How does a beloved consumer food and beverage company—with a 150-year-plus history and the subject of one of Andy Warhol’s most iconic works—innovate and grow for the future? And what would it take to get there?

These were some of the questions the leadership team at Campbell’s was wrestling with as it looked ahead. The company found its answer in a skill as timeless as the brand itself: leadership.

Campbell’s sought to transform into a leadership powerhouse: an organization with a robust pipeline of skilled leaders at every level of the company who could navigate the complex and rapidly evolving business landscape to stay ahead—and bring their teams along the journey.

To do so, Campbell’s embarked on an ambitious effort to create a holistic leadership development program across the organization, with a particular emphasis on ensuring talent had the skills and competencies for key role transitions.

Campbell’s partnered with McKinsey to help evolve and scale this program—as part of the organization’s “Campbell’s Way of Leadership” approach—and articulate their leadership aspirations from frontline workers all the way to the C-suite.

After partnering with McKinsey to help develop communications skills in its senior functional leaders, Campbell’s had a bold thought: How could doubling down on leadership development enable the organization to not only prepare for—but thrive in its future?

“Our success starts with our people—it’s our first priority as an organization,” says Diane Johnson May, executive vice president, chief people and culture officer at Campbell’s. “We have a long history of developing leaders, and in a difficult talent environment, we thought we could differentiate ourselves in this way. We want Campbell’s to be a place where you can build a career and learn how to become a great leader.”

Campbell’s saw an opportunity to connect heart and mind across its talent. They already knew their employees had deep functional knowledge and expertise. But how could Campbell’s ensure they also felt confident and truly empowered to apply their expertise and lead in their role?

Aligning on these priorities enabled McKinsey and Campbell’s teams to co-design and co-deliver a series of leadership and capability-building programs for every level of the organization. “What got me excited from the beginning was the bold vision from Campbell’s to become a leadership powerhouse,” says McKinsey partner Marc Metakis, a co-founder of McKinsey Academy. “It’s not every day that a consumer goods company makes that kind of big bet on leadership—to really use that capability to enable broader strategic goals across the entire organization.”

As part of our collaboration, a McKinsey team of integrative consultants and experts in adult learning design and delivery worked with Campbell’s to develop and roll out “Emerge to Win,” a program for future leaders early in their careers. We also revamped “Manage to Win,” a program for managers of individual contributors. More than 800 Campbell’s employees are participating in this capability development program over three years that is designed to enable new managers to lead their teams, provide effective feedback, and coach for performance.

For leaders of managers, McKinsey and Campbell’s co-designed and co-delivered the “Lead to Win” program, which is being rolled out to 400 Campbell’s senior leaders via a cohort-based delivery model. As part of this ongoing program, our teams collaborate to help senior leaders refine their leadership model and more effectively develop teams.

To build community across its people, Campbell’s brings back former participants of programs as faculty, ensuring that colleagues can learn from each other—and hear how peers are practically and tactically applying the lessons in their day to day.

“Our approach to leadership development is rooted in seeing all leaders as teachers,” Diane says. “Hearing from people who’ve been there is an essential part of the learning experience for our programs.”

McKinsey and Campbell’s are now exploring a new program designed for senior leaders in line for potential C-suite successor roles over the next several years.

Today, our co-created programs are embedded into Campbell’s leadership development strategy, with plans to scale up our work together in the coming years. The “Manage to Win” program has achieved a 100 percent completion rate among its cohorts, with a 98 percent recommendation rate. As a result of the program, Campbell’s has also seen a 37-percentage-point increase in competencies among participants, which included delivering effective feedback, conducting coaching conversations, and managing a team’s day-to-day work.

The “Lead to Win” program has seen an 87 percent completion rate with a 97 percent recommendation rate.

Marc attributes much of the success of these programs to the engagement and support of Campbell’s leaders. “It’s pretty rare to see this level of C-suite engagement on a capability-building program of this scale,” he says. Along the way, many participants and executive sponsors of the program have been promoted within the organization, including Campbell’s new CEO, Mick Beekhuizen.

To ensure the programs remain relevant and successful for audiences, McKinsey brings measurement capabilities such as McKinsey OrgAnalytics to ensure hard data enables the soft art of leadership. OrgAnalytics brought outside-in data on the perception of leadership compared to peers, while a solution called TalentX provided inside-out impact data of the leadership development programs on participant attrition, promotion, and mobility rates. “This data was a critical piece of our work together because it helped us continuously monitor the success of these programs—and shift our approach when necessary—to ensure they remained relevant and impactful to Campbell’s,” Marc said.

Already, Campbell’s is seeing ripple effects from its investment in leadership. Diane notes increased confidence in frontline supervisors, as well as improved team morale and communication. “Several operations teams have told me about smoother daily huddles and better listening and goal-setting behaviors,” she says. “Ultimately, it’s about making sure our teams feel in sync and supported.”

Campbell’s efforts are being noticed outside the organization, too: Time added the company to its list of Best Companies for Future Leaders in 2024.