Leadership Beyond Borders

In 1956, the term artificial intelligence was used at a conference at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, and in the years after that government, corporate and public interest had waned and risen until in 1997, IBM's Deep Blue became the first computer to beat a human at chess when it defeated world champion, Gary Kasparov. This brought to light the question of what else could we teach a computer to do? Voice-detection technology, suggestive searches, and autonomous cars are just a few of the ways that artificial intelligence has burrowed into our lives, and companies are quickly bringing AI to the next level. How is AI changing our lives and where lay the human aspects of AI? Do we really understand all the capabilities? This episode explores some of those questions with one of the top AI and Robotic experts and as part of our Women in Technology Series. Our expert is one of the leading women in the field of AI and Robotics, where women make up only around 20%.

There are hundreds of different management methodologies. Google management methods or leadership styles, and you'll get plenty of advice but little of which truly covers the entire spectrum of managing a business from A to Z. Business leaders come up with our own methods by based on our years of experience. Good business leaders can instinctively create a leadership and management system focused on deliverables and has a 360 view of the business and customers but it is very often easier to have a method you can follow. One method that is very popular is called the Entrepreneurial Operating System, which consists of a complete set of simple concepts and practical tools that help managers and entrepreneurs run their businesses. It is not a magic system, rather a logical approach to business. If you are staring out, or transforming your business, you want to pay a little more attention to its framework and use it as a guideline for transforming or growing your business.

Years ago, if someone had told us that a social media site would be limited to 140 characters and still be successful, none of us would have believed them.

But Twitter has accomplished this. With only 140 characters, they have made social media a contextual and personal experience.

But why does work so well?

Experts say it is because people can get a sense of who you are on Twitter or what your business is about.

It reveals what type of things you are interested in; it will suggest things you are interested in.

It essentially lies at the heart of this new sharing economy and it is a global.

But it does not come without controversy, and Tweets become worldwide discussions. But it can also be great for your image or your business.

In this episode, we talk about the advantages of Twitter, the pitfalls that you need to avoid and the advantages that come with Tweeting.

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".

Sales used to be a structured approach and the heart of the approach was questioning, fact finding, reflecting back and closing. But today customer behaviours and demands have changed. Customers don't want to spend 40 minutes telling you about their problems and then listening to you while you tell them how you can help them. Customers are also much better-informed today. They research a lot more before they buy. They are more demanding and everyone wants the best value. Social media has also changed the landscape, by changing "word of mouth" to recommendations from strangers. All these changes now make what used to be a simple process-selling- more complicated what needs to change in the selling process to meet the needs of customers today. We will explore how the sales process has changed and how you can ensure your sales team will be successful.

The expression go the extra mile. can be traced back to the New Testament injunction 'And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain' (Matthew 5:41). Today when we use this expression it generally means going above and beyond the call of duty or using your own efforts to reach beyond normal expectations. But going the extra mile also takes effort. It can mean stepping out of your comfort zone, it could mean giving a little more than you thought you could give and it could mean doing something you never thought you would do. Regardless if it is in your professional or private life, there are many ways you can go the extra mile, and this episode talks about how you can do that while contributing value and adding positive energy to almost everything you do.

Everyone agrees that the more diversity there is in politics the more innovative we will be and, the more likely we'll address the needs and challenges of the diverse communities that are emerging in this Global Economy. But the lack of progress in the representation of some groups, such as African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and other minorities in many industries and in politics is particularly notable, especially in the United States and Europe. This episode celebrates minorities. We take a look at the contributions people of colour have made in the development of this world economy. In celebration of Black History Month, we recall the history of African-American contributions in the United States and we look at what we have to do today to ensure we have more minorities in both corporate and political leadership position.

The digital transition has been going on now for over a decade and although we see it and live it every day we will not have made the transition to a fully digital life until the work flows and processes around new technology are modernized and adapted. This means that companies need to look at digital transition with a 360-degree view. They have to understand what digitalization means to sales, marketing, customer relationship management, recruiting and just about every process in their company. And leaders must understand their people. Even the clearest digital strategy will fail if your people are unprepared to embrace it. As critical as defining where you want to be is, setting up the capabilities and processes that will enable it are even more critical. This episode looks at digital transition as a whole, with a focus on what it means for sales, marketing and the people that are leading us into the next generation of business.

If you thought you just figured out the Millennials, just wait for the next generation of future leaders.

Gen Z-ers are now influencing the world. They are the ones that grew up digitally connected; they’re accustomed to having data and content thrown at them all day and from all angles.

As lifelong digital natives, they to have a special affinity for artificial intelligence, specifically because it mimics their natural tendency toward global mobile communication and engagement.

In this episode, you will hear from two amazing Generation Z-er’s, one of them who is a capital allocation analyst and the other who has made an impact in Artificial Intelligence, even before he is old enough to drive!

You will hear insights from the world’s youngest IBM Watson Programmer and his sister, who are setting the pace for Generation Z. You will also hear an amazing story of family support and encouragement which is inspiring and is a great example of the global economy will live in.

Engineering continues to be a male dominated profession despite encouragement from women's groups and the fact that the career has real prospects for women. It is one of the most diverse areas to work in. and the numerous engineering careers offer variety and opportunity. Engineers find new ways of doing things, develop creative solutions for modern problems and help create a better world. So why are the number of women in this field so low? The low number of women in engineering is often attributed to the challenges women have historically faced in such male dominated careers, gender conditioning and stereotyping. So how can we encourage more women to enter engineering? What do we need to do to promote an engineering career among women, to help women succeed and help companies bring diversity to engineering? In this episode, we speaker with a successful female engineer about how women can succeed in engineering and how we can encourage more women to enter the field.