Last week, I had the pleasure of joining my long-time client partner, Aneika Joseph,AVP Leadership Development from CAA Club Group (CCG), to speak at the Institute for Performance and Learning (I4PL). Together, we reflected on what has now been a 15-year partnership focused on one thing: building leadership capacity that fuels CCG’s growth and culture.
It’s been a journey filled with experiments, evolution, and a whole lot of learning. And what’s most remarkable is how intentional CCG has been about creating a “talent flywheel” — a system where developing leaders isn’t a one-time initiative, but a self-reinforcing process that keeps momentum going year after year.
When you get that flywheel turning, leadership growth stops being episodic. It becomes cultural.
Here are three lessons from our partnership that every organization looking to sustain leadership development momentum can learn from.
- Be Boring (Yes, Really)
One of the biggest challenges in learning and development is our own attention span. As growth-minded individuals, we love new ideas, new models, new frameworks — and sometimes, we move on to the next shiny thing before the current one has had a chance to take root.
But here’s the truth: if you want lasting culture change, you have to stay consistent.
At CCG, the leadership philosophy hasn’t shifted every few years. The language, the tools, and the core approach have remained the same — even as the organization itself has evolved dramatically. That consistency has created clarity and alignment across their leaders and teams.
As learning professionals, we often get bored of our programs before our learners do. But the real magic happens when messages are repeated, reinforced, and embedded into everyday conversations. When you stick with something long enough, people stop “learning” it and start living it.
Sometimes, the key to real innovation is resisting the urge to change for the sake of change.
- Stay Adaptive While Staying True
Consistency doesn’t mean stagnation. Over the past 15 years, CCG has grown exponentially, expanding its footprint through acquisitions like CAA Manitoba and Echelon Insurance. With growth comes change — new leaders, new teams, new ways of working.
Through all of that, the leadership programs have evolved without losing their foundation. We’ve continuously evaluated what’s working, what needs adjusting, and how the programs can stay relevant to the business.
That balance — being both anchored and agile — is what keeps leadership development sustainable. You hold onto your core, but you flex the edges to meet the moment.
- Build Partnerships, Not Transactions
Another critical piece of the puzzle has been the depth of partnership between CCG and The Roundtable.
Too often, organizations treat external training providers as vendors brought in to offer a series of one-off transactions. Transactional relationships might work well for specialized and targeted development, but leadership development typically requires mindset and behaviour shifts that simply won’t happen in a one-day workshop.
The best leadership development partnerships are built more like those you have with your lawyer, accountant, or agency: long-term, trusted, and invested in your success.
Over 15 years of partnership, our teams have co-created, tested, iterated, and refined programs together. Some ideas have worked beautifully. Others… not so much. But because the relationship is built on trust, candour, and shared purpose, we’ve been able to take smart risks and continuously improve.
That’s what partnership looks like in action — learning together to create better outcomes for the leaders we’re aiming to support and for the organization seeking to improve.
Sustained Leadership Growth Is a Long Game
Leadership development isn’t about quick wins. It’s about building a system that keeps spinning — where every leader you grow helps grow the next one, and where learning becomes a natural part of how the organization operates.
That’s the real definition of a talent flywheel.
And it’s what happens when you stay consistent, stay adaptive, and stay in partnership.
As we head into 2026, we’re inviting HR and L&D leaders to rethink how they’re supporting their high-potential talent. Join us on November 13 for the launch of our 2026 Roundtable Report on High Potential Leaders, and strengthen your key talent strategy.
Get early access to the full report by joining our waitlist and build a Talent Flywheel inside your own organization.
