Last week IMD organized the annual Leading High Impact Learning (LHIL) event. Close to 250 senior HR executives from around the world came to Lausanne on June 23-24 to learn, be inspired and network.
As LHIL director Lynn Verdina-Henchoz and IMD President Dominique Turpin mentioned, the focus of this year’s event was on how Learning and Development can be an enabler in helping organisations and individuals meet the challenges posed by the exponential changes taking place in the economy, the environment, technology and society.
With the goal to create a truly relevant and interactive event, LHIL included an agenda that allowed participants to take part in a series of workshops on current topics. For example, in the pre-conference workshops on Thursday, Professor Bala Chakravarthy lead a discussion on how to manage career progression through general management programs. Additionally, Paul Hunter, Director of IMD’s Corporate Learning Network, shared his insights on how to create learning organizations and Professor Preston Bottger facilitated an interesting discussion about how to engage senior leaders in an organization.
Participants were able to interact with IMD faculty during the themed dinner as well as network with their peers.
Friday morning started with an invigorating body percussion session led by Sewabeats, where participants explored a different way of leading and influencing others.
In parallel workshops, Dr. Bernie Jaworski covered action learning, Professor Ginka Toegel shared her insights on working with psychometric tools in leadership development, Professor Phil Rosenzweig discussed benefits with blended learning, Professor Susanne De Janasz explored the potential of virtual mentoring and Dr. Michael Wade presented the topic of digital natives.
In addition to these smaller, interactive sessions, LHIL also featured a series of plenary sessions. Professor Stéphane Garelli and Professor Michael Yaziji covered the global perspective from two different angles; Garelli from a global competitiveness angle and Yaziji from a sustainability angle. Specifically, Yaziji discussed how organizations can best respond to the sustainability challenge by focusing on competitive advantage and driving additional value creation. Professor Arturo Bris offered a value driven point-of-view on the role HR can play in the talent selection process.
And Professor Sean Mehaan lead an interactive panel discussion on the topic of how organizations can best motivate and develop future talent. Mads Ingholt, Head of Leadership Development at A.P. Moller-Maersk, Rob Davies, Global Talent Manager at B.A.T., Elina Koussis, Global Learning at General Electric and Sarah Lewis, Secretary General at The Internationale Ski Federation, contributed to this discussion.
The event concluded with a fantastic presentation by mountain climber and four-time world champion Catherine Destivelle followed by cocktails and more networking.
Faculty presentations and relevant links are currently featured to the right. Videos will be added by the end of next week.
Arturo Bris's presentation
Bala Chakravarthy's presentation
Bernard Jaworski's presentation
Ginka Toegel's presentation
Michael Wade's presentation
Michael Yaziji's presentation
Stéphane Garelli's presentation
Suzanne de Janasz's presentation
Corporate Learning Network's presentation
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Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Women Leaders and the changing context of business organisations
On May 3rd, IMD organised a business forum, hosted by the City Women’s Network and Edwin Coe law firm in London.
Carol Alayne, committee member of the CWN opened the event by greeting the many women participants from all areas of business. IMD’s UK Director Lynn Verdina-Henchoz then warmly thanked the partners of the event and introduced the topic of the evening – Women Leaders and the changing context of business organizations. In connection with this, she mentioned that in 2011 IMD has the highest number of female participants in the MBA to date and encouraged the senior female executives present to mentor more junior women and to support them in investing in their own development, whether that be an MBA or other form of development. Lynn also introduced Professor Martha Maznevski, who then led the discussion. At IMD, Martha Maznevski is professor of Organizational Behavior and International Management as well as the MBA Program Director. Her teaching and research span a broad range of organizational behaviour topics, such as teams and leadership in global and virtual contexts, diversity and inclusiveness and the relationship between organizational and national culture.
Martha started her presentation – whose central theme was gender diversity – not by talking about the difficulties for female executives to reach senior roles, but by the present business context, with its increasing complexity and need for constant innovation. She then went on to demonstrate how high-performing innovation can be reached by increasing the diversity (here gender, but the same can be applied to cultural diversity) of innovation teams. Indeed, when the organisation is better for women, it’s better for everyone. She mentioned that approaching the issue of gender from an innovation or business perspective can often lead to better results and less resistance from organisations. Without knowing it almost, these organisations who work on improving their innovation teams also increase the number of females in their teams.
