Phrase, a global leader in translation technology, was scaling fast with clients like Nike, Uber, and TripAdvisor. To sustain this momentum, the leadership team recognised they needed to evolve alongside the business. Partnering with Complete, they embarked on a journey to build a stronger, strategically aligned leadership culture creating measurable commercial value and investor-grade leadership.
The Challenge
Rapid growth brought new complexity. While results were strong, leadership development had not yet been a priority. CEO Georg Ell wanted to elevate the team to operate at a higher strategic level, proving to both employees and investors that Phrase had a mature, high-performance leadership culture capable of sustaining accelerated growth.
The Approach
Complete designed a tailored executive development programme, blending team development, individual coaching, and behavioural diagnostics. Starting with the executive team and cascading into the wider senior leadership group, the programme built trust, cohesion, and capability.
Tools like the Team Development Index, Values Profile, and Behaviour360 provided data-driven insights, while coaching created space for reflection and personal growth. The result was one of the fastest leadership maturity shifts Complete has seen: ten years of progress achieved in just one year.
A word from the client on their leadership development…
Georg Ell, CEO, Phrase:
“We had a high performing team already, but now we’re cohesive, empowered and confident. This work has increased the commercial value of our leadership team—we’ve seen better collaboration, faster decision-making, and stronger leadership at all levels. Now we face the future with high confidence.”
The Outcome
Phrase’s partnership with Complete turned ambition into action. What began as a push to strengthen leadership for investors became a transformation that reshaped the culture of the business. With a more cohesive, confident, and strategically aligned leadership team, Phrase is now well-positioned to sustain growth, double again, and continue leading their industry with clarity and conviction.
