Situation
Every year, the visionary founder of a fast-growing, listed manufacturing company connected with his top three hundred leaders from around the world during their yearly summit meeting. The two-day meeting usually ended with the founder’s speech.
Problem
As the company became more and more global, leaders were ever more diverse in their cultural and professional backgrounds. How could the founder use his speech to focus all minds in the same direction?
Solution
Together with the founder, we started preparations six months before the event by defining the broad themes the speech would cover based on