Martha then talked about the issue of empowerment: everyone would agree that when people feel empowered, they are more committed, energized and creative. However, the systems in organisations which are used to manage and empower their employees are often biased towards male systems – simply because they were set up by men. So, for example, women tend to define a successful career in terms of satisfaction, influence, making a difference, whilst men tend to define it in terms of status, power, legacy. No wonder then that women do not feel empowered in this context and leave the organisation, often to set up their own businesses, where they can create systems that are more motivating for them.
Finally, Professor Maznevski opened a discussion around work-life balance. Women still bear most of the responsibility of work-life integration, although this seems to be changing in many pockets of society today –men and companies need to take more responsibility as we see business and society needing to be re-integrated to create more sustainable organizations and societies.
Throughout the evening there was lively debate – indeed as Martha noted later “the group was so positively engaged, curious and open, very high-level discussion”.
The evening ended with cocktails and networking.
Many positive reactions were received in the following days – here’s a selection! “Martha had the whole room engaged in the conversation. Particularly enlightened was the way she used the chart of typical male and female organizational paradigms and leadership styles to flesh out what makes a good leader and how the system affects which gender advances”, “I loved Prof Maznevski and see why students become faithful alums” “I found it hugely inspiring and motivating; I came right into work today and volunteered for the Diversity Council”.
Carol Alayne, committee member of the CWN opened the event by greeting the many women participants from all areas of business. IMD’s UK Director Lynn Verdina-Henchoz then warmly thanked the partners of the event and introduced the topic of the evening – Women Leaders and the changing context of business organizations. In connection with this, she mentioned that in 2011 IMD has the highest number of female participants in the MBA to date and encouraged the senior female executives present to mentor more junior women and to support them in investing in their own development, whether that be an MBA or other form of development. Lynn also introduced Professor Martha Maznevski, who then led the discussion. At IMD, Martha Maznevski is professor of Organizational Behavior and International Management as well as the MBA Program Director. Her teaching and research span a broad range of organizational behaviour topics, such as teams and leadership in global and virtual contexts, diversity and inclusiveness and the relationship between organizational and national culture.
Martha started her presentation – whose central theme was gender diversity – not by talking about the difficulties for female executives to reach senior roles, but by the present business context, with its increasing complexity and need for constant innovation. She then went on to demonstrate how high-performing innovation can be reached by increasing the diversity (here gender, but the same can be applied to cultural diversity) of innovation teams. Indeed, when the organisation is better for women, it’s better for everyone. She mentioned that approaching the issue of gender from an innovation or business perspective can often lead to better results and less resistance from organisations. Without knowing it almost, these organisations who work on improving their innovation teams also increase the number of females in their teams.
Martha then talked about the issue of empowerment: everyone would agree that when people feel empowered, they are more committed, energized and creative. However, the systems in organisations which are used to manage and empower their employees are often biased towards male systems – simply because they were set up by men. So, for example, women tend to define a successful career in terms of satisfaction, influence, making a difference, whilst men tend to define it in terms of status, power, legacy. No wonder then that women do not feel empowered in this context and leave the organisation, often to set up their own businesses, where they can create systems that are more motivating for them.
Finally, Professor Maznevski opened a discussion around work-life balance. Women still bear most of the responsibility of work-life integration, although this seems to be changing in many pockets of society today –men and companies need to take more responsibility as we see business and society needing to be re-integrated to create more sustainable organizations and societies.
Throughout the evening there was lively debate – indeed as Martha noted later “the group was so positively engaged, curious and open, very high-level discussion”.
The evening ended with cocktails and networking.
Many positive reactions were received in the following days – here’s a selection! “Martha had the whole room engaged in the conversation. Particularly enlightened was the way she used the chart of typical male and female organizational paradigms and leadership styles to flesh out what makes a good leader and how the system affects which gender advances”, “I loved Prof Maznevski and see why students become faithful alums” “I found it hugely inspiring and motivating; I came right into work today and volunteered for the Diversity Council”.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Building Global Brands
Total quality management was the hot topic 20 years ago and 10 years ago we were all obsessed with getting ISO certified. Today quality is taken for granted and an ISO certification is a standard rather than a differentiator. Companies are searching for new ways to make their products and services stand out on the market and branding is a top of mind topic for many senior executives. This past week we set out to find the Nordic perspective on the following questions: Why is global brand strategy so critical today? What are the key ingredients of a great global brand? And how do you best manage a global brand portfolio?
