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Unlocking Leadership & Employability With Serious Games


Following my prior post ComingSoon: The Leadership Game By Totem Learning Where Roles Are Fluid And Opportunities Plenty, Totem has recently launched Unlock:Leadership, the Serious Game that works as a sandbox in which learners can practice their leadership skills.

Unlock: Leadership is a 3D, multiplayer online game set on a tropical island in which 4 players at their own PCs collaborate in real time to solve puzzles and achieve their goal. Players can be in the same room or on opposite sides of the world and their only means of communication is via an instant messaging window.

This serves three purposes. The first is to train player’s communication skills, a vital soft skill for the workplace. Players will quickly learn that to succeed, they must give clear and concise direction to their team mates. The second is because it levels the playing field, those that ‘shout the loudest’ will not have the advantage. The third purpose is so all communication can be captured and assessed.

Each puzzle is designed to focus on specific leadership skills such as coaching, negotiation and communication.

Screens at the end of each level also provide the player with feedback on their strengths and weaknesses. The feedback screens highlight how these traits are applicable in the workplace and further ways to develop them.




On November 12, Totem Learning held a hands-on workshop allowing attendees to try out this brand new innovation in leadership training, learn about new opportunities in simulations and experience some exciting new tech. Attendees could also hear the designers talk about decisions they made on game mechanics, hear leadership training experts talk about the learning outcomes and practical uses, and learn about why Serious Games are an essential part of today’s L&D toolkit.

The event named “Unlocking Leadership & Driving Performance with Games and Simulations” was held at WOOTE, a modern building boasting the very latest in simulation training facilities, from 180 degree motion driving simulators to virtual golf and clay pigeon shooting and the latest in VR headsets.