Finding the Next Line of Leaders

A High-Growth Tech Services Firm

This Pune-based IT services company works with some of the world’s top-funded startups, including multiple unicorns. Known for reliable delivery and technical strength, the company was now scaling fast across global markets.

The Challenge

As the company grew, so did the need for a strong second line of leadership. The founders were clear:

“We have great doers. But who among them can truly lead?”

While execution was solid, very few team members were stepping up to lead independently. Every client escalation or strategic decision still needed the founders’ involvement. They needed leaders who could handle ambiguity, make tough calls, and inspire teams without waiting for direction.

What Bottomline Did  

Bottomline designed a 3-part leadership simulation for 25 mid-level professionals—team leads, project managers, and engineers. Each session recreated real-world challenges like shifting priorities, stakeholder conflicts, and tight deadlines.

These weren’t theory-based workshops. Participants had to act—collaborate, negotiate, make trade-offs, and lead through pressure.

Throughout the simulations, we tracked behaviors across key areas like:

• Decision-making

• Team collaboration

• Risk appetite

• Ownership and bias

The founders got to see their team in action without filters. And the data revealed insights they had missed for months. 

What They Discovered  

• Good talkers, poor doers: One confident, well-spoken team member consistently avoided real responsibility. The founders had high hopes for him—but the simulations quickly exposed the gap between words and action.

• Favoritism surfaced: A few managers repeatedly chose the same people to work with, raising questions about inclusiveness and team dynamics.

• Quiet leaders emerged: Several low-profile team members stepped up, handled conflict with calm, and showed strong leadership instincts—ones that had gone unnoticed before.

Every participant received a detailed behavioral report. This gave the founders clear, actionable data to support their leadership decisions.

The Result: A Leadership Pod  

Six individuals stood out. They showed potential not through titles, but through how they handled pressure and worked with others.

These professionals were:

• Mentored directly by the founders

• Given client-facing responsibilities

• Trusted with internal strategic projects

  
  

Today, they are leading key verticals and playing a critical role in the company’s next phase of growth. 

The Bottomline Impact  

“We were searching outside for what was quietly growing inside.”  

Bottomline’s simulation-based approach, built on behavioral economics, helped the founders replace guesswork with insight. It made succession planning more data-driven and far more effective.

Now, the company has a proven leadership bench—and the founders can focus on the future, knowing the day-to-day is in good hands.