Dominique Turpin, IMD President and Professor of Marketing visited Sweden, Denmark and Finland between May 2 and 5. In addition to meeting with several high profile Nordic CEOs we also organized a series of well received roundtables and events.
In Stockholm a group of senior global branding and marketing presidents came together to hear Dominique’s views on global branding as well as share their own ideas and experiences. Samuel Asarnoj, Global Brand Director at ASSA ABLOY, was our fantastic host for this roundtable discussion. Later the same evening we organized a larger alumni session, graciously hosted by Peter Meurling, Director Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young and member of the IMD alumni board in Sweden.
In Copenhagen we planned a larger IMD Alumni event with more than 130 top level Danish executives attending. Along with a talk from Dominique, Steen Reeslev, Senior Vice President of A.P. Moller – Maersk, provided a vivid presentation that addressed the branding challenges and learnings of the largest Danish multinational company. What an inspirational story!
We also had a chance to join Flemming Bligaard, CEO of Ramboll, at the impressive offices of Ramboll for a lunch seminar organized together with Sailing Denmark. Dominique’s presentation complimented in an excellent way with the illustrative example of how Ramboll has gone from a local to an international brand.
On the morning of May 4th a stellar group of Senior HR and Learning Directors joined us for an open and frank discussion about the future of executive education. Dominique provided the global perspective and Steen Ernland, Chairman of the IMD alumni club and an executive search specialist, offered the Danish perspective.
In Finland the Swiss Ambassador Darier welcomed us to Helsinki by hosting a smaller, very tasteful dinner at his residence on the evening of May 4th. The following day Jukka-Pekka Vuori, VP Marketing and an alumnus of IMD’s Strategic Marketing in Action Program, welcomed the Finnish alumni club at Fonecta. During this evening we not only had a chance to hear from Dominique and Jukka-Pekka, but also from Marco Mäkinen, CEO of CEO SEK&GREY, one of Finland’s most prominent advertising agencies. He talked about how important it was to make branding and marketing relevant and innovative.
For more detailed information about the topic of Global Branding please see relevant links to the right. A copy of the presentation as well as relevant articles and programs are also listed.
Professor Dominique Turpin's presentation
Dominique Turpin, IMD President and Professor of Marketing visited Sweden, Denmark and Finland between May 2 and 5. In addition to meeting with several high profile Nordic CEOs we also organized a series of well received roundtables and events.
In Stockholm a group of senior global branding and marketing presidents came together to hear Dominique’s views on global branding as well as share their own ideas and experiences. Samuel Asarnoj, Global Brand Director at ASSA ABLOY, was our fantastic host for this roundtable discussion. Later the same evening we organized a larger alumni session, graciously hosted by Peter Meurling, Director Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young and member of the IMD alumni board in Sweden.
In Copenhagen we planned a larger IMD Alumni event with more than 130 top level Danish executives attending. Along with a talk from Dominique, Steen Reeslev, Senior Vice President of A.P. Moller – Maersk, provided a vivid presentation that addressed the branding challenges and learnings of the largest Danish multinational company. What an inspirational story!
We also had a chance to join Flemming Bligaard, CEO of Ramboll, at the impressive offices of Ramboll for a lunch seminar organized together with Sailing Denmark. Dominique’s presentation complimented in an excellent way with the illustrative example of how Ramboll has gone from a local to an international brand.
On the morning of May 4th a stellar group of Senior HR and Learning Directors joined us for an open and frank discussion about the future of executive education. Dominique provided the global perspective and Steen Ernland, Chairman of the IMD alumni club and an executive search specialist, offered the Danish perspective.
