Leadership Simulations
Navigating leadership complexity through realistic, hands-on, immersive simulations
Forging Leaders in Hyper-Realistic Simulations
Starfish vILT moves beyond traditional leadership training by creating highly realistic, immersive simulations that serve as dynamic learning laboratories. These simulations are not simple case studies; they are living, breathing ecosystems designed to challenge participants, cultivate critical leadership competencies, and bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application. The core of the experience is built around a deeply developed simulated company, which acts as the sandbox for complex leadership challenges.
Starfish vILT simulations are powerful developmental experiences that use narrative, realism, and collaborative challenges to accelerate leadership readiness in a psychologically safe yet demanding environment.
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The Foundation: A Deeply Realized Simulated Company
At the heart of every Starfish vILT simulation is a meticulously crafted fictional company. This is the cornerstone of participant immersion. Before the simulation even begins, participants are introduced to a rich and detailed corporate world, complete with:
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A Comprehensive History: The company's origin story, key milestones, past successes, and previous failures.
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Organizational Structure: Detailed organizational charts, key personnel bios, and departmental mandates.
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Financial Health: Fictional but plausible balance sheets, P&L statements, and market performance data.
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Market Position: A defined industry, key competitors, market challenges, and strategic opportunities.
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Corporate Culture: An established culture, complete with stated values, unwritten rules, internal politics, and communication norms.​
Click on the logos above to see examples of the simulated organizations
This depth ensures that participants are not just observers but are immediately embedded within a context that feels authentic, compelling them to invest in the company's fate and their role within it.
The Narrative Engine: Multi-Modal Information Inputs
The simulation's story unfolds dynamically through a series of carefully timed and purposefully designed information "inputs." This multi-modal approach mirrors the complex and often chaotic flow of information that modern leaders must navigate. Instead of a static document, participants receive a steady stream of content that builds the narrative and introduces complexity. These inputs include:
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Targeted "Emails": Messages from senior leaders, direct reports, peers in other departments, or even external stakeholders that present problems, request action, or reveal crucial information.
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Podcasts: Simulated podcast recordings that set the strategic tone or announce significant issues.
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Breaking News Videos & Articles: News reports from industry journalists that introduce external pressures, such as a competitor's breakthrough, a regulatory change, or a shift in consumer sentiment.
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Internal Reports: Data-rich documents, such as market analysis, employee engagement surveys, or R&D updates, that require careful interpretation.
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Social Media Feeds: Simulated social media chatter that can affect brand reputation and public perception.
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This "drip-feed" of information ensures the simulation feels live and unpredictable, preventing participants from solving the entire problem at once and forcing them to continuously adapt their strategy.
The Challenge: Inflection Points and Decision Prioritization
The narrative is architected around a series of critical inflection points. These are moments of significant challenge or opportunity where the path forward is ambiguous and the stakes are high. At these junctures, participants are required to:
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Make Critical Decisions: Analyze the available, often incomplete, information to make high-impact choices regarding resource allocation, strategic direction, talent management, or crisis response.
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Work Collaboratively: The challenges are intentionally designed to be too complex for any single individual or department to solve alone. This necessitates cross-boundary collaboration. Participants must break down silos, negotiate with peers who have competing priorities, build consensus, and leverage diverse perspectives to formulate a cohesive plan.​
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This process hones skills in influence, negotiation, systems thinking, and strategic alignment—core competencies for effective senior leadership.
The Culmination: The Executive-Level Presentation *
In most cases (and depending on the number of participants), the primary deliverable of each Starfish vILT simulation is a high-stakes formal presentation. Participants must synthesize their analysis, justify their decisions, and present their strategic recommendations to a panel role-playing as the company's fictitious Board of Directors or Executive Leadership Team (ELT). This capstone event is designed to develop:
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Executive Presence: The ability to communicate with confidence, clarity, and conviction under pressure
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Strategic Communication: The skill of distilling complex information into a compelling and coherent narrative that aligns with broader business objectives.
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Stakeholder Management: The capacity to anticipate and address the tough questions and concerns of a senior executive audience.
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This presentation is not merely an academic exercise; it is the ultimate test of the participants' journey through the simulation.
* Where the number of participants does not easily facilitate a series of group presentations, participants are provided with an alternate form of deliverable to provide them with an objective to work towards.
The Integration: Debrief and Mindset Shift
The learning does not end with the presentation. The final, and arguably most crucial, phase of the simulation is the post-experience integration. This is a two-part process:
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Comprehensive Debrief: A professionally facilitated session where participants reflect on their experience. The debrief connects the "what" (what happened in the simulation) to the "so what" (what leadership lessons were learned) and the "now what" (how to apply these lessons back in their actual roles). Participants analyze their decision-making processes, collaborative dynamics, and individual leadership styles.
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Mindset Shift Breakout Exercise: Following the debrief, participants engage in a targeted breakout session designed to challenge underlying assumptions and catalyze a fundamental mindset shift. This exercise helps internalize the key learnings from the simulation, moving participants from a tactical, functional perspective to a more strategic, enterprise-level view of leadership.