HGA GROUP DINNER: LEADERSHIP IN A SUPERFAST WORLD
“ Leading at speed is essential, in a world of accelerating change, complexity and uncertainty. When the one thing you're sure of is that things will change, the way we lead people has to change too.” (Matt Brittin EMEA President, Google). HGA Group hosted a dinner this week, focusing on the challenges of leadership in a superfast world. Our Speaker was Sophie Devonshire - CEO of The Caffeine Partnership.
Sophie Devonshire is an experienced business leader who has worked in and with multinational companies, successful start-ups and agencies. Sophie has worked and lived in London, Tallinn and Dubai as well as consulted for brands across the globe. She is also a commentator on the future of brands and in addition has won awards for innovative business set-ups which support a futuristic way of working. She is a regular speaker on brands and business in the press and media.
Sophie is now the CEO of The Caffeine Partnership, a unique business consultancy which works with leaders to work with purpose and pace. Sophie’s new book Superfast: Lead at Speed has reached the no.1 slot on Amazon for Business Books Change Managementand is a practical approach sharing how leaders can manage the pace with grace and good humour. The book is based on research amongst 100 global leaders of different sized organisations and all types of sectors (from Google to Unilever, from Farfetch to Virgin, from the BBC to Deliveroo).
HGA GROUP DINNER
Living and working in a volatile and fast paced sector - retail has meant that I am constantly meeting business leaders who battle with all of the challenges around leadership. In today's fast-paced world, leaders need to move at speed. The rate of innovation and change in organisations and the challenges of impatient investors or shareholders mean leadership decisions must be quick, smart and deliver real impact. Never has this mattered more, I was fortunate to meet Sophie a few years ago, and secure her for our recent event.
Our audience were HR and Commercial leaders, from the fashion retail, consumer and technology space. Sophie wrote her book 2 and a half years ago after speaking to 100 global successful leaders from various corporations – all of different industries, with different personalities, with varying skills – in a bid to learn from the best of the best and help others to fast track their growth.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR DEBATE AND DISCUSSION INCLUDED:
Observations
We live in a time that it is easier than ever before to make things faster and better with technology constantly changing and disrupting the industries
The opportunities we are afforded are incredible, but it is exhausting and we need to know how to manage these opportunities and how to get our work pace right
Roosevelt said: We must learn from other peoples’ mistakes, because life is too short to make them all ourselves.
We operate in a world today that there is a perceived need for speed.
Epidemic of impatience - People with extreme ambition - bosses, consumers, yourself – everybody wants it now!
We live in a world of impatience, as well as a world of “overwhelmitis” – our inboxes are constantly overflowing
We need to understand the concept of energy and how to bring that to work – this is critical!
Solutions - Sophie focused on three areas:
Energy
We need to know how to shift our energy and plan our schedules around our energy and what motivates us to do better – learn how to manage your day and week through managing your energy in order to reach your full potential.
What energises you?
Empathy
To be a good leader, we need to understand people, diversity and their different energies and paces, and have empathy - No matter how far we go with technological advancements, PEOPLE ARE STILL AT THE CENTRE AND ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF BUSINESS
Editing
Leaders need to be the pace setters – we need to work out when to speed up and down - be responsive, and responsible.
Yes! Quicker in many things is better, and finding those ways is important – but knowing when to be fast and when to slow down is KEY
EDIT AND AMPLIFY – cut down, choose, edit, prune – allow yourself time to think about what you do best and how best you can work more efficiently.
Sophie chose the symbol of the hummingbird for her front cover of the book, as it represents agility, it flies up, down, back, forth, is super-fast relative to its size, has great timing, great eyesight, laser-like focus, but knows when to hover, think and pause.
A big thank you to our speaker, Sophie Devonshire, our guests and our Chair, Greg Tufnell, for a fascinating discussion.
We host a number of events during the year, do contact with me if you have an interest in attending, collaborating or require assistance in hosting your event.