Future leaders and new starters at a global asset manager

Throughout the programme, it was great to see participants demonstrating increasing collaboration, cultural awareness, and strategic problem-solving. Early on, teams engaged in proactive discussions, aligning their actions with key metrics like NPS and eNPS. Comparing simulation challenges to real-world issues clearly helped participants uncover valuable insights and test approaches in a safe, supportive environment.

It was particularly rewarding to see participants recognizing how culture influences performance, as they reflected on their strengths in inclusivity, communication, and empowerment. While some faced challenges with team dynamics or interpreting cross-cultural values, these moments provided valuable opportunities for growth and reflection. Their willingness to embrace incremental changes highlighted a strong commitment to driving meaningful cultural and organizational improvements.

With each level of the business simulation the participants showed notable improvements in teamwork and problem-solving skills to make sure the company they were running stayed in business with growing profits. As a team they found clever ways to share the available information efficiently and effectively, making use of each team member’s strengths and the considerable skills in the room.

I was most impressed to see that every team was so enthusiastic and very much involved, even in between the sessions. Starting by working together in one room and then doing follow-up sessions with participants dialing in from all over the world has its challenges. But with strong communication and attention paid to each other the participants were able to overcome these obstacles admirably and create a well-knit, high-performing team that involved every team member.

I had a great time working with the future leaders. At our first, in-person, session in Paris I asked the participants for their objectives and they mentioned being able to drive change, deal with time and people pressures, work on their ‘soft’ skills and be able to better understand dependencies across the system. The three levels of Boardroom.Inc, spread over three sessions from January to March 2024, certainly gave them the chance to focus on these areas as well as time to reflect on their performance (both team and individual) and apply their learning.

What impressed me the most about this group of leaders was their willingness to forget their job titles and get stuck into the roles I had assigned them. Collaboration and communication were both excellent, and I had to keep reminding myself that many of them were operating in their second (or perhaps third!) language. An added challenge was that because of work commitments we never had exactly the same group twice. This meant that the participants had to adapt in the moment (again reflecting real life), sometimes taking on new roles or mentoring others as the situation required.