Reinventing yourself, your leadership style and the leadership agenda

Following on from its first successful Seminar on The Future of Work in July 2019, acumen7’s second seminar in September 2021 featured five presenters. The first was Alan Watkins, CEO of Complete – a data-driven leadership development consultancy. Alan is also an author and global thought leader on human performance, complexity and well-being. He spoke about how to reinvent yourself, your leadership style and the leadership agenda. With the accelerating pace of change, this allows you to go further, faster. Alan also demonstrated how organisational network analysis can reveal profound insights into how companies function.

For more information, visit: www.complete-coherence.com

Introducing ValueStep

acumen7 members Robert Osborne and James Leng, along with their colleague at ValueStep, Peter Robinson presented ValueStep’s aim to help SMEs achieve the next Value Step – that moment when a step change in shareholder value is created and realised. ValueStep’s philosophy is that the client is the company, not its leader/shareholders. Robert, James and Peter looked at the situation post-Covid and Brexit, and the attendees used break out rooms discuss some of the issues facing companies that are now adjusting to the ‘new normal’.

For more information on ValueStep, visit: valuestep.co.uk

The blame game

Alison Kuhn, Director and Founder at Triple C Change, presented her research project around brain culture in organisations and the importance of addressing that moving forwards. Alison believes a culture of blame exists in many large organisations and that this is contributing to mental illness, as well as causing a reduction in creativity, innovation and productivity, which eventually affects the profitability of the organisation. The presentation was followed by a stimulating group exercise, where a current challenge was identified in one group, with a potential solution then discussed and offered by another group.

For more information on Triple C Change, visit: People Change Delivery | Triple C Change | Thalwil (ccc-change.co.uk)

Scenario planning in relation to climate change

A fascinating session with the Futures Strategy Group kicked off acumen7’s April meeting. Peter Kennedy, Gerard Smith and Charles Perrottet explained their mission of strategic foresight to help leaders make smart, winning decisions in the face of future change and uncertainty. Scenario planning is their primary tool, which is a description of a future operating environment that is relevant to a business or institution, that is also challenging, plausible and not probabilistic (no scenario will ‘come true’). Scenarios are a tool to forge durable, winning strategies and plans that work out, no matter what the future holds.

For more information on the FSG, visit: Leaders in Scenario Planning and Strategic Foresight (futuresstrategygroup.com).

Climate Risk Reporting: What Directors should know, right now

The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TFCD), chaired by Michael Bloomberg, has been quietly working away on recommendations for corporate reporting of climate change risk. Companies will almost immediately need to take action. As the Wall Street Journal reports: “Working out who might be hit next is challenging for investors. The potential impact and costs of climate change are complex to estimate, particularly given the long time horizon and range of pathways the world might take as it tries to decarbonize. By forcing companies to work through different scenarios publicly, the TCFD reporting should bring some much-needed clarity to risks outside of obvious problem sectors like oil and gas. It should also shed light on climate leaders and laggards within sectors.”

Please see the link to an Insight from acumen7 member Peter Dixon, looking at what Directors should know, right now:

201120 Peter Dixon Insight – Climate Risk Reporting – What Directors Should Know Right Now

 

An introduction to people analytics

acumen7’s second session segued neatly from data analytics into people analytics. Dave Millner – aka the HR Curator – has a real passion for the transformation of HR functions. Dave spoke about the need for a more commercially focused response to client demands, and the role that analytics and new ways of thinking can help to change the perceptions of HR. Dave’s vision is to ensure HR teams fulfil the promise of being a commercially driven function adding true bottom line value to an organisation.

To share his expertise, Dave has co-authored the book: Introduction to People Analytics – A Practical Guide to Data-driven HR.

You can find out more about Dave at: https://hrcurator.com/