Episodes

We are moving from an industrial era to a pure digital era where AI will play a role and these changes are coming at us so fast and furiously that we do not have time to think about them. In such a short span of time, technology has created new social norms, new human behaviours, new business models and new ecosystems. We as individuals, have also developed digital profiles, defined by the technological touch points we engage with every day. These touchpoints produce data that relates to predict...

The UK, Germany and the US are leading the percentages of online retail sales. For consumers around the globe the most well-known form of eCommerce is business-to-consumer, which includes online retail or online shopping. It is predicted that online commerce will reach to 4.48 trillion US dollars by 2021. In Asia e-retail sales accounted for about 13% of all retail in 2017. As more and more businesses are moving to e-commerce enabled platforms, it remains that only 26% of local business engage i...

In the business and cultural world, individuals and organizations create, innovate, come up with new ideas and create new experiences for us every day but this Innovation and creativity would not happen if we did not have intellectual property laws. Intellectual property protection (IP) is important to fostering innovation and encouraging creativity. Without the protection of ideas, businesses and individuals would not get the full benefit of their inventions and creations and this could stifle ...

Today, even though we are seeing more and more women starting businesses, there continues to be a shortage of capital for women when they do. In 2017 only 2.2% of the Venture Capital money available went to women, even though women founded 17% of the start-ups. But even the number 17% is too low a number, we need more women starting businesses. But the struggle is not only in entrepreneurship. While women continue to be key players in the workforce and it is hard to find an organization that has...

The late Millennials, and Generation Z, are shaking up the workforce, they are changing purchasing channels, customer service expectations and they have developed what we call a sharing society, but at the same time, they have the reputation for making some of us from other generations crazy. There have been numerous books written about the new generations, seminars how to integrate them into the workforces, but it is seldom we have the opportunity to hear advice straight from the horse’s mouth....

The hiring process has transformed dramatically over the years, in large part due to technological advancements. Beyond just the rise of the internet, tools like video interviewing and interview scheduling software have helped to streamline the hiring process, saving both time and money and making a hiring manager’s life much easier. Before social media and the internet, a person looking for a position would send in a resume, and if they wanted to draw attention they used tricks like sending the...

You're sitting in a meeting or conference staring at the face of someone and you want one thing and they want something entirely different. It occurs to you that neither party is going to get what they want. Negotiating is not getting what you want or giving in to what the other party wants. It's not an 'either/or' situation. It's about having both parties walk away satisfied. You really need a pre-determined approach or prepared plan of action to achieve a specific goal or objective and to pote...

Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things is changing everything and it very often raises more questions than it does answers. Our guest in this episode is convinced that asking the right questions will help us adapt to this changing world. As leaders are aware of many of the opportunities technology changes are bringing us, but we also recognise the challenges. . In 2014, a Pew Research study revealed that 48 per cent of respondents believed that robots and digital agents will displace...

We live in a digital world and businesses are taking advantage of the increasing marketing channels available, such as mobile, but at the same time we are seeing stricter controls with ad blockers and data privacy regulations. Marketing departments are also facing new challenges. Maybe what is happening today is a result of the media misuse in the past, or are we finally making digital marketing and advertising more ethical and possibly more effective. As consumers, we applaud new privacy regula...

Men hold the overwhelming majority of positions in IT leadership, where women fill less than 17% of CIO. The lack of diversity remains an issue and the numbers are unlikely to improve a lot right away but there is hope. Initiatives like Europe’s 2020 legislation, which has the goal of reaching a 40% gender diversity on the Boards of publicly held companies, has boosted the initiatives for more CIOs. The number of CIO’s in the Fortune 500 has been dropping, from 24% in 2015 to only 15% as of Nove...

In 2016, an estimated 163 million women were starting or running new businesses in 74 economies around the world. In addition, an estimated 111 million were running established businesses. These statistics are more impressive when we consider that women’s entrepreneurship rates increased by 10% on average vs 5% for men. But one thing which has been shown is there is a distinct gap between men and women in their perceived capabilities to start a business. The bottom line is we very often lack con...

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 w...

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...

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...

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 ch...

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 d...

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...

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...

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 attrib...

Now there is no debate that your professional image is important. Normally, when we think of professional image, we think about meeting or seeing someone in person, although in today’s global marketplace we live in a world where contacts take place online. Images are built on social media and on professional online networks. There are many professional online networks where you can develop your professional image, but there is only one professional network that has 467 million members and that i...

Jobs, we need them and when you have one the golden rule has always been never quit a job before you have another job to go to!, but maybe this has now changed. Although this advice seems sensible, it is sometimes difficult to follow when you find yourself in a job or position that you really do not want to be in. Even if it is harder to get hired when you're unemployed, sometimes you reach a point where you can't force yourself to go a job you do not like. You sometimes find it hard to motivate...

What is the VUCA world?It is a global work environment which has volatility, uncertainty, change and ambiguity as a norm and only leaders who can continually transform will suceed.

Big data, it can, can bring big benefits such as targeted advertisements, smart cars and more. It is available in wearables, implantable devices and as artificial intelligence in normal household gadgets. But It can also lead to big privacy problems. We all generate thousands of data points every day about where we go, who we communicate with, what we buy, and when we do this it makes us vulnerable because we do not know where the data ends up. Because of issues like these there have been multip...

What is the VUCA world?It is a global work environment which has volatility, uncertainty, change and ambiguity as a norm and only leaders who can continually transform will suceed.