Leadership Beyond Borders

Although statistics vary, most are showing that around 61% of Generation Z entering the workforce now, say they want to be entrepreneurs, and very few want to do it because of money. Being creative, solving a problem and making life more efficient top the reasons why. But being an entrepreneur is hard. With 8 out of 10 start-ups failing it would be not very easy to be a success without much experience and some sound advice. In this episode, we look at why start-ups fail, but more importantly, we reveal the secret formula that can help entrepreneurs succeed.

We all know that marketing is changing fast, we only need to blink and there is something new. The big guys like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google have redrawn the customer buying journey and redefined how companies and consumers interact. But this is only the beginning. As technologies and tools continue to advance and digital channels to begin to expand our options will become overwhelming. Therefor the question is, how do we choose which channel to use? The answer is easy, because best practices for developing a sound marketing strategy today still revolve around the story. A good story, solving a problem and knowing your target market will help you choose the proper channel. Measurement tools will also continue to improve, helping you understand you ROI. In this episode we explore current marketing trends, with real success stories and advice form an expert marketing executive.

There is a lot of thought today that goes into what true leadership is and what its relation is to corporate sustainability. Leadership is much more than authority, it is about developing people and helping others reach their full potential. It is also about equipping others with the right tools to not only to maximize the success of the company, but also the success of those that have a relationship to the company. This could be customers, communities and much more. When people guide others in their actions they become role models for the people they lead, motivating them, supporting them, and facilitating communications that have an effect that reaches far beyond the company. Through their leaders, companies should make conscious decisions to implement practices that have a wider effect. This episode looks at leadership from the individual to the systemic impact leaders have.

There is a lot of talk in the financial industry today about transition and technology, and for good reason. How we think about money, spend it and save money is changing and as a result the banking sector is in transformation. Banks are investing millions of dollars into technology to digitize nearly every aspect of their businesses. But it's not only about technology, it's about the customer. The customer profile is changing. With the new generations of Gen Z and millennials, banks need to be high performing if they want to win and keep customers in the long run. But what do banks need to do to win and keep customers? What are the practices make a bank high performing? In this episode we pose the question, how can the financial sector ensure they stay ahead of the game and perform in this competitive environment where Fintech is disrupting our traditional views on banks. We also explore how other business sectors learn from the turbulent banking sector?

The value of a high-performing team has long been recognized. 90 percent of investors think the quality of the management team is the single most important non-financial factor when evaluating an IPO and this is why the value of high performing teams has long been recognized. Its importance is not about to diminish as digital technology reshapes the workplace.

Teams look different than they did 10 years ago. They may be virtual and diverse as we focus on a global economy. The traditional type of employee contract has changed from permanent to temporary or freelance and partnerships have become more important in business. These all impact teams.

These changes do not be obstacles to putting together high performing teams.

Building a team is not only about finding energetic, ambitious and capable people. We are going to discuss what makes a high-performing team “click”.

The world was shocked when Equifax announced that 143 million people's Social Security numbers were compromised, and everyone asked how did this happen? But they are not the only ones to suffer a comprise in data security. Many other firms have had data breachs, even though we only hear about the big ones.

In 2017, PwC interviewed 9,600 firms globally and found that 41% of them had experienced at least one security incident in the past year

For many leaders and companies these figures should make it clear that securing corporate data is a must, it is no longer just an option.

But the challenge is that the hackers are getting more and more sophisticated, and it is not just about technology, it is about of social engineering.

Therefore, Cyber security must be deeply embedded in every aspect of your business.

This episode looks at cyber security from the mind of a hacker and security expert who will help you understand what you need to do to protect your business.

Internet retailing is riding on an upward trend is due to the technologically-savvy population and growing consumerism of the middle class. The rise of omnichannel is sure to continue in 2020, especially in retail therefor retailers need to offer consistent buying regardless of channel, and one channel is internet retail. The convenience provided by online platforms, product variety, and discounts offered to act as magnets to consumers, but it is a competitive business. Building a successful start-up in this area takes real entrepreneurship and a lot of patience. When we know that 8 out of 10 start-ups fail, we have to ask ourselves what are the 2 start-ups that succeed doing right? In this episode, we speak with an entrepreneur that has not only been successful but also in the competitive market of online retail.

The word “narcissistic leader” has become a buzz word, especially since the presidential elections that took place in the United States. The general public has gotten into the habit of labeling many leaders-in both business and politics narcissists, but is this really fair and is it really true? Narcissism and leadership have been widely studied, and there is some evidence that narcissists are more likely to succeed in attaining leadership positions. This makes sense, because they are normally somewhat aggressive, confident and have charisma. They know what they want, they believe they are the best person for the job. They can be visionaries and move companies forward. But there is also a dark side to narcissistic leadership. These kinds of leaders can sometimes have a negative impact on both individuals and organizations. They often plow forward leaving destruction in their path. In this series, we will look at the good, bad and the ugly of narcissistic leadership.

Artificial intelligence is changing everything. It is changing our personal lives and it will change the future of business. We already see it being used in internet searches, customer targeting, and even in performance evaluations. It is merging our personal lives with our business lives as devices learn more about us and location-based intelligence always knows where we are and what we are doing. But it can also frustrate us. As social media uses it to target us, cookies track our behaviour; we very often feel like big brother is watching us. AI also makes mistakes. Algorithms sometimes predict wrong behaviour and bots very often cannot answer our customer service questions, proving that AI is still at its infancy. But AI is influencing innovation. It is helping us become more creative and as we try to solve problems in new ways. This episode explores the state of AI and how it is stimulating innovation while pushing us into the future.

Body language is something we notice but do not think about especially when it comes to gender and cultural differences. One of the questions that very often is asked, is why do the genders exhibit different body language and how do we interpret these differences? Are these differences learned or instinctive? Do we form stereotypes when it comes to body language? What about cultural differences, how are they reflected in body language? Body language can heavily influence how anyone feels about interacting with us, it plays an important role in our careers, and our lives, and the gender and cultural differences in body language needs to be understood and recognize especially in business. In this episode, we talk about the gender and cultural aspects of body language, one of Europe's foremost expert in body language.