Learning That Drives Performance, Not Just Participation
In an era where businesses are changing at a speed never seen before, one fact has now become undeniable: traditional approaches to leadership training are simply not creating the leaders businesses really require.
A McKinsey report indeed showed that in 2023, nearly 80% of executives believed their leadership programs did not deliver any measurable results. Billions are spent worldwide on training, yet most leaders go right back to old habits the moment they return to work.
So, where’s the disconnect?
The problem is not what we teach but how we teach it. Traditional leadership programs, lectures, seminars, or e-learning modules transfer knowledge but don’t transform behavior. In contrast, experiential learning turns learning into a lived experience that truly engages the mind and emotions to drive retention, adaptability, and real performance.
At SimuRise, we’ve seen this transformation firsthand. Using our business simulations and game-based learning workshops, organisations have reshaped leadership behaviors and accelerated decision-making toward building future-ready teams, not through theory, but action.
The Science Behind Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is not merely a buzzword; it has a strong scientific foundation in neuroscience. When individuals are doing rather than just listening, their brains process and store information differently, facilitating better retention and a deeper understanding of concepts.
The National Training Laboratories conducted studies indicating that learners remember engaged instructional modalities 75% of the time. In comparison, they recall about 10% of information learned through lectures and 20% through reading.
Furthermore, research conducted by Johns Hopkins University demonstrates that hands-on learning activates several brain regions, including those involved in resolution, emotional control, and memory formation.
Hence, this type of learning also continues to activate the prefrontal cortex, contributing to enhanced problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and cognitive flexibility, skills that are vital for leaders in high-stakes or healthy ambiguity of decision-making scenarios.
In a nutshell, engaged learning prepares the brain not only to know information but also to act on it, develop cognitive flexibility, and lead.
Why Traditional Leadership Training Falls Short
The majority of organizations still heavily rely on traditional methods of training; we call these presentations, case studies, and workshops, telling leaders what to do. But, real leadership isn’t a theoretical exercise; it is created in complexity, conflict, management, and consequences.
1. No Real-World Application
A classroom could teach tactics for negotiation, but can never replicate the pressure of a multimillion-dollar deal or the stresses and human dynamics of a team in crisis. Without that real-world stress, knowledge remains a passive form of learning.
2. No Organizational Support
Even the most motivated attendees can’t enact new skills when their environment (culture, systems, and leadership model) doesn’t allow them to enact those new skills.
3. Training in Isolation
Leadership training of any type doesn’t happen in silos; if the organization isn’t all learning and experiencing together, anything that was learned is at risk of deceleration. Development must be woven into the workflow, not bolted on as a one-time event.
In the end, leadership isn’t learned; it is lived. This is where the value of experiential learning serves to fill the gap of creating real business problems in a format that allows participants to practice, fail, and reflect safely.
How Experiential Learning Transforms Leadership
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
Learning is an action, not a thought. Experiential learning takes theory and allows participants to practice it in simulated real-world situations that require immediate decision-making and reflection.
For example, we ran a flagship business simulation for one of the leading energy solutions companies based on change management to train senior leaders. Within weeks, the participants of the simulation showed a 45% improvement in managing and adapting to change. This was knowledge no classroom training had ever produced.
Building Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Emotional intelligence is what separates good leaders from great leaders. Experiential learning builds EQ by providing opportunities for self-awareness, empathy and collaboration.
Participants grow their ability to know their emotional triggers, manage stress, and engage effectively with others – skills they can apply back in the workplace to improve team performance.
In a study by Korn Ferry, leaders high in EQ outperform their peers by 37% in business-related areas such as revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement.
Building Adaptability and Resilience
In today’s VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous), adaptability is not negotiable. Experiential learning builds this muscle by placing leaders into fast-paced environments where their adaptability, ability to prioritize, and ability to remain calm and purposeful will be tested.
A study by Deloitte Insights found that experiential training improved adaptability by 29%, helping leaders navigate ambiguity and uncertainty.
From Theory to Practice: How People Really Learn
Let’s face it, no one becomes a master of leadership merely by reading about it.
You might be able to read 100 frameworks for negotiation, but until you’re sitting across the table from someone pushing back on your proposal, you might as well be reading theoretical concepts.
Experiential learning allows us to tap into the Kolb Learning Cycle, which is a recognized four-step process of experience, reflection, conceptualization, and experimentation. Leaders learn from doing, reflecting on their actions, recognizing what worked and what didn’t, and applying those lessons to their future challenges.
So it’s not just training; it’s a transformation.
Why Forward-Thinking Companies Are Making the Shift
Organizations that practice experiential learning are not merely educating their leaders; they are future-proofing their culture.
In a world full of ambiguity, experiential learning nurtures and supports strategic agility, emotional intelligence, and resilience, which are critical to performance and innovation.
At SimuRise, we have created these experiences for multinational companies across every sector based on our simulation-based experiential learning programs.
In a leading global FMCG company, cross-functional leadership teams participating in a business simulation observed a measurable increase in collaboration and decision-making speed.
In a technology multinational, experiential workshops fostered connections, aligning mid-level managers with senior managers and enabling faster decision-making and innovation.
The result? Teams define and understand that they know how to lean into lead; they are living it.
How SimuRise Helps Build Future-Ready Leaders
SimuRise combines the power of experiential learning with the practice of developing human potential into leadership. Our simulation-based learning experiences give organizations the ability to develop leaders who are able to think in the future, act decisively, and adapt with confidence. Through SimuRise’s game-based leadership simulations, participants are placed in relevant scenarios that replicate real business challenges from managing crises to driving innovation. This experiential approach allows for:
- Immediate behavioral implementation – action is insight
- Collaborative problem solving – learning to work with others
- Reflection and feedback – understanding and learning from mistakes
With over a decade of experience and engagements with organizations globally, SimuRise is committed to learning and evolving leadership development by addressing questions tied to values, mindsets, behaviours, and measurable outcomes.
Conclusion: From Classroom Learning to Real-World Leadership
In a world filled with change, organizations will only succeed if their leaders can learn, adapt, and grow in ways that never relent. In traditional training, leaders may learn concepts, but experiential learning builds capability. It builds leaders who can think quickly, manage their emotions under pressure, and lead their teams with certainty through complexity.
SimuRise believes that leadership is not taught; it is lived. By embracing an experiential, game-based, and simulation-based approach, organizations not only develop better leaders; they develop leaders who are catalysts for future sustainable business growth. Because at the end of it all, experience is not just the best teacher; it’s the only teacher that sticks.
Experiential learning is the process of learning by doing. Participants are immersed in hands-on, dynamic scenarios—often simulations—that replicate real workplace challenges. This interactive model stimulates problem-solving, decision-making, collaboration, leadership, and adaptability in real time.
Explore how experiential learning (learning by doing) can unlock your team’s full potential by reaching out to us at marketing@simurise.com or calling Annie at +91 9082381193
