Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s Story: Building Better Leaders Faster

Background

Wallenius Wilhelmsen at a glance

• Over 8,200 employees
• Offices located in 28 countries cross the world
• 125 vessels servicing 15 trade routes to 6 continents

The Wallenius Wilhelmsen group is a market leader in roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) shipping and vehicle logistics, managing the distribution of cars, trucks, rolling equipment, and breakbulk to customers around the globe. The organization’s overall mission is to lead the way to connected, sustainable supply chains.   

To support its growth strategy and future vision, Wallenius Wilhelmsen recognized the need to invest in its top talent. Guided by the belief that strong leadership drives lasting success, the organization launched a targeted initiative to develop and empower future business leaders.  

Challenges

Wallenius Wilhelmsen wanted to create a leadership development initiative to address several key organizational priorities:  

• Eliminate siloes and create stronger cross-functional collaboration across global teams. 
• Contribute to the organization’s succession plan and build better leaders faster. 
• Put the organization in a position to achieve the goal of becoming an integrated supply chain partner through effective leadership.

We were looking for an extraordinary special development program for our leaders to help to carry this organization forward into the future,”– Jill Melnyk, Vice President of Organizational Development & Talent Acquisition 

Solution

To address these challenges, Wallenius Wilhelmsen partnered with Bluepoint to create The Leadership Development Program (LDP), a year-long blended learning experience. This global initiative empowers senior, cross-functional leaders with the skills to drive business strategy, embody organizational values, and successfully secure the company’s future.   

The program goes beyond traditional training—it’s an immersive leadership journey designed to unlock natural strengths and fuel potential from within. Each aspect is intentionally selected to develop the leaders themselves, as well as others, ensuring they walk away with a well-balanced leadership skillset.  

Built with a consistent core structure, the Leadership Development Program offers the flexibility to evolve alongside shifting leadership challenges and business priorities. While the foundational design has remained stable, the content has been continuously refined over time to reflect changing organizational needs and ensure ongoing relevance and impact across cohorts. 

I love that the program is flexible enough to change focus and be on point with what’s happening now.”– Helen Guler, Senior Manager of Organizational Development

Program Launch  

The program kicks off with a dynamic virtual session where participants, their managers, program graduates, and the CEO come together to explore the program’s structure, benefits, and the organization’s strong commitment to leadership development. 

Assessment   

Bluepoint conducted a 360-degree assessment to collect well-rounded feedback from supervisors, peers, direct reports, and other key stakeholders, helping identify areas for growth and potential blind spots in leadership. 

In-Person Workshops  

Bluepoint designed and delivered two 3-day in-person workshops. 

Lead and Grow Yourself Workshop 

The first series of in-person sessions, “Lead & Grow Yourself,” equipped participants with the skills and insights to fuel their personal development.   

Lead & Grow Others Workshop  

The second series of in-person sessions focused on equipping participants with the skills necessary to effectively lead and develop their teams.   

“Networking with WalWil peers and teammates from around the globe is an extraordinary opportunity. The content of the course allows us to discuss values, goals and leadership.”- Program Participant

Virtual Workshops  

For each cohort, Wallenius Wilhelmsen selects the most relevant virtual workshop topics to address current business challenges and leadership opportunities. Some current topics include: 

• Psychological Safety 
• Inclusive Leadership 
• Global Cultural Awareness 
• Leading Change 

Learning Application Trios  

Learning application trios are interactive, small-group sessions designed to help participants engage in coach-like conversations and challenge each other to keep their development commitments. These trios were purposely configured of leaders from diverse groups and functions to encourage the formation of new relationships and share a wide range of personal experiences.  

One-on-One Coaching   

To provide individual support on their learning journey, each leader worked with a Bluepoint leadership coach. These personalized development conversations help to apply key learnings, set actionable goals, and create intentional checkpoints in their development plans.   

Micro eLearning    

Bluepoint created two micro eLearning programs to support learning reinforcement for both in-person workshops. Participants received a series of short, strategically designed lessons to deepen their understanding of the key concepts covered during the workshops, reflect on their current leadership practices, and implement new behaviors at work. 

Capstone Event: Making Great Leadership a Habit  

This final virtual session offers participants an intentional opportunity to reflect on their leadership development journey, share key takeaways with peers, and solidify their commitment to continuous growth. Guided by a Bluepoint facilitator, the session encourages deep reflection and dynamic discussions to help participants explore how to apply their insights and continue their learning journey.   

Strategic Alignment

Central to the Leadership Development Program was the goal of cultivating a core group of high-potential employees who consistently reflect on, discuss, and demonstrate effective leadership. To support this vision, Wallenius Wilhelmsen worked with Bluepoint to define what “great leadership” looks like within their unique context—resulting in five clearly articulated leadership expectations, collectively known as SHAPE. 

