Comms Vision returned to the prestigious surroundings of Gleneagles in Scotland last week and amid the frenetic pace of the event, delegates had time to pause and reflect, especially as it was timed around Remembrance Day. At the gala dinner on the last evening, Baroness Manningham-Buller, former head of MI5 and Wellcome Trust chair, eloquently spoke about resilience and appreciation in our daily lives as the treat landscape, in its various forms, continues to probe and evolve. It was a particularly salient message considering the multifaceted audience, despite everyone looking nearly identical in black tie and formal wear.
Earlier in the day, Justin King CBE (pictured) gave an engaging keynote on leadership. King was CEO of J Sainsbury for a decade before stepping down in July 2014, and at the time was one of the youngest CEOs in FTSE 100 history. Capability, consistency, change, collaboration, culture and other words conveniently starting with C comprised the framework of his talk about preparing for growth through optimised business transformation. One other that really drove home a core message was using the term ‘colleagues’ when speaking about the workforce instead of ‘staff’ due to its pejorative interpretation. As a leader, being available and accessible is imperative to organisational success. He also reflected on his somewhat meandrous career path, sometimes taking sideways steps over the years in order to achieve an ultimate goal, but he never intended or set out to become a CEO just for the sake out it.
Please go here for more about Comms Vision 2021.
