Science & Practice

Innovation is top of mind for leaders driving growth. In the quest for innovation, many try to follow "best practices" of companies identified as innovative by the media or by their peers. More often than not, this fails to translate into sustainable improvement or economic value. This session provides line and function leaders with practical insights based on hundreds of academic studies looking at what really drives innovation in companies, teams and individuals.

How can leaders best activate their growth strategy? Many focus on setting an inspirational vision, setting stretch targets and aligning their structures. But does this really differentiate those who grow and those that don't? This Science & Practice session looks at decades of research on what drives organic business growth. It will help line, strategy and HR leaders understand the people and organisation levers that translate aspirations into results.

So how do you turn growth aspirations into results?

Most leaders set an inspirational vision, stretch targets and align their structures. But what practices really differentiate true growth? This Science & Practice session looks at decades of research on what really drives organic business growth and innovation, and will help line, strategy and HR leaders understand the people and organisation levers that translate growth aspirations into real results.

Leader assessment has over 100 years of research that indicates the best methods of assessment. However, many companies do not use assessment or use invalid assessments to predict performance and potential. This session provides a research-based and yet pragmatic view into leadership assessment and the implications for selecting and growing the leadership talent pipeline.

Every company must identify the next generation of leaders to fuel their leadership pipeline and secure future success. Unfortunately, many efforts fall short. Leaders bounce on and off the high potential list, they are nominated for the wrong reasons or the best assessments are not used. This session explores how companies are measuring potential today and how this should change in future.

Executive coaching has been exported to the world. Unfortunately, this export has a few potential mishaps. Purchasers of coaching services and coaches are often misaligned in terms of what gets coached. Approach to coaching ignores culture dynamics and purchaser expectations. Coaches often lack basic qualifications. This session explores research on coaching outcomes and key gaps in coaching practice around the world. We will also share a bit about we work with clients to close these gaps!

Does leadership matter? We explore 8 truths about leadership and the implications of these on building better leadership in companies. We also address the questions: What is leadership? What characteristics make a great leader? Is one leadership style better than another? How do leaders impact company performance?

For the last 30 years, companies have discussed and decried the shortage of leadership talent. During this time, billions of dollars have been spent yearly on leadership development. Shouldn't we enjoy a stronger leadership pipeline by now? This session focuses on what we can do to maximise our leadership development investment.

Leaders handle adversity in different ways. Some resist pressure and break, others bend and go with flow. Great leaders and organisations flourish in the face of setbacks. They bounce back from challenges, and create environments that stand the test of time. This Science & Practice session gets under the skin of resilience to help line and HR leaders create strong organisations. Specifically the session addresses:

- What is resilience? What impact does it really have on performance?

- How can companies select and develop to increase their leaders’ resilience?

- Is it just about the individual or should we be adapting our organisations?

- Can leaders be TOO resilient? The dangers of ‘Superman’ syndrome

Many companies decry the lack of Asian leadership talent and invest heavily to recruit and develop leaders to close this gap. This session explores capability gaps, cultural issues, barriers to progression and practices needed to breakthrough these challenges. Research and practice from MNCs will be shared. Be prepared to question your own beliefs!

Growth determines a company’s long-term success, but most companies are not identifying and developing leaders that can grow and scale their business.  Research tells us that Growth Leaders are different but most leadership models and assessments exclude capabilities that differentiate high-growth leaders.  Some companies even discourage a culture of growth leadership.

- What is a Growth Leader?  What do they do to drive growth?  

- What can we learn from Entrepreneurs, innovators and others?  Do they have the right stuff to lead growth? 

- Can and should anyone be a Growth Leader?  

- How can we encourage Growth Leadership in companies? 

The practice of individual and organisational change is full of models, myths and mayhem. Frequently, change efforts focus solely on communication plans or structural changes. The result is often a boom-splat phenomenon where there is much hype about a change, and then it is quickly forgotten or called a failure in the organisation. This session focuses on how leaders create effective and sustainable change.

This session takes a hard look at diversity efforts by reviewing what research has to say about outcomes of diversity, and the best methods to leverage diversity in the workplace. We address questions like: Do organisations benefit from diversity? Which diversity practices (e.g., training, diversity committees, etc.) have most impact on diversity in organisations?

There is much hype and hoopla about how Millennials are different from other generations, and how businesses are adapting to meet their unique needs. This session explores how Millennials are similar to previous generations and explores true generational differences you need to address.

Organisations have driven engagement to get organisational results. Unfortunately, Gallup surveys suggest that after years of effort, most employees are still disengaged! This session looks at research and practice of how organisations can translate engagement responses into outcomes.

Every day, business and HR leaders make decisions intended to improve organisation and individual performance. For example: How can we retain key talent? Should we differentiate pay? How can we drive customer satisfaction or translate our Vision into reality? Too often, these decisions are based on myth and misinformation. This session is a primer on evidence-based HR and how to become more evidence-based.

Everyone seems to have the brain on their mind these days. The study of neuroscience is in vogue, providing insight into performance, behaviour and motivation. Articles and books use the implications from this research to re-shape talent and HR processes. However, the field is still in its infancy and practice often outpaces science. This session aims to separate fact from fad and provide participants an informed overview of brain science.

Talent strategy is often set globally or based on a global philosophy and practice. This often leads to one-size-fits-all practices. This session examines four different strategic approaches to talent each of which leads to different outcomes in terms of leader pipeline, retention and capabilities. We’ll share research and the implications of this on managing talent for markets with different growth rates.

Leaders at all levels in organisations are being asked to manage in an increasingly complex, global environment. In addition to facing changing market dynamics, leaders frequently are asked to lead across national, cultural and organisational boundaries. This session focuses on the topic of leading long-distance leadership.

Work and employees are changing and companies are designing cool offices to attract talent, improve productivity, change their culture and impact growth. At the same time, these offices are criticized for being too open, noisy, and just plain gimmicky. This session looks at the science and practice of design and workplace transformation. Specifically, the session addresses:

- How office design (e.g., open space, hot desking, etc.) impacts performance, collaboration, innovation and productivity

- How to link your office transformation to business outcomes

- How to change behaviors and culture to get value from your investment

The practice of individual and organisational change is full of models, myths and mayhem. We’re told 70% of all change fails and that people resist change. But is this true? Too often change efforts are too much or too little. They fail to create the right strategies to address the human and organisation dynamics that help or hinder change. The result is often a boom-splat phenomenon where there is much hype about a change, and then it is quickly forgotten or called a failure in the organisation. This session draws on decades of research to draw fresh insights into how leaders can create effective and sustainable change that can be sustained for growth.