1The Challenge
What was the challenge?
The firm assembled 40 leaders in Sri Lanka around a single, clear goal: tighten team cohesion, dissolve silos, and grow the kind of trust that shows up in real performance. The 40 attendees, all from the leadership team of EY GDS, Sri Lanka, took part in a two-day Leadership Bootcamp built around openness, collaboration, inventive thinking, storytelling, and purpose-led leadership — all framed by EY's Transformative Leadership Model.
2Our Solution
What solution did we design?
Each day of the bootcamp was built around its own set of outcomes.
Day 1 opened with the Green Dot Exercise to set expectations and establish the psychological safety needed for honest sharing. Speed Networking followed, sparking early bonding and getting collaboration moving. The centrepiece was the Pyramid Challenge, in which teams built thematic pyramids around ideas like thought leadership, a collaborative mindset, big-picture thinking, and impact-driven communication. After presenting their pyramids, teams moved into reflective discussion that fed a debrief on the Innovation Mindset Model, drawing the link between creativity and collaboration.
Day 2 began with the Image Pool Exercise, where each participant picked an image and used it to share a personal story — a prompt for empathy and inclusive conversation. Next came Laser Bond, a test of problem-solving and collaboration under pressure, debriefed through the 4 Cs Model: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. The closing challenge, Solar Fusion, had teams assemble solar lamps that were afterwards donated to children supported by a Colombo NGO. This was tied back to the EY Transformative Leadership Model and closed with a debrief using Simon Sinek's Golden Circle, inviting leaders to reflect on their Why, How, and What when leading with purpose and impact.
3How We Did It
How was the programme delivered?
Across the bootcamp, participants tackled a sequence of immersive, hands-on challenges in their teams, each one chosen to sharpen team dynamics, develop strategic thinking, and tie back to leadership values. The agenda was sequenced so that learning built up steadily — moving from openness and collaboration through to purpose and impact. Every activity paired moments of leadership reflection with concrete action, which kept engagement high and made the takeaways stick.
4Key Outcomes
What were the results?
The bootcamp encouraged leaders to operate with intention, empathy, and clarity. Weaving together storytelling, strategic collaboration, and purpose-driven action produced a genuinely powerful learning space. A standout moment came when Simon Sinek's Golden Circle was applied during Solar Fusion, reconnecting participants with their deeper purpose as leaders. The programme wrapped with stronger relationships, fresh energy, and clear alignment behind EY's ambition of building a better working world.
All 40 leaders finished the programme rating it 9.5/10 overall, with facilitation independently scored at 9.7/10. In the following weeks the firm noticed a clear, lasting lift in cross-team communication — and went on to book The Thought Bulb again for a follow-up session.
