Rovio Entertainment is a global mobile gaming company with a mission to craft joy by creating meaningful experiences for players around the world. In a creative and fast-moving environment, leadership plays a critical role in how people collaborate, navigate change, and succeed together.

As Rovio grew and expanded internationally, the company wanted to ensure that managers and people in leadership roles shared a common foundation for leading people. Together, we set out to build a practical and long-term leadership development journey that would support leaders in their everyday work.

Leadership happens in everyday interactions

At Rovio, leadership takes place in a complex environment where responsibilities, goals and decision-making often span teams, games and countries.

Managers and game leads often navigate priorities from multiple directions. Many leaders also continue to work closely in expert and creative roles themselves, making leadership an integral part of everyday collaboration, decision-making and communication.

At the heart of the journey were the situations leaders face every day: giving feedback, navigating challenging conversations and maintaining direction in a constantly evolving environment. Strengthening collaboration and peer support between leaders was an equally important objective. 

Designed to fit Rovio’s leadership culture

Together with Rovio, we named the programme Flock Leader, reflecting the idea that leadership is not about individual performance but about helping the whole flock move forward together.

The programme was designed for both people managers and individuals in game leadership roles who lead projects, teams and collaboration without necessarily having direct reports. In the early stages, particular emphasis was placed on supporting new managers and helping them establish strong leadership practices from the beginning of their leadership journey.

To create space for meaningful discussion and peer learning, the programme was delivered in small groups. Between 2024 and 2026, Flock Leader brought together more than 100 managers and game leads in five cohorts across Finland, Sweden and international groups spanning Europe. This long-term approach enabled a shared foundation for leadership to take root throughout the organisation, connecting teams, functions and leadership roles through a common language and shared practices.

The journey combined personality profiling, live workshops, virtual sessions, peer learning and practical assignments between sessions. Leaders at Rovio also had access to individual coaching when needed. 

Coaching offered leaders dedicated time to reflect on their leadership, discuss real-life challenges confidentially and explore new approaches in a safe environment. It provided an opportunity to step back from the pace of daily work and focus on personal growth as a leader.

Creating a shared language for leadership

One of the central themes of the programme was self-awareness and understanding individual leadership styles.

A key tool in this work was WorkPlace Big Five, which helped participants gain deeper insight into their own natural ways of working as well as the dynamics within their teams.

The personality profiles gave leaders a practical language for discussing different working styles, communication preferences and approaches to collaboration. In an international and diverse organisation, this brought greater clarity and understanding into everyday interactions.

“WorkPlace Big Five helped people articulate their own leadership style and better understand the diversity within their teams. In everyday work, there is rarely enough time to reflect on leadership at that level of depth, and participants really appreciated that opportunity,” Vilja reflects.

As leaders developed a stronger understanding of themselves and others, collaboration became smoother and conversations clearer, feedback felt more natural and leaders gained greater confidence in addressing difficult situations.

At the same time, a shared language for leadership started to emerge. It quickly became visible not only in everyday leadership practices, but also in the way managers collaborated across organisational boundaries. Participants built valuable new connections across the company. 

Greater confidence in challenging conversations

The most visible impact of the programme was seen in day-to-day leadership situations.

Participants reported feeling more confident in difficult conversations and situations that required setting boundaries, addressing issues early or providing constructive feedback. Development discussions and one-to-one meetings also became more focused and effective.

The practical nature of the programme played an important role in achieving these results. Participants worked with real situations from their own work throughout the programme, making it easier to apply new insights directly in their daily leadership.

“The discussions were highly practical because people could immediately relate the topics to situations they were facing in their own work,” Vilja adds.

Continuing to grow leadership capabilities

As the shared foundation for leadership grew stronger across the organisation, attention gradually shifted towards deepening leadership capabilities further.

The goal is to continue supporting more experienced leaders and help them navigate increasingly complex leadership challenges. For Rovio, leadership development is an ongoing investment in culture, collaboration and long-term success.

At Lifted, we are proud to have walked this journey together with Rovio.

Read more about our customer stories here or explore our training programs on our services page.

Do you need an expert partner for growth, change, or navigating a challenging situation? We’d love to brainstorm with you.

Get in touch with us, and let’s talk!