“The programme unfolds day-by-day, taking you on a journey. You go through lessons and exercises that shape not only what you are learning, but how you are learning, to let you absorb it and feel it deeply yours.”
“One of the main challenges I face is to be able to speak and work at different levels, from C-levels to operational, leading people that are not functionally reporting to me collaborate as a team,” Silvia Cotta Ramusino shared, reflecting on her recent appointment as Risk and Business Audit Director at CRIF. With a decade of experience in advisory firms within the payment industry, she now finds herself at the centre of a complex network of departments, countries and cultures in her new role. “They come from different departments and countries, and I serve as the glue that holds together diverse cultures and perspectives, uniting everyone around our common goals.”
I’ve always been very competent in the so-called hard skills, and I felt I needed something to work more on the soft skills – my leadership skills, how to manage people, how to manage relationships, how to understand company dynamics.
Having already completed several online programmes with INSEAD, including Leading Organisations in Disruptive Times, she was ready to go deeper. “I wanted to deep dive into leadership, specifically topics of networks and relationships, and that’s why I chose Leading for Results,” Silvia explained.
Designed to transform experienced managers into visionary leaders who not only deliver results today but ensure those results are sustainable tomorrow, the Leading for Results programme was fitting for Silvia, whose role spans functions and countries. She must navigate not only operational challenges but also report to C-level executives, understanding the nuances of each relationship and how to communicate effectively to ensure she is moving in the right direction.
“It’s a full immersion and the level of interaction that you have with your peers is one of the main value-adds of the experience – completely different from an online programme,” she reflected. Walking into the programme, Silvia felt a mix of excitement and curiosity. “Day One was absolutely exciting, energising, full of expectations and curiosity about your programme mates, the topics and the professors,” she recalled. The five-day, full-immersion experience, she adds “was “amazing and also demanding. By the end of the week, even if you might feel quite tired, you are mentally reformatted. There was something in my mind that was already working in a different way of thinking.”
The programme unfolds day-by-day, taking you on a journey. You go through lessons and exercises that shape not only what you are learning, but how you are learning, to let you absorb it and feel it deeply yours.
One particularly memorable exercise illustrated a challenge similar to what Silvia might face in her day-to-day role. Her group, composed of strong, high-profile personalities, had initially struggled to collaborate effectively during the exercise. “All these strong personalities at one point started competing, without perceiving this was limiting our ability to achieve the final goal of the exercise together,” she reflected. It became a deep learning moment: through faculty guidance and coaching, the individuals learned to step back and recognise each other’s intrinsic good intentions to balance their strengths, ultimately achieving better outcomes together as a group.
The programme also challenged Silvia’s assumptions about her networking abilities, something highly relevant to many emerging leaders today. She realised that, while working, she had often held back out of shyness or a fear of disturbing others, thinking that if she didn’t have something to give, she couldn’t ask for anything in a give-and-take dynamic. Today, Silvia practices networking intentionally, understanding that simply asking someone to grab coffee or lunch doesn’t need to be transactional. “We are human beings, and sometimes this is enough for networking. You don’t have to be shy or feel like you’re a pain in the neck — it’s simply about building relationships. This was something that had been limiting me.”
She shared how her approach to networking has evolved: “I realised I already had a very good network within the company, but I wasn’t using it in the right way.” The programme helped her think strategically about her connections — not just relying on direct relationships but also leveraging indirect ones through colleagues who know others — enabling her to better influence outcomes and achieve her goals.
During the programme, you are 100% committed to practise in your groups. But! It’s when you come back home that you start internalising what you have learned and conscientiously apply it to your daily habits.
A year on from the programme, Silvia has been able to translate the insights into her day-to-day work, testing and expanding her leadership skills laterally across functions and teams, demonstrating how the Leading for Results programme supports growth beyond traditional hierarchical progression. “This programme helped me better read my relationships within the company and analyse how to influence people to achieve my most challenging goals,” she reflected.
Silvia emphasises the value of the experience for leaders who want to deepen their understanding of relationships, trust, and influence. “If you’re willing to explore how trust and relationships can affect your goals, how to improve your leadership skills, and how resistance to change can impact performance, this is the programme for you,” she says. Participants gain not only new competencies, but also practical tools to navigate complex dynamics across teams and organisational levels.
Featured Programme
