Dominic Thurbon

We are in the midst of one of the most important industrial revolutions since the printing press. Generative AI is already transforming industries and the change is just getting started. Almost every sector is ripe for further digitisation and there is enormous value to be had for both organisations and their customers in getting the journey right.

BUT – the truth is, companies don’t change, people do. According to 2023’s ‘Most Innovative Companies’ report, the organisations getting the most value out of AI are spending twice as much on people as they are on technology! Change is a human journey, and if we want to make the most of this opportunity everyone from Boards and executive leadership through the line managers through to front line staff all have a role to play.

In this provocative, eye-opening and optimistic session with internationally engaged author and speaker and experience senior executive, Dom Thurbon, we will:

• Unpack the manifold ways in which AI (and other disruptive technologies) has, and will continue to, disrupt industries – and reimagine the profound opportunities it creates for organisations that get the change right
• Look at the five responses to change which all of us will experience and navigate every time we are presented with times like this
• Delve into a toolkit for managing our response that helps us control our fear and anxiety, and be productive and constructive in our responses
• Learn that the future is not a place we are going, it is a place we are creating – and that each of us has agency in how we shape what the AI-enabled future of our business and industry looks like

Leading yourself, your team and your organisation to new heights

There is no greater predictor of organisational outcomes than leadership impact. Put simply: you can take a company with rough-as-guts systems, an unbalanced scorecard, and a sketchy strategy – but if you put world-class leaders in it they will generally find a way to make it work. Conversely, take an organisation with amazing systems, a refined strategy, and a balanced scorecard – and if you put poor leaders in it, they will find a way to screw it up.

So… too all the managers and leaders out there… no pressure!

But this sets the context to asking, exploring and answering one of the most critical questions for businesses of all shapes and sizes: how do we, as leaders, maximise the quality and size of our impact on our teams, our businesses and the communities in which we operate?

In this highly interactive, provocative, and intensely practical session, successful senior executive, entrepreneur and facilitator Dom Thurbon will:

• Unpack a 3-level model for executive leadership grounded in empirical science and evidence that will enable people to think about their leadership and their role in new ways
• Delve into the foundational importance of leading yourself, including the link between values, purpose and impact and the way leaders ‘show up’
• Explore the leading edge of leading teams, including setting standards, situational leadership, and the critical importance of truth-telling, feedback and dealing with the hard things head-on
• Work through the big picture of leading organisations, including setting the stage for innovative and agility, taking point of incisive strategy, and creating cultures of engagement and performance
• [when delivered as a workshop] Create space for individual leaders to discuss, debate, reflect and ultimately apply what they’ve learned to their own leadership context, leaving with not just a new way of seeing things but new tools to unleash their impact.

You and your business have a behaviour change challenge… you just might not know it yet!!

Ever had someone in your business say “we need to be more innovative”, “we need to respond to disruption” or “we need to do things differently”?

The truth is, it doesn’t matter how much you know about innovation, how many books you’ve read on AI and disruption, how many podcasts you’ve listened to on sales effectiveness… if you can’t do behaviour change, you can’t do, any of them.

That’s because organisations don’t change, people do.

In this thought-provoking and compelling session audiences will:

• unpack the core drivers of human behaviour, and the 5 universal responses to ALL change you will encounter
• share inspiring, industry-relevant case studies and stories that are packed with usable insights
• unpack a simple 3-step toolkit we can use to be more effective in making change happen inside our organisations

The market has never been so ‘hot’ for conversations about sustainability and ESG. On one level, that’s brilliant: it could herald in a new age of sustainable business and accelerate our transition to a cleaner, more just, more equitable world (and help companies innovate and transform, along the way).

On another level, it runs the very real risk of going the way that many similar conversations have gone before: more marketing and PR hype than action.

The truth is, you cannot PR your way out of a problem you behaved yourself into.

In this thought-provoking and compelling session audiences will:

• demystify what ESG and sustainability really mean for you and your team
• examine mega-trends that drive both the risks and opportunities of ESG
• unpack the oft-misunderstood link between ESG and corporate ‘purpose’
• develop practical, usable strategies that can help you leverage the ESG agenda to drive greater sustainability and improved performance

The world is changing more rapidly and profoundly than ever. Around 40% of CEOs say their business will cease to exist within 10 years without radical reinvention.

Responding to disruption with innovation and behaviour change is an urgent business priority. But HOW!?

In this thought-provoking and compelling session audiences will:

• explore the major forces of disruption that are affecting you and your business
• look at the difference between organisations that successfuly change, adapt and thrive … and those that don’t
• unpack a toolkit for driving real, dollar-productive innovation in the face of change and uncertainty