Case Study21 August 2026

DAHER Aerospace GmbH: A Shared Understanding of Leadership for Leading on the Shopfloor

How can operational leaders in an industrial environment be involved so that leadership does not remain abstract but takes effect in everyday work? The DO !T leadership program, developed by GOBRAN ^® specifically for DAHER Aerospace, starts exactly here: hands-on, with a shared language and a lasting effect.

Context and Challenge

DAHER Aerospace GmbH in Germany is part of the French DAHER Group, with around 14,500 employees worldwide. The company looks back on a long tradition of innovation and is distinguished by reliable processes. At the operational level, however, one central challenge became apparent: the leaders in the production and operations environment lacked a shared understanding of leadership, an obstacle to the culture of operational excellence that distinguishes DAHER.

Leadership programs are often associated with suits, ties and corner offices. In reality, though, it is precisely the operational leaders, in daily direct exchange with their teams, who carry enormous responsibility. They are required to steer communication, conflict and motivation in an environment in which clarity and reliability are decisive.

Goals and Intentions

The challenge was to design a program that takes the operational reality of leading on the shopfloor seriously: hands-on, connectable, and built so that leaders find a common basis for taking on their responsibility clearly. The groups involved brought different but mutually aligned expectations:

HR

A program that is credible and accepted, including among rather skeptical leaders.

Leaders

Consistent leadership practices, in order to align teams more clearly and make collaboration more efficient.

Operational leaders

Practical tools that can be applied directly in everyday work.

The Answer: The DO !T Program

To connect theory and practice consistently, an approach was needed that meets operational leaders in their everyday work, gives them a shared language, and at the same time offers formats that have a lasting effect. Out of this came the DO !T program, an approach that combines different formats and makes leadership applicable in everyday work.

Impact360 ^® Live Trainings

The program comprises three modules covering the central levels of effective leadership: leading the team, leading people and leading oneself. In the live format these topics are closely linked to the real challenges of everyday work and at the same time translated into a shared language and posture.

QuickCards ^®

QuickCards ^® condense the central principles of effect of the program into handy, visual working cards. Leaders always have the most important points within reach and can apply them directly in their everyday work.

Mindtrigger ^®

After the in-person trainings, the digital Mindtrigger ^® take over in order to keep the topic of leadership alive in everyday work. In short, targeted impulses they pick up central principles and support leaders in reflecting on them regularly and transferring them into their practice.

Leadership Workshops

One year after the end of the program, the leaders came together again in Führungswerkstätten. These meetings combined collegial consultation with guided reflection and kept the topic of leadership present in everyday work. The format was complemented by a special topic on change management, which brought new impulses for practice.

Experience from Practice

The program is accompanied by GOBRAN trainer Andrew Safo, who looks back on more than 17 years of experience in operational leadership. His background creates trust and ensures that the content is conveyed in a hands-on way.

What changed

Resonance and Engagement

More than 140 leaders have successfully completed the entire DO !T program. For modules that were missed, additional dates were even requested, a sign of the high relevance and the strong engagement of the participants.

Leadership Anchored in Everyday Work

What used to be regarded as a distant "suit and tie" topic became concrete practice. Leadership developed into a tool that operational leaders actively use to steer their teams and to strengthen the daily work.

A Shared Understanding of Leadership

Through the program, a shared understanding developed of what good leadership means in everyday work. This common basis reduced the differences between sites and shifts and created more clarity and orientation in all teams.

For years we searched for a partner who could convey the topic of leadership training, complex and viewed very critically in the minds of our operational employees, in a hands-on and tangible way. Through very simple examples from working life and also from private life, even the biggest critics became engaged participants. Rolled eyes turned into pricked ears, so to speak.
Laura Rippl, HR Manager Training and Development