In Finland the Swiss Ambassador Darier welcomed us to Helsinki by hosting a smaller, very tasteful dinner at his residence on the evening of May 4th. The following day Jukka-Pekka Vuori, VP Marketing and an alumnus of IMD’s Strategic Marketing in Action Program, welcomed the Finnish alumni club at Fonecta. During this evening we not only had a chance to hear from Dominique and Jukka-Pekka, but also from Marco Mäkinen, CEO of CEO SEK&GREY, one of Finland’s most prominent advertising agencies. He talked about how important it was to make branding and marketing relevant and innovative.
For more detailed information about the topic of Global Branding please see relevant links to the right. A copy of the presentation as well as relevant articles and programs are also listed.
Professor Dominique Turpin's presentation
Monday, May 2, 2011
Winning and Keeping Customers Today - Post Crisis Marketing
On March 24th, IMD and CMS Cameron McKenna LLP organised a joint business forum and networking event hosted by CMS Cameron Mc Kenna LLP. The event was opened by Penelope Warne, Partner, Global Head of Energy and Practice Group Manager for Energy Projects & Construction, CMS Cameron McKenna LLP who greeted the participants and talked about the importance of customer focus and innovation, subject of the main presentation.
IMD director, Lynn Verdina-Henchoz, then warmly thanked CMS Cameron McKenna for their collaboration and introduced Dr. Seán Meehan and the topic of the evening. Seán, who is the Martin Hilti Professor of Marketing and Change Management, joined IMD in 1997 having spent the earlier part of his career in professional services. At IMD he works with global clients to help them enhance their customer focus, a topic that dominates his teaching and research agenda. In 2005, “Simply Better: Winning and keeping customers by delivering what matters most” which he co-authored was selected as the American Marketing Associations award for the most innovative book of the year. With “Beyond the Familiar – Long term Growth through Customer Focus and Innovation” published in March, the authors extend their argument looking in particular at the relationship between (uncommon) customer focus and (all too rare) successful innovation and their (often misunderstood) enablers of long term organic growth. At the event, Seán presented some of the book’s key findings.
Seán talked at some length about Apple’s successes, in terms of long-term revenue and profit growths which elude many other organisations. He demonstrated that Apple has achieved this not by establishing new product categories or new inventions, but by deep customer focus and continuous product improvement. Indeed, one could say Apple is a user-centric fast-follower and an aggressive incremental improver. He shows how Apple is true to a practical framework for long term organic growth presented in Beyond the Familiar. He provided examples of many other companies, such as Aggreko, Infosys and Proctor & Gamble to explore each of the interrelated and interdependent elements: clear customer promise, extraordinary levels of customer trust, relentless continuous improvement and (all too rare) successful innovation – all of which are enabled by an open organisation. He argued that it is a mistake to look down on incremental improvements in favour of more radical, breakthrough innovation. Apple, for example, widely regarded as the most innovative company in the world is not in fact a pioneer. He explored why openness is so problematic and offered practical advice to counter the opposing tendency thus avoiding developing an arrogant dimension leading to misinterpretation of customer needs and attitudes.
In the ensuing Q & A session, the question of whether Apple had reached this tipping point of arrogance (and thus becoming less client-centric) was discussed. The future will tell.
The evening ended with a very pleasant cocktail organised by CMS Cameron McKenna LLP and discussions went on into the evening. Several participants sent their thanks and comments the next day.
At IMD Seán currently leads marketing courses in Program for Executive Development, Orchestrating Winning Performance and runs customised programmes for some of the world’s leading companies.
IMD director, Lynn Verdina-Henchoz, then warmly thanked CMS Cameron McKenna for their collaboration and introduced Dr. Seán Meehan and the topic of the evening. Seán, who is the Martin Hilti Professor of Marketing and Change Management, joined IMD in 1997 having spent the earlier part of his career in professional services. At IMD he works with global clients to help them enhance their customer focus, a topic that dominates his teaching and research agenda. In 2005, “Simply Better: Winning and keeping customers by delivering what matters most” which he co-authored was selected as the American Marketing Associations award for the most innovative book of the year. With “Beyond the Familiar – Long term Growth through Customer Focus and Innovation” published in March, the authors extend their argument looking in particular at the relationship between (uncommon) customer focus and (all too rare) successful innovation and their (often misunderstood) enablers of long term organic growth. At the event, Seán presented some of the book’s key findings.
