Case Study

Madison Indoor Air Quality: Leadership that scales culture

In this case study

"To scale culture, you need to be intentional, and you must start at the top. No one is 'above' leadership training. Even CEOs."

When Madison Indoor Air Quality (Madison IAQ) formed in 2021 by bringing together several companies under one umbrella, leadership faced an immediate challenge. Employees across brands like Big Ass Fans, FG IAQ, Miller, and Nortek now needed to operate as one cohesive organization. The solution? Build general managers who could carry the aspired culture to their teams — and be ready to step up to President when called upon.

This is a story about Madison IAQ partnering with WeLearn Learning Services and DX Learning Solutions to develop a leadership pipeline. It’s also a story about what happens when entrepreneurial companies get intentional about culture.

About Madison Indoor Air Quality

Headquartered in the United States, Madison Indoor Air Quality operates as part of Madison Industries, a global company based in Chicago. Madison IAQ’s family of brands specializes in technologies that deliver clean air for people around the world.

With over 8,000 employees and a mission to make the world safer, healthier, and more productive, Madison IAQ operates on a simple belief: every breath matters™.

Learning and business objectives

The team outlined four goals:

Build accountability for GMs to commit to actions and follow through in their businesses
Ensure people leadership threaded throughout, recognizing that human capital drives innovation
Build community among GMs so they reach across segments for advice and support
Create a program that feels organic to Madison IAQ’s culture of trust, entrepreneurial spirit, and bias for action

The ultimate measure? Build a pipeline of future Presidents ready when called upon.

The leadership challenge

When Madison IAQ created the new role of Segment General Manager, they identified a gap. These newly promoted leaders had proven track records, but now each oversaw their own P&L. They needed to develop people leadership, business acumen, and commercial acumen all at once.

CHRO Jeff Krautkramer recognized the core challenge: Madison operates on trust and gives full autonomy to business units. But culture is a mirror of leadership. Certain aspects needed to be consistent across the organization.

Beyond culture, Madison IAQ needed a succession pipeline. General managers who could step into President roles when opportunities arose, without the cost and risk of external hires.

The GM Acceleration Program

The program moved from design to delivery in six months. A pilot cohort of 14 newly promoted general managers participated, with three intensive weeks spaced over four months — each held at a different Madison location.

Week 1 focused on people leadership. DX Learning facilitated their CARE model — Clarity, Autonomy, Relationships, and Equity® — along with an immersive leadership simulation. Participants explored blind spots in their leadership styles and identified behaviors to take back to their businesses. As the program designers put it: “IQ gets you in the door, but EQ gets you promoted.”

Weeks 2 and 3 focused on business and commercial acumen. Here, Madison IAQ’s own executives taught each session, with content co-designed by WeLearn. This leader-as-teacher approach made the content feel authentic and demonstrated senior leadership’s investment in the cohort’s development.

Between classroom sessions, learners used the Prohabits platform to track commitments and share stories of applying new practices. An experienced business coach met with each GM throughout the journey — six sessions per person — helping them connect people leadership to business results while building relationships across the cohort.

Measurable results

A promotion from within. Karen Geiger, a member of the first cohort, was promoted to President of Energy Recovery. The cost savings from hiring internally rather than externally justified the program investment. This validated the original thesis: building from within works.

Recognition from Madison Industries leadership. CHRO Jeff Krautkramer presented the model to the Madison Industries Board of Directors and received an internal award for the program.

Shifts in leadership behavior. Participant feedback revealed meaningful growth:

"Trust and transparency has improved even more. She shares information regarding the company segments and direction — good, bad, or indifferent — to keep her team informed."

"Self-awareness of my strengths and weaknesses and a more intentional approach to leadership and communication."

"I am more comfortable with self-evaluation. Admitting my areas for improvement does not give me the anxiety that it once did because I believe that I have the tools I need to solve problems even if challenges arise."

"This leader has accepted their role and is no longer directing every move but presenting what the end goal should look like and then allowing the team to create their own journey there."

What's next: Scaling culture intentionally

The team learned that in entrepreneurial companies, culture can mean different things to different people. Madison hires strong leaders, but you cannot have culture hinged on one person. It’s a group effort.

Now Madison IAQ is bringing Week 1 of the GM Acceleration Program to the broader organization. Other parts of Madison Industries have caught wind and are already rolling out elements.

Perhaps most telling: the CEOs and Presidents of Madison IAQ are now going through an abbreviated version themselves — proof that intentional leadership starts at the top.