Leadership & management training

Your managers shouldn't learn hard conversations on their own team.

Managers rehearse feedback, performance reviews and difficult news with an AI employee who reacts the way people do. Every attempt is scored, and an AI coach helps them plan the real conversation before they walk into it.

350k+

practice sessions completed

50+

roleplays ready to assign

Leadership programs teach the model. Nobody practices the conversation.

Every leadership program ends the same way. Managers learn SBI or GROW in a workshop, then use it for the first time on someone who reports to them.

The usual fix is roleplay in the room. Three things get in the way.


They get promoted, not trained

Most managers step up because they were good at the job. They learn the people side on the people they manage.


Workshop roleplay is too polite

A peer playing an upset employee won't go quiet, get defensive, or bring up the colleague who got the promotion instead.


You hear about it afterwards

An engagement survey or an HR case tells you a conversation went badly. By then, it already has.


What a practice conversation actually looks like

Short enough to fit into a manager's week, and close enough to the real thing that they feel the same nerves.

01

You assign the conversation

From the library, or a scenario built around your own leadership framework, values and policies.

02

They have it out loud

Real voice, real time, five to ten minutes. Alone, with nobody from the team watching.

03

The employee reacts

To what was actually said. Rush to the solution and they shut down. Listen first and they tell you what's really going on.

04

Score, then debrief

Five criteria with the evidence for each, then a conversation with the AI coach about what to do differently.

Runs in the browser, on a tablet, or in a VR headset. Nothing to install before the first session.

AI-powered practice that creates confident leaders

Leadership is a make-or-break factor for every organization’s success.

Develop leadership skills throughout your teams with immersive AI-powered training crafted to bring the best out of your leaders.

Increase confidence and ensure your organization’s leaders are ready to face even the most challenging moments knowing that they’ve practiced them before.

The employee won't tell you what's wrong straight away

This is the line between a roleplay and an e-learning module. The AI employee has something going on that they're not saying, and they only open up when the manager earns it, the way a real person would.

Managers can't click their way to the right answer. They have to find the words, say them out loud, and deal with what comes back.

See how sessions are scored

From the library
Poor Employee Performance: a manager and a struggling team member

Andy's productivity has dropped. He's arriving late, leaving early, and has taken three sick days this month. It's out of character, and he thought nobody had noticed.

Lead with the attendance record and the answers stay short, cold and defensive. You leave with "I'm fine" and a promise to do better.

Keep asking open questions and, after a few exchanges, he can't hold it together any longer. His mum is ill and he's been caring for her while working. Now you can actually help.

Scored on asking open-ended questions, empathetic language and active listening, creating a safe environment, finding joint solutions, and offering appropriate support.

Feedback a manager can use before the next one-to-one

Not a percentage and a thumbs up. Every conversation is scored against named criteria, with what the manager actually said and what to try instead.

A performance conversation is scored on open questions, empathy and finding a way forward together. Giving feedback is scored on behavior, impact and dialogue. The measure fits the moment.

Example: Poor employee performance
Overall: 7.4
  • Asking open-ended questions

"You asked what had been making things hard rather than why he'd been late, which gave Andy space to explain what was behind it."

  • Creating a safe environment

"When he mentioned his mum, you paused and said 'thank you for telling me' before moving on. That's when he started to open up."

  • Finding joint solutions

"You proposed flexible hours yourself. Asking Andy what would help first would have made it a plan he owned."

Hesitations: 2

167 wpm

Clarity: 72%

...

Showing 3 of 5 scored criteria for this roleplay

Then they plan the real conversation

A score tells a manager what happened. Coaching is what changes the next conversation, and it has always gone to the few leaders you could justify it for.

After every roleplay, managers can debrief with Hugh, the AI Coach. Or they can bring a conversation they're dreading to a Skills Coaching session, work through it with a named framework, and leave with a written plan in their own words.

Hugh doesn't accept "they're always late". He asks which day, what happened and what it caused, one question at a time, until the plan is specific enough to say out loud. Plans are saved to the manager's account and only shared with an admin if they choose.

  • How to Give Feedback (SBI)
  • Leading Through Change
  • Reframing Confrontational Language

More on AI Coaching

Example plan, built in a coaching session
Your feedback plan: How to Give Feedback (SBI)

Ask permission

"Hi, have you got two minutes? I'd like to give you some quick feedback."

Situation

"On Saturdays, when the shop is busy, we need everyone out on the floor. Last Saturday at around eleven…"

Behavior

"…you were in the stockroom tidying up. That's fine in itself, but the shop was full at the time, and a queue built up at the till."

Impact

"It meant customers waited longer for help, and your colleagues had more to handle."

Ask for their view

"How did you see it?" Then listen, and play it back: "So from your side…"

Next step

"Have you got any ideas for what we could do differently next Saturday?"

Leadership conversations, ready to assign on day one

Written and scored by our learning designers. Assign them as they are, or use them as the starting point for your own.

See it with a conversation your managers are dreading

Tell us the conversation your managers avoid and we'll build it into a scenario on the call. Then we'll show you the feedback a manager gets and the data you'd see across a cohort.