To strengthen leadership synergy across hybrid teams, the Indian arm of a global financial services firm partnered with SimuRise to run an experiential leadership simulation for 60+ senior leaders. The program focused on real-time decision-making, communication, and team alignment in a hybrid work setup.
Client Context
The India division of one of the world’s largest financial services organizations, headquartered in Japan and operating in over 30 countries, was preparing for a leadership development convention. The focus: enabling their senior leaders to collaborate more effectively in a hybrid work environment.
These leaders came from the company’s three key divisions:
- Retail
- Wholesale (Global Markets and Investment Banking)
- Investment Management
With most leaders working remotely or across distributed offices, leadership synergy had become critical. The client wanted a solution that would challenge even their top leaders, seasoned professionals with global business school pedigrees.
The Ask
The L&D team initially asked SimuRise to deliver a strategic simulation focused on leadership synergy. However, after a demo with the CHRO, it became clear: the simulation needed to go beyond standard complexity. The leaders needed to be tested in an immersive experience that mirrored real-life ambiguity, distributed decision-making, and pressure, just like in their current hybrid work reality.
Our Solution
SimuRise proposed a high-intensity behavioral simulation—Move It!—that mirrored the challenges of hybrid leadership.
- The experience was set up virtually, with 6–7 leaders in each Zoom breakout room.
- Teams had to guide a character named Gil to move furniture and exit rooms in a virtual house.
- The goal: Clear 10 levels in just 13 minutes. Each level brought increasing complexity.
To succeed, the team needed to:
- Choose a leader
- Designate roles
- Align on a common strategy
- Communicate clearly across virtual settings
- Collaborate without full visibility
Some participants were dialing in from home, others from office setups. This mix was intentional—to reflect the hybrid realities they were facing as leaders.
Key Leadership Outcomes
Several critical leadership insights emerged during the experience:
- Leadership in Hybrid Setups: Leaders had to engage all voices, especially those less active or visible in virtual rooms.
- Clarity Under Pressure: Rapid decisions with limited data forced clarity in delegation and prioritization.
- Shared Accountability: Teams succeeded only when every member was supported and actively contributing.
- Agility and Adaptability: As the game complexity increased, leaders had to adjust strategies on the fly.
- Elevating the Team: The strongest leaders weren’t the loudest—they were the ones helping others succeed.
A powerful insight surfaced: A team is only as strong as its least engaged member. Great leaders knew when to step back and lift others forward.
Why This Worked
Unlike traditional training, experiential learning activates real behavior.
In a simulated environment, participants reveal natural tendencies, blind spots, and strengths. They feel the cost of poor communication. They sense the ripple effect of missed leadership synergy. And they walk away not with theory, but with lived insight.
This program wasn’t about learning leadership synergy—it was about experiencing it.
Impact
The event was a resounding success. The CHRO and senior leadership team praised its relevance, challenge, and realism. Participants shared that they left with renewed clarity on:
- How to lead distributed teams
- How to build inclusion in hybrid settings
- How to move fast, together
The simulation sparked conversations, reflections, and new habits that went beyond the event.
Conclusion
Hybrid leadership is about aligning people, thinking clearly, and collaborating across silos and screens.
Through Move It!, SimuRise created a mirror for leaders to reflect on their behavior and sharpen their effectiveness in the hybrid era. For this global financial services giant, the program set a new benchmark for virtual leadership development.
