How IMC’s LEAP Program Transformed My Leadership Journey

Through IMC’s LEAP program, employees are given the tools, coaching, and opportunities to step into bigger challenges and grow into more impactful leaders.

We spoke with Mike, Head of IT Business Operations and Houssem, Trading Lead, who both shared how LEAP shaped their leadership journeys and prepared them to inspire, influence, and scale impact across IMC.

From Operator to Strategic Leader with Head of IT Business Operations, Mike

What leadership capability did you feel was most important to improve at this senior stage of your career?

After nearly 20 years in the corporate workforce, 11 of them with IMC, I had spent much of my career in the trenches of operational details. That experience gave me the foundation to develop bigger, more impactful ideas. Yet, at this stage in my career, I realized I needed to sharpen by ability to communicate my ideas to senior decision makers at IMC in a clear and concise manner, and persuasively without getting lost in the details.

In other words, the leadership capability I was seeking is to move beyond execution and become a more effective influencer to align stakeholders and accelerate my impact.

How did LEAP provide you with the tools, coaching, and environment to help you grow?

LEAP was a unique opportunity to learn about and solution a real business problem at IMC in collaboration with other global cross functional leaders. The program offered exposure to Executive Management, giving us insight into the issues and opportunities considered at the highest levels of the firm.

The program was exceptionally structured, lectures, small-group sessions, and external resources to help apply the learning in practical ways. Equally important, it opened opportunities to build functional relationships across IMC. These were connections that would otherwise be challenging to establish given the scale and global reach of our organization.

How has this experience influenced your leadership style, your team, and your career trajectory?

LEAP helped me connect my technical background with the bigger strategic decisions we face as a firm. Externally, that’s meant playing a role in shaping our hardware choices to support long-term competitiveness. Internally, it’s influenced how I think about the future of our research infrastructure – finding the right balance between cloud and on-prem to scale effectively while managing cost and performance.

The program also pushed me to evolve my leadership style. For my team, that’s meant providing clearer direction, setting more purposeful priorities, and raising the standard for how we communicate our work. I’ve shared lessons from LEAP, especially around structured storytelling, to help the team engage stakeholders more effectively.

From a career perspective, LEAP gave me the confidence in senior-level conversations and in tackling ambiguous, high-impact problems. It’s been an important step in my growth from being execution-focused to becoming a more strategic leader, ready to take on broader responsibilities at IMC.

Growing into Leadership with Trading Lead, Houssem

What leadership strengths did you feel were most critical to develop at this stage in your career?

When I set out to grow in my role, I wasn’t just looking to manage more effectively. I wanted to become a more authentic and inspiring leader, and to lead with both clarity and empathy.

My 360 review revealed a few key growth areas: being more vulnerable with my team, inviting feedback on how my actions impacted them, and clearly articulating my leadership style. I also saw the need to speak with genuine conviction about the goals we were pursuing and the purpose behind our work. As my responsibilities expanded, these skills became more essential, not just to lead execution but to create belief, momentum, and shared ownership. This shift directly contributed to stronger team performance and long-term results for the desk.

How IMC Supported My Growth

IMC’s LEAP program gave me both the structure and support to grow in ways that felt deeply personal and practical. This program (developed by IMC) helped me connect the dots between mindset, behavior and impact – encouraging me to bring my full self to the table earlier in the process, share my thinking openly, and not shy away from imperfect ideas. It also gave me the space to practice the kind of leadership that celebrates and uplifts others. I learned how to use storytelling, praise, and encouragement to build confidence and clarity. More broadly, IMC’s culture of feedback and emphasis on ownership was instrumental in my growth. Throughout my career, I have felt consistently supported by my mentors, peer and team members who wanted me to succeed and were willing to challenge me to get there.

What lasting impact has this leadership development had on you and your team?

The impact has been both tangible and lasting. I now make it a point to lead with greater transparency and care to connect our day-to-day work to the larger picture, as well as recognize the people driving that progress. This shift built deeper trust and alignment within the team, which played a critical role in the success of a major strategic shift we undertook. A year and half after setting a new vision for our trading strategy and seeing it through, I was promoted. With it came increased resourcing for our team, enabling us to scale our impact and build stronger capabilities. I’ve also taken on responsibility for a larger team and have been brought into key strategic decision-making forums. It’s been a moment of personal and professional growth, and it’s expanded what I now see possible for myself and the team that I lead.