Becoming a Managing Director (MD) at a multinational investment bank is more than just applying knowledge—it’s about reshaping your mindset and approach to leadership.
To meet this challenge, we designed an immersive learning experience that pushes MDs to reconsider how they make decisions and lead. By placing them in realistic, thought-provoking scenarios, the program helps them develop the mindset needed to lead confidently in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing business world.
The program focuses on how MDs think, not just what they think. This encourages long-term leadership growth and helps shape behavior that will guide them throughout their careers.
The Challenge
When promoted to MD, leaders face the daunting task of shifting from tactical to strategic thinking. This transition presents several challenges:
- Mental Model Limitations: Many MDs bring prior assumptions to their leadership roles, which can create blind spots and limit their ability to think outside conventional approaches.
- Managing Complex Change: MDs often feel constrained by existing structures and norms. They needed to be equipped to challenge these constraints and push for innovative solutions.
- Strategic Decision-Making: Leading at the MD level requires balancing short-term goals with long-term strategic priorities. This requires moving from reactive management to proactive, visionary leadership.
The company identified the need for a solution that would allow MDs to make decisions in a safe environment, learn from mistakes, and develop strategies to lead effectively under uncertainty.
The Solution
The New MD Program is an immersive, experiential learning opportunity designed to spark deep mental shifts and equip MDs to lead with confidence and vision.
In teams of six, learners make critical decisions related to a fictional fintech product. These decisions reflect one or more of the organization’s leadership standards:
- Choosing the initial focus—risk, profit, or customer needs—for the new product.
- Filling a sudden open position and managing the resulting vacancies.
- Handling interruptions, like a colleague’s support request, during a time-sensitive task.
- Responding to client issues arising from errors made by other teams.
- Resolving a transaction that deviates from company guidelines but isn’t illegal.
A key design feature was the “learning head fake” strategy: while the course appears to focus on financial offerings, the real focus is on developing critical thinking, managing ambiguity, making tough decisions, and teamwork.
In small-group debriefs, MDs reflect on their decisions, learn to make complex choices under pressure, and refine their leadership approach.
The Process
The program was developed in close collaboration with senior leadership, project managers, learning designers, graphic artists, back-end developers, and QA testers.
As the lead Design Consultant, I:
- Brainstormed with the team in design workshops to identify, sequence, and refine key activities.
- Captured and iterated the design flow using Axure RP.
- Storyboarded eLearning scenarios to fuel instructor-led group debriefs.
The final course was delivered via the client’s proprietary platform. Below is an example based on one of the course scenarios.
The Outcome
The New Managing Director Program yielded impactful results, including:
- Leadership growth: Participants reported significant shifts in thinking, with increased willingness to challenge norms and think strategically.
- Stronger collaboration: MDs learned to collaborate effectively across functions, driving collective success rather than focusing solely on individual goals.
- Enhanced decision-making: By experiencing low-risk decision-making, participants were better prepared to make strategic choices in real-world scenarios.
- Positive feedback: Many MDs expressed newfound confidence in balancing short-term priorities with long-term strategic goals.
The program won a gold award from Brandon Hall Group for Best Unique or Innovative Leadership Development Program, thanks to its ability to engage executives and transform their leadership approach.
Key Takeaways
- Shifting mental models requires creating opportunities for participants to challenge assumptions and explore new ways of thinking.
- Mistakes in a risk-free environment allow MDs to adjust behaviors and grow as leaders.
- Immersive simulations, cross-functional collaboration, and expert debriefing created a powerful learning environment that accelerated growth.
- Balancing new mental models with the comfort of senior leaders required iterative feedback and tailored facilitation.
- Dreaming up a fictional fintech product that didn’t already exist was a fun challenge!