Seán talked at some length about Apple’s successes, in terms of long-term revenue and profit growths which elude many other organisations. He demonstrated that Apple has achieved this not by establishing new product categories or new inventions, but by deep customer focus and continuous product improvement. Indeed, one could say Apple is a user-centric fast-follower and an aggressive incremental improver. He shows how Apple is true to a practical framework for long term organic growth presented in Beyond the Familiar. He provided examples of many other companies, such as Aggreko, Infosys and Proctor & Gamble to explore each of the interrelated and interdependent elements: clear customer promise, extraordinary levels of customer trust, relentless continuous improvement and (all too rare) successful innovation – all of which are enabled by an open organisation. He argued that it is a mistake to look down on incremental improvements in favour of more radical, breakthrough innovation. Apple, for example, widely regarded as the most innovative company in the world is not in fact a pioneer. He explored why openness is so problematic and offered practical advice to counter the opposing tendency thus avoiding developing an arrogant dimension leading to misinterpretation of customer needs and attitudes.
In the ensuing Q & A session, the question of whether Apple had reached this tipping point of arrogance (and thus becoming less client-centric) was discussed. The future will tell.
The evening ended with a very pleasant cocktail organised by CMS Cameron McKenna LLP and discussions went on into the evening. Several participants sent their thanks and comments the next day.
At IMD Seán currently leads marketing courses in Program for Executive Development, Orchestrating Winning Performance and runs customised programmes for some of the world’s leading companies.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Winning and Keeping Customers today -Post Crisis Marketing - IMD Business Forum - London
On March 22nd, IMD and Visa organised a joint business forum and networking event hosted by Visa Europe. The event was opened by Fiona Wilkinson, Senior VP of Corporate Communications at Visa who greeted the many participants and talked about the importance of Customer focus and innovation, subject of the main presentation.
IMD director, Lynn Verdina-Henchoz, then warmly thanked Visa for their active collaboration and introduced Dr. Seán Meehan and the topic of the evening. Seán, who is the Martin Hilti Professor of Marketing and Change Management, joined IMD in 1997 having spent the earlier part of his career in professional services. At IMD he works with global clients to help them enhance their customer focus, a topic that dominates his teaching and research agenda. In 2005, “Simply Better: Winning and keeping customers by delivering what matters most” which he co-authored was selected as the American Marketing Associations award for the most innovative book of the year. With “Beyond the Familiar – Long term Growth through Customer Focus and Innovation” published in March, the authors extend their argument looking in particular at the relationship between (uncommon) customer focus and (all too rare) successful innovation and their (often misunderstood) enablers of long term organic growth. At the event, Seán presented some of the book’s key findings.
Seán talked at some length about Apple’s successes, in terms of long-term revenue and profit growths which elude many other organisations. He demonstrated that Apple has achieved this not by establishing new product categories or new inventions, but by deep customer focus and continuous product improvement. Indeed, one could say Apple is a user-centric fast-follower and an aggressive incremental improver. He shows how Apple is true to a practical framework for long term organic growth presented in Beyond the Familiar. He provided examples of many other companies, such as Aggreko, Infosys and Proctor & Gamble to explore each of the interrelated and interdependent elements: clear customer promise, extraordinary levels of customer trust, relentless continuous improvement and (all too rare) successful innovation – all of which are enabled by an open organisation. He argued that it is a mistake to look down on incremental improvements in favour of more radical, breakthrough innovation. Apple, for example, widely regarded as the most innovative company in the world is not in fact a pioneer. He explored why openness is so problematic and offered practical advice to counter the opposing tendency thus avoiding developing an arrogant dimension leading to misinterpretation of customer needs and attitudes.
In the ensuing Q & A session, the question of whether Apple had reached this tipping point of arrogance (and thus becoming less client-centric) was discussed. The future will tell.
The evening ended with a very pleasant cocktail organised by Visa and discussions went on late into the evening. Several participants sent their thanks and comments the next day: “It was a pleasure to attend last night’s illuminating event and I much enjoyed Sean Meehan’s speech”
At IMD Seán currently leads marketing courses in Program for Executive Development, Orchestrating Winning Performance and runs customised programmes for some of the world’s leading companies.
