The Context
ForceFire is a growing, technically driven business operating in a high-pressure, service-led environment. Like many organisations that grow quickly, leadership capability didn’t lag because of a lack of intent or intelligence. It lagged because most leaders had learned “on the job”.
As CEO Michael explains, the business was successful, but to continue growing, the leadership team needed to step out of the day-to-day and think differently. They wanted stronger alignment, better communication, and more consistent leadership behaviours across the organisation. Most of the senior leaders had been promoted due to their technical expertise, not their people or business management capabilities.
That’s where the journey began.
The Challenge
ForceFire’s senior leaders and managers were strong operators. They knew their craft. But people leadership had never been formally taught.
Different leadership styles, different expectations, and siloed ways of working were starting to show up. Not as major problems, but as friction. Conversations were happening, but not always clearly. Feedback was being given, but not always well received. Managers were doing their best, but many were relying on instinct rather than structure.
As Founder Paul described it, everyone was wearing their own “corporate blinkers”, operating from what they knew, without fully understanding how differently others experienced the same conversations.
The real risk wasn’t misalignment or missed conversations. It was managers unintentionally slowing the business through unresolved people issues.
The Approach
ForceFire partnered with Red Wolf Group to roll out the 12-month Manage with Confidence program, underpinned by Predictive Index (PI).
Rather than a short, intensive course, this was a long-term capability build designed to create real behavioural change over time.
The program brought together the senior leadership team, including the CEO, Founder, CFO, and operational leaders, to work through:
- Self-awareness and behavioural insight using Predictive Index
- Understanding different leadership styles, drivers, and blind spots
- How values drive expectations (and conflict)
- Courageous conversations, feedback, and clarity
- Practical leadership frameworks leaders could immediately apply
- Creating a shared leadership language across the business
Importantly, this wasn’t theory for theory’s sake. Every session connected directly back to real situations leaders were dealing with managing performance, to motivating teams, to handling difficult conversations with clarity and care.
As CFO Bryan put it, the value wasn’t just learning about yourself. It was understanding how to work better with each other as a leadership team.
The Shift
Over time, something changed.
Barriers came down. Conversations became more open. Leaders became more willing to speak up, ask for help, and challenge each other constructively. Management meetings became more focused, more honest, and more productive.
Predictive Index became a practical tool not a “profile on a shelf”. Leaders began adapting how they communicated, how they motivated people, and how they set expectations based on what actually worked for each individual.
For many leaders, the biggest shift was self-awareness.
Several spoke openly about realising where their default style helped and where it hindered. Others described learning empathy, slowing down, and understanding that not everyone is driven, motivated, or challenged in the same way.
As one leader said, “I realised I can’t push everyone the way I push myself.”
That insight alone changed conversations across the business.
The Impact
The impact wasn’t overnight and that was the point.
Twelve months allowed ideas to land, behaviours to shift, and habits to form. Leaders didn’t just learn new frameworks; they practiced them, reflected on them, and refined them together.
Today, ForceFire has:
- More confident, self-aware senior leaders
- Stronger, clearer conversations at all levels
- Predictive Index embedded into recruitment, onboarding, and management
- Greater alignment across the senior leadership team
- Managers who feel equipped not reactive
As CEO Michael shared, ‘the biggest outcome is awareness and awareness lead to retaining your team.’
Where there were once unknowns, leaders now understand why people behave the way they do and how to lead them better because of it.
Looking Forward
ForceFire doesn’t see this as a finished journey.
They see it as a foundation. One that allows them to keep building leadership capability, retain strong people, and grow the business without losing alignment or culture.
As Paul summed it up:
“The cost isn’t in doing a program like this. The real cost is in not doing it.”
Six months after completing Manage with Confidence, ForceFire was successfully acquired (April 2025) with a leadership team equipped to manage complexity, people, and performance through transition.
