Building High-Performing Leadership Teams: How PepsiCo France Partnered with Ad Arborem to Accelerate Team Effectiveness

In today’s fast-moving consumer goods industry, the ability to adapt, align quickly, and perform under pressure is critical. For PepsiCo France, this meant investing in their most valuable asset: their people.

To support the performance and agility of their management leadership team, PepsiCo France partnered with Ad Arborem, a boutique HR consulting firm founded by Gilles, a certified Miki Island partner based in France. What began as a conversation around team dynamics evolved into a three-month team coaching journey focused on team effectiveness, agility, and high performance.

Meet Gilles & Ad Arborem

Gilles is not just a consultant—he’s a trusted partner to leadership teams navigating complexity and change. Through Ad Arborem, he specializes in designing and facilitating transformational experiences that unlock team potential.

One of his secret weapons? The Miki Island experience, a unique, game-based team development platform. As a certified partner, Gilles uses Miki Island to run experiential team workshops that deliver deep insights in a fun and engaging format. This approach is helping Ad Arborem win new clients, unlock repeat business, and build a reputation in the French market for delivering impactful leadership programs and team coaching journeys.

The Context: PepsiCo’s Need for Agility and Alignment

As a global leader in food and beverages, PepsiCo operates in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving landscape. For the management leadership team in France, staying ahead required more than strategy—it required a team culture built on agility, trust, and collective performance.

PepsiCo leadership recognized that traditional workshops were no longer enough. They needed an approach that combined experiential learning with strategic reflection, one that could build real behavioral change over time.

The Solution: A 3-Month Team Coaching Journey Powered by Miki Island

Ad Arborem designed a 3-month team effectiveness program that integrated the Miki Island simulation, structured coaching sessions, and leadership development tools. The journey unfolded in three key phases:

1. Immersive Team Game with Miki Island

The team kicked off with the Miki Island simulation, a fast-paced, experiential game that mirrors real-world team challenges. As leaders navigated changing scenarios, made rapid decisions, and collaborated under pressure, they were pushed out of their comfort zones.

The game provided a safe space for the team to experience group dynamics in action—highlighting both their strengths and critical friction points.

2. Structured Debrief & Coaching

After the simulation, the team engaged in deep debriefing sessions led by Gilles. These sessions helped translate game behavior into business behavior. Leaders reflected on how they worked together, communicated, made decisions, and dealt with uncertainty.

Coaching conversations focused on agile principles, psychological safety, and clear role alignment—key drivers of high performance.

3. Ongoing Practice & Integration

Over the following weeks, Ad Arborem guided the team through ongoing coaching and facilitated sessions to reinforce key takeaways. Leaders were challenged to apply insights from Miki Island to their day-to-day collaboration—moving from awareness to sustainable behavioral change.

What PepsiCo Learned

1. Agile Ways of Working

• Embracing iterative processes and feedback loops
• Staying flexible in decision-making
• Prioritizing communication and responsiveness

2. Team Dynamics that Drive Results

• Collective intelligence trumps individual brilliance
• Trust and psychological safety create space for innovation
• Clear roles lead to accountability and execution

3. Performance Acceleration

• Rapid alignment on goals and priorities
• Culture of support and challenge
• Focus on outcomes over activity

Conclusion: From Simulation to Transformation

What started with a game became a catalyst for change.

PepsiCo France’s leadership team didn’t just talk about teamwork—they lived it, practiced it, and grew through it. The partnership with Ad Arborem and the Miki Island journey offered not just a learning experience but a transformation in how the team shows up together.

For Gilles, this journey exemplifies what Ad Arborem stands for: helping teams unlock their potential through powerful, human-centered experiences.

And for PepsiCo? They now have a stronger, more agile, and better-aligned leadership team ready to take on the next challenge.

Want to learn how your team can experience the Miki Island journey?

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