case study

Leading Through Complexity: Accelerating Leadership Impact at Trane Technologies

How BRIDGE helped newly formed leadership teams build trust quickly and lead together through growth and change.

Summary

Challenge

As Trane Technologies entered a period of rapid growth and change, newly formed leadership teams needed to align quickly or risk slowed decision-making at a critical moment.

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Solution

BRIDGE partnered with Trane Technologies to strengthen self-leadership and team effectiveness through intensive leadership team engagements, then embedded these practices across the organization to support sustainable and consistent leadership at scale.

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Results

Leaders built trust faster, surfaced issues earlier and made clearer decisions together, enabling stronger alignment, sustained momentum and more effective leadership through change.

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“The biggest shift is that we now have the critical conversations that are needed when there is conflict. When difficult situations come up, we have very direct, specific conversations and nobody feels like they have to hold back.”

– Donny Simmons, Chief Operating Officer, Trane Technologies

The challenge

Trane Technologies is a global leader in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigerated transport (HVAC) systems, employing more than 45,000 people worldwide.

In early 2024, the company was entering a new phase of accelerated growth. Newly formed leadership teams were coming together for the first time, bringing fresh perspectives and high expectations. Without rapid alignment, decision making risked slowing just when speed and focus mattered most.

The challenge was therefore to help leaders build trust quickly, work cohesively and surface tensions early, creating space for honest conversations, faster alignment around priorities and more effective leadership.

“This was transformation acceleration for our leadership teams.” – Sarah Matney, Leader, Enterprise Learning and Strategic Capabilities, Trane Technologies

Recognizing both the pace and intensity of change and the value of an external perspective, the company embarked on a multi-year partnership with BRIDGE to strengthen leadership capability and change agility – equipping leaders to navigate ambiguity with greater clarity, connection and confidence.

“As we shifted from being a strong operator to a growth business, constant change came with that. This work helped leaders understand where they were, and build the resourcefulness and resilience needed to lead in that environment.” – Betsey Strobl, Chief Talent Officer, Vice President Talent and Organization Capability, Trane Technologies

The solution

The work began with a series of intensive, two-day intact team engagements for the newly formed leadership teams across the Americas. These sessions focused on how leaders showed up under pressure, how they worked together as a team, and how to address the issues and decisions that mattered most to their shared agenda.

A clear insight emerged from this early work: self-leadership was a critical lever for collective effectiveness. Concepts such as Being at My Best (BAMB) and in and out of the box resonated deeply with senior leaders and aligned closely with Trane Technologies’ evolving leadership framework which emphasized lead self, lead others, lead the business, lead the world.

On the back of this insight, Trane Technologies made a deliberate decision to scale these practices beyond functional business unit leadership teams. BAMB was rolled out to their people leaders, through a combination of digital learning and two-hour, internally facilitated workshops. This approach gave leaders at multiple levels a shared language, greater self-awareness and increased resilience in the face of pressure.

To support this scale and sustainability, BRIDGE delivered Train-the-Trainer programs across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, certifying 50 internal facilitators to lead sessions within the organization. Train-the-Facilitator programs in North America further enabled experienced facilitators to lead deeper, two-day coaching engagements using BRIDGE models.

The work was reinforced with targeted sessions during key leadership conferences and summits, helping establish a consistent vocabulary and normalize conversations about resilience, vulnerability and performance across the organization.

“[This work] is an investment in building the emotional intelligence of leaders, and doing that together, as a mechanism to strengthen teams. Businesses get caught up in the ‘what’. This work is a focus on the ‘how’.” – Matt Barga, President, Life Science Solutions, Trane Technologies

The impact

The partnership delivered a clear shift in how leaders showed up and worked together during a period of transformation. Leadership teams reported greater psychological safety, a visible loosening of tension at senior levels, and a stronger sense of collective responsibility. One senior leader shared:

“I’ve been with this team for fourteen years and I’ve never seen us work together or connect like this.” – Senior Leader, Trane Technologies

Business impacts

  • Faster formation of leadership teams during change

    Newly formed leadership teams found their footing more quickly, with accelerated trust, faster cohesion and a reduced “outsider” feeling.

  • Earlier issue resolution and clearer decision making

    Leaders became more comfortable naming tensions early and addressing them directly, reducing drag and helping teams stay focused on the priorities that mattered most.

  • Greater openness, trust and depth of relationships

    Leaders reported deeper relationships, increased vulnerability and stronger trust in teams working under pressure.

  • Increased self-awareness and resilience

    A shared language around self-leadership helped leaders recognize their internal state, understand the impact of self-talk, and support one another more effectively in demanding moments.

  • Accelerated leadership alignment during transformation

    Together, these shifts enabled leadership teams to align faster, make decisions with greater clarity and maintain momentum through ambiguity and change.

“The biggest shift is that we now have the critical conversations that are needed when there is conflict. When difficult situations come up, we have very direct, specific conversations and nobody feels like they have to hold back.” – Donny Simmons, Chief Operating Officer, Trane Technologies

Scale and reach

  • 38 leadership teams supported through two-day Leadership Team Alignment sessions

  • 2,400 leaders globally completed the Being at My Best digital learning module (to date)

  • 2,100 leaders completed a two-hour, internally facilitated Being at My Best session, with the program continuing to roll out to all 10,000 people leaders

  • 50 internal facilitators trained through Train-the-Trainer sessions across NA, EMEA and APAC

  • Overall program impact reflected in a Net Promoter Score of +59

During this period of organizational transition, the company continued to perform strongly, with sustained organic revenue growth and around 10% year-over-year growth in profitability, even as leaders navigated significant complexity and change.

Ultimately, the work has enabled leaders at Trane Technologies to move through a period of accelerated change with greater alignment, openness and collective ownership. As the Being at My Best rollout continues, Trane Technologies and BRIDGE are now turning their attention to the next phase of the work, exploring how the approach can evolve to meet the demands of the organization’s next stage of growth.

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