Boosting Confidence: How Taara Quest Leveraged Virtual Roleplay to Develop Women Leaders
April 3rd, 2023

CASE STUDY OF THE TAARA QUEST LEADERSHIP DEVELOPTMENT PROGRAM

by Natasha Marston and Dr. Luise Frohberg

Leadership can be challenging, especially for women experiencing self-doubt on a regular basis. Taara Quest is a unique and innovative approach to developing women leaders' confidence through active roleplay and creative expression in virtual environments. In this blog post, we'll explore the key insights and benefits of the first Leadership Quest Program and how it helped women leaders overcome their self-doubt and accelerate their leadership growth.

The Struggle with Imposter Syndrome

75% of women leaders experience struggle with imposter syndrom
75% of women leaders experience struggle with imposter syndrom

Widespread self-doubt, constant tension, and fear of failure - Imposter Syndrome is prevalent among many leaders. Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes first identified this phenomenon in 1978, theorizing that women were uniquely affected by it. Indeed, 75% of female executives experience Imposter Syndrome, and the likelihood of experiencing it increases with higher senior positions. These women often believe their success is due to luck rather than talent or qualifications.

Background of the Leadership Quest:

In 2022, Taara Quest launched a 6-week leadership development program designed to help women grow more confident and accelerate their leadership growth. The program included 22 women from 14 countries and featured highly interactive training in virtual worlds like Minecraft and in Virtual Reality.

Each Leadership Quest session lasted between 90 and 120 minutes, consisting of three parts: learning a proven leadership tool from an experienced coach, engaging in a virtual world for direct application through roleplay, business simulation, or creative expression, and concluding with detailed feedback and reflection.

Leadership Roleplay 'Showing up as a Leader' taking place in Minecraft
Leadership Roleplay 'Showing up as a Leader' taking place in Minecraft

Core Insights

Women developed practical skills

The private virtual environment, represented by a 3D avatar, created a safe space for women to explore without inhibitions and bias. Additionally, roleplaying scenarios offered an opportunity to practice and apply communication and leadership techniques. This allowed for a stronger emotional connection and presence, leading to faster learning in areas like taking calculated risks, getting buy-in, and enabling others.

"Simulations are just easier to experience. I am able to get out of my head and then I can apply what I learned in the real world."

Real-time accurate feedback is crucial

When Imposter Syndrome hits, the brain creates cognitive distortions that amplify our weaknesses, skews perception and makes limitations seem greater. In a training built around virtual experiences, participants were able to receive direct feedback on their performance and guidance on their skills development. Progress was measured more accurately, while also allowing participants to identify and leverage their unique leadership style, contributions and strengths.

"This experience held me accountable. They provided examples of where I could improve and I could implement it in real time."

From shy to confident through business simulations in virual worlds
From shy to confident through business simulations in virual worlds

Embracing a Growth Mindset boosts confidence

Growth Mindset is the belief that skills and intellect result from effort, not predetermined talent. Overcoming temporary obstacles and gaining new knowledge can’t be achieved by trying to be perfect, but by staying curious, putting in effort and accepting your vulnerabilities. In the roleplaying experiences participants started to challenge negative habits like critical self-judgement and were able to approach leadership as low-stakes experiments instead of high-pressure performance and perfection.

"I finally feel like I have the confidence to take on leadership roles and opportunities that I would have otherwise denied."

About us

Taara Quest leverages immersive technology, play and virtual environments to accelerate the confidence of women leaders. By providing a safe space for women to explore and practice their leadership skills, fostering a growth mindset, and providing real-time feedback, Taara Quest was able to achieve remarkable results in just six weeks.

If you're a woman leader looking to accelerate your career growth and overcome self-doubt, join our next** Taara Leadership Program** and become the bold, authentic leaders you’re meant to be.

**Become part of the community and apply for the Taara Growth Guilds - closed circles of 10 women on a journey to grow more consistent in their day-to-day leadership through meeting and roleplaying in virtual worlds.

Also, if you are a woman working in the tech-industry and are actively dealing with self-doubt, we’d love to connect with you and see how we can help. Please feel free to get in touch with us at hello@taara.quest.

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