Case Study: Copa Airlines boosts employee engagement and leadership skills with Center for Creative Leadership

Copa Airlines boosts employee engagement by 9% with Center for Creative Leadership

Copa Airlines, a leading Latin American airline, needed to strengthen its leadership culture after establishing five new leadership behaviors focused on deeper employee connection. The company partnered with the Center for Creative Leadership to implement targeted training, overcoming initial challenges with vendors who wanted to redo existing work by finding a partner who would build on their internal analysis.

The Center for Creative Leadership solution focused on two key skills: active listening and giving effective feedback using their Situation–Behavior–Impact (SBI)™ method. They delivered half-day workshops and, crucially, employed a train-the-trainer model, licensing content and certifying over 20 internal Copa trainers to scale the program. This enabled training for over 1,000 leaders in under a year, leading to a measurable 9% increase in employee engagement among participants.

Copa Airlines