The ancient Greek writer Plutarch once famously said that he would be more afraid of an army of donkeys commanded by lions than an army of lions commanded by donkeys. Well, things have changed very little since these times and effective leadership still makes one of the most critical factors contributing to the success of one organization.
Speaking strictly in business terms, firm management and inspiring leadership can rally the employees, keep the workflow, ensure clear and open communication, boost the confidence of one company and turn even the most difficult situations around.
But how are these leaders actually cut out?
Well, the methods are plentiful. This time, though, we are going to focus on one strategy that has been, as of lately, gaining quite a lot of traction – game-based leadership courses. Let’s see what this whole thing is about.
Achievement-based structure keeps the trainees motivated
Most video games are based on the idea that you need to unlock some achievement or push your score higher in order to make progress. This concept in itself is very addictive and is being used in other areas where you are expected to demonstrate some degree of endurance and willpower. So, it’s easy to see why introducing gamification into leadership training can go a long way in keeping the people fully engaged, motivated, and hooked. Furthermore, tackling lessons in this manner can help future leaders to start implementing this achievement-based concept in their future professional assignments.
Lowering the learning stress levels
The learning process, especially when it involves serious challenges like the one we have in leadership training, can prove to be very stressful. Using game-based training platforms can address this problem in a couple of intuitive ways. First, the challenges here are based on the gradual skill progression so they smooth out the learning curve and remove a lot of resulting frustration. Furthermore, completing some challenges and earning in-game rewards helps your brain stimulate the production of endorphins – hormones that serve as the body’s natural pain relievers and have a very positive impact on mental wellbeing.
Improving confidence and decision-making abilities
This is one of the greatest advantages of game-based learning platforms we can think of. Namely, acquiring practical long-term skills requires a lot of practice and real-life experience that the traditional forms of training are simply not capable of providing. On the other hand, the game-based leadership courses are doing an excellent job at offering trainees an excellent opportunity to sharpen their professional and personal skills through a series of simulated business situations. As they are going through these simple scenarios they are gradually improving their decision-making abilities and improving self-confidence.
Building professional relationships with peers
Being used by thousands of people at the same time, the leadership learning platforms provide a great opportunity for all young professionals to get in touch with their peers, establish relationships with them and use these acquaintances later in their careers. Keeping in mind the world of business is practically built on networking, this opportunity to get to know the future industry leaders shouldn’t be overlooked. The unique benefit you get in the case of game-based platforms is that these relationships are forged in a very stimulating environment where trainees have a chance to demonstrate their professional skills.
Improved learning outcomes
The major benefits we have covered above make it very clear that game-based learning courses are able to produce very strong outcome-based learning results. Considering the fact that these methods also encourage independent and critical thinking, a multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving, a proactive stance in approaching challenges, and numerous other perks, we can draw a couple of very important conclusions about this learning method:
- It allows trainees to independently navigate the training process
- It gives trainees an opportunity to freely select strategies and skills they will use for problem-solving
- It makes it possible to directly apply the skills that have been mastered
All these things can drastically improve the overall learning outcomes.
A more efficient approach to training
Last but not least, we would like to remind you that, like all other business processes, the success of the leadership training can be observed through invested resources and the acquired results. We are happy to report that game-based courses excel in both these areas. First, these platforms are usually more streamlined and more affordable than traditional forms of education. Second, the candidates are able to reach the learning outcomes in much shorter times with a greater level of skill retention. So, speaking strictly in terms of efficiency and financial goals, this process can be considered incredibly beneficial.
We hope these few considerations gave you a general idea about how important the game-based system can be for creating business leaders capable of dealing with the challenges of the modern corporate arena. Ever since video games first cracked the mainstream, it has become very clear that this process of exploration, trial and error, and pursuing challenges creates excellent foundations for acquiring long-term knowledge. These days, you can use this asset to forge the business leaders of tomorrow. This is a chance you really don’t want to miss out on.