These expectations served not only as guiding principles but also as the foundational learning objectives intentionally embedded throughout the program:

1. Set the strategic direction and execute on goals.

Leaders were challenged to bring their real business and leadership challenges into the workshops and other learning events. Facilitators and coaches guided learners through thought-provoking questions and interactive activities to tie learning back to personal, team, and organizational goals.

2. Help people maximize their talents and enable teams to succeed.

The “Lead and Grow Others” workshop helped leaders refine their ability to coach, develop, and inspire their teams. By strengthening key interpersonal skills, these leaders can play an active role in unlocking potential and preparing others for future success.

3. Adapt and embrace change with curiosity.

As the business evolves, Wallenius Wilhelmsen needs their leaders to embrace uncertainty and guide their teams with confidence. The “Leading Change” workshop provided actionable strategies to create direction, accelerate mastery, and coach others through change.

4. Promote safe, diverse, and inclusive workplaces.

Psychological safety is a top priority for Wallenius Wilhelmsen, given their industry. To strengthen their safety culture, Bluepoint designed a custom workshop to address challenges, assess team performance, and commit to stronger practices.

5. Encourage collaboration and engage in open communication.

The LDP program was also designed to support the end-to-end supply chain strategy by breaking down siloes within the organization. Through an integrated approach of cross-functional, global cohorts, leaders are able to align their leadership approaches and philosophies. It also serves as a powerful tool to strengthen and build relationships that might not have been established without the program’s existence.

We really valued how responsive and flexible Bluepoint was, as well as the breadth of content that could be customized to our organizational needs,”– Helen Guler, Senior Manager of Organizational Development 

Organizational Adoption

A key driver of the Leadership Development Program’s success at Wallenius Wilhelmsen is the strong, sustained support it receives across the organization—from senior executives to direct managers and alumni. 

• Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s CEO virtually kicks off each cohort, sharing his enthusiasm, setting expectations, and underscoring the value of strong leadership. 

• Executive sponsors also play a key role, introducing each virtual session and offering valuable context and encouragement for the journey the participants are about to embark on.  

• Participants’ direct managers actively support their development as well, through coaching and ongoing conversations that reinforce learning throughout the journey. 

Over the years, excitement for the program has only intensified, leading to a steady influx of nominations. Wallenius Wilhelmsen allows for a fluctuation of the total cohort size to accommodate the demand for each cohort, ranging from 25 to 35 participants per cohort.   

“I feel the whole organization and preparation that went into this LDP from the organizer to the coaches and sessions were second to none. I am very grateful to have been selected to take part in this development program.”- Program Participant 

Results

Overall, the leadership development program has successfully created a more cohesive and prepared pipeline of global leaders, aligned with the organization’s strategic vision. Due to this success, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Bluepoint have continued the program, graduating 128 participants over five cohorts, with plans for continued growth.    

The impact of Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s leadership development program is evident—not only in the enthusiastic feedback from participants but also in the measurable improvements across their targeted leadership expectations. Year after year, the organization has successfully strengthened its leadership pipeline. This is evident through the consistent strong promotion and role expansion rates across cohorts, which has exceeded expectations and reinforces their commitment to building a robust network of leaders poised to take on future opportunities.  

• 2024: 36% (current data)  

• 2022-2023: 40% (current data)  

• 2021-2022: 45% (current data)  

• 2018-2019: 70% (data captured closer to cohort completion)

In addition to these advancements, Wallenius Wilhelmsen conducted a survey of the previous two cohorts to assess the continued impact of the program. Among those who responded, key findings included:  

• 87% strongly agreed it was a valuable learning experience   

• 93% felt more confident in their leadership abilities   

• 93% saw a positive impact on their team   

• 100% believe they will continue to apply what they’ve learned in the future  

• 93% strongly agreed that they would recommend this program to others  

• 100% stated the program created or strengthened connections in the organization  

In addition to these quantitative results, Wallenius Wilhelmsen has also been pleased with the camaraderie their leaders built from working through challenges with their colleagues. During one of the sessions, two employees in the same role in the Customer Service department but in different locations geographically began to discuss the physical layout of their offices and the benefits and drawbacks. One of the leaders was so inspired that they went back and made significant physical changes to their support center due to the advice they had received. This is just one of many stories to come to light from bringing together a diverse group of talented leaders.   

“This program will change lives not only professionally but also personally. Everyone will have different pieces that they take away from this that will benefit them in their journey through life.” – Program Participant

Future

Wallenius Wilhelmsen intends to continue offering the leadership development program for many years into the future as part of its growth and succession strategy, with plans already set for a future cohort.   

In partnership with Bluepoint, the organization is expanding the program’s content to include timely leadership topics like coaching and is designing new learning and networking opportunities to foster global collaboration. Recognizing the demand for earlier development, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Bluepoint also launched the Leadership Essentials Program (LEP), a six-month virtual experience for high-performing individual contributors, featuring assessments, workshops, trio discussions, and a capstone event.  

Together, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Bluepoint remain focused on building dynamic, future-ready leaders across the organization for many years to come.