive).

I appreciated the session lengths—they were concise enough to fit into a busy schedule yet comprehensive enough to be informative and allow for meaningful interaction with the presenters. The diversity of presenters and their varied presentation styles added to the experience. Some took a strategic and technical approach to addressing challenges, while others shared relatable life and work experiences, offering practical insights.

Each speaker and seminar I attended had a different energy and perspective on successful leadership. It wasn’t always easy to carve out the time, but I came away believing it was a worthwhile investment in myself.

The team is excited to build on the success of the first cohort by launching a second cohort of new leaders in the spring of 2025. This series will feature a mix of returning instructors, who resonated strongly with participants, and new instructors who will introduce fresh perspectives. This approach will ensure the program remains relevant and responsive to evolving needs.

Looking forward, learners will have access to the Electives AI Simulation product to drive post-class skill application. Enabling participants to practice and continue developing their skills will make the program even more impactful.

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