IMD director, Lynn Verdina-Henchoz, then warmly thanked Visa for their active collaboration and introduced Dr. Seán Meehan and the topic of the evening. Seán, who is the Martin Hilti Professor of Marketing and Change Management, joined IMD in 1997 having spent the earlier part of his career in professional services. At IMD he works with global clients to help them enhance their customer focus, a topic that dominates his teaching and research agenda. In 2005, “Simply Better: Winning and keeping customers by delivering what matters most” which he co-authored was selected as the American Marketing Associations award for the most innovative book of the year. With “Beyond the Familiar – Long term Growth through Customer Focus and Innovation” published in March, the authors extend their argument looking in particular at the relationship between (uncommon) customer focus and (all too rare) successful innovation and their (often misunderstood) enablers of long term organic growth. At the event, Seán presented some of the book’s key findings.
Seán talked at some length about Apple’s successes, in terms of long-term revenue and profit growths which elude many other organisations. He demonstrated that Apple has achieved this not by establishing new product categories or new inventions, but by deep customer focus and continuous product improvement. Indeed, one could say Apple is a user-centric fast-follower and an aggressive incremental improver. He shows how Apple is true to a practical framework for long term organic growth presented in Beyond the Familiar. He provided examples of many other companies, such as Aggreko, Infosys and Proctor & Gamble to explore each of the interrelated and interdependent elements: clear customer promise, extraordinary levels of customer trust, relentless continuous improvement and (all too rare) successful innovation – all of which are enabled by an open organisation. He argued that it is a mistake to look down on incremental improvements in favour of more radical, breakthrough innovation. Apple, for example, widely regarded as the most innovative company in the world is not in fact a pioneer. He explored why openness is so problematic and offered practical advice to counter the opposing tendency thus avoiding developing an arrogant dimension leading to misinterpretation of customer needs and attitudes.
In the ensuing Q & A session, the question of whether Apple had reached this tipping point of arrogance (and thus becoming less client-centric) was discussed. The future will tell.
The evening ended with a very pleasant cocktail organised by Visa and discussions went on late into the evening. Several participants sent their thanks and comments the next day: “It was a pleasure to attend last night’s illuminating event and I much enjoyed Sean Meehan’s speech”
At IMD Seán currently leads marketing courses in Program for Executive Development, Orchestrating Winning Performance and runs customised programmes for some of the world’s leading companies.
Monday, November 15, 2010
China, what is next?
China, today, is on a roll. After more than thirty years of consistent growth, mostly at high-levels, China has reached a level of global admiration for its economic success and respect for its political agendas. It would appear as if China is well-positioned to achieve a level of influence, if not power, in a multitude of economic, social and political spheres that would have been unthinkable only a decade ago. Yet, there are no guarantees, and while China is positioned well for continued future success, there are a number of major challenges that it must master if it is to continue on its way. In this webcast we speculate together what issues such as demographics, innovation, currency adjustment and single-party leadership might mean for China in the coming decade.
Please click here to see video recording of IMD Professor Bill Fischer discussing his view on the topic.
Please click here to see video recording of IMD Professor Bill Fischer discussing his view on the topic.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
How much Energy and Influence do you really have?
On October 13th, IMD and the Embassy of Switzerland organised a joint business forum and networking event at the Swiss Embassy in London.
The event was opened by Fabrice Filliez, Head of the Economic Section at the Swiss Embassy, who greeted the many participants and described the high level of education offered in Switzerland, in particular at IMD.
IMD director, Lynn Verdina-Henchoz, then warmly thanked the Swiss Embassy for their active collaboration and introduced Professor Preston Bottger and the topic of the evening. Preston Bottger has had a career spanning 30 years in 3 different continents – Australia (his native country), the US (where he taught at Duke University) and Europe. At IMD for the past 12 years, he is a professor of Leadership and Management Development and teaches on key open enrolment programs as well as in a number of in-company customized programs. His experience ranges across many sectors and geographies. He is the author of numerous research articles in international journals on the topics of problem solving in groups, leadership and motivation and is the lead author of Managing People. His most recent book is “Leading in the Top Team”.
Of recent times, business leaders have been stretched and challenged to an extent that many individuals have found difficult to manage. The complexity of the environment and of the tasks they have to undertake have meant that many leaders have found it almost impossible to align business needs with their personal aspirations.
We can all think of people who have become cynical or who are in denial – what has happened to them? Preston Bottger mentioned that at IMD there are often 3 categories of participants – the prisoners, the tourists and the learners (the latter category is comprised of consumers and creators). We can see the same type of people in an organisation. How can we learn to be creators, to transform the way we currently look at things? How can we keep up the energy – physical, intellectual and emotional – to keep going? Will the same formula that got us to the top be sufficient for the next few decades?
Preston led a very interesting and interactive discussion with the audience around the above questions. For example, he asked participants to reflect on the following: “It is the morning of your 70th birthday. How has the journey been?” Individuals create their future selves by the choices they have made along the way. And sometimes these choices will have been difficult ones. Professor Bottger advocated that it is not possible to do the hard work of leading others, unless we first look after our own well-being.
The discussion also looked at different types of leaders. Good leadership is about creating wealth – economic and social. It is also about having the ability to see around the corner, to identify opportunities before others and being able to motivate and bring others along. Indeed, a key competency is the capacity to generate new behaviour, rather than being trapped by habit and to be willing to take on criticism and resistance, without necessarily being rewarded for good performance.
The evening ended with a very pleasant cocktail organised by the Swiss Embassy and discussions went on late into the evening. Several participants sent their thanks and comments the next day “Thank you for a fantastic evening with Preston at the Swiss Embassy – great venue, great speech…”
Please click here to access Preston Bottger's documents:
- Carving your own Leadership Path
- Leadership Challenges
- Life-Long Learning
The event was opened by Fabrice Filliez, Head of the Economic Section at the Swiss Embassy, who greeted the many participants and described the high level of education offered in Switzerland, in particular at IMD.
 |
| Joint Business Forum and Networking Event |
IMD director, Lynn Verdina-Henchoz, then warmly thanked the Swiss Embassy for their active collaboration and introduced Professor Preston Bottger and the topic of the evening. Preston Bottger has had a career spanning 30 years in 3 different continents – Australia (his native country), the US (where he taught at Duke University) and Europe. At IMD for the past 12 years, he is a professor of Leadership and Management Development and teaches on key open enrolment programs as well as in a number of in-company customized programs. His experience ranges across many sectors and geographies. He is the author of numerous research articles in international journals on the topics of problem solving in groups, leadership and motivation and is the lead author of Managing People. His most recent book is “Leading in the Top Team”.
Of recent times, business leaders have been stretched and challenged to an extent that many individuals have found difficult to manage. The complexity of the environment and of the tasks they have to undertake have meant that many leaders have found it almost impossible to align business needs with their personal aspirations.
We can all think of people who have become cynical or who are in denial – what has happened to them? Preston Bottger mentioned that at IMD there are often 3 categories of participants – the prisoners, the tourists and the learners (the latter category is comprised of consumers and creators). We can see the same type of people in an organisation. How can we learn to be creators, to transform the way we currently look at things? How can we keep up the energy – physical, intellectual and emotional – to keep going? Will the same formula that got us to the top be sufficient for the next few decades?
Preston led a very interesting and interactive discussion with the audience around the above questions. For example, he asked participants to reflect on the following: “It is the morning of your 70th birthday. How has the journey been?” Individuals create their future selves by the choices they have made along the way. And sometimes these choices will have been difficult ones. Professor Bottger advocated that it is not possible to do the hard work of leading others, unless we first look after our own well-being.
The discussion also looked at different types of leaders. Good leadership is about creating wealth – economic and social. It is also about having the ability to see around the corner, to identify opportunities before others and being able to motivate and bring others along. Indeed, a key competency is the capacity to generate new behaviour, rather than being trapped by habit and to be willing to take on criticism and resistance, without necessarily being rewarded for good performance.
The evening ended with a very pleasant cocktail organised by the Swiss Embassy and discussions went on late into the evening. Several participants sent their thanks and comments the next day “Thank you for a fantastic evening with Preston at the Swiss Embassy – great venue, great speech…”
Please click here to access Preston Bottger's documents:
- Carving your own Leadership Path
- Leadership Challenges
- Life-Long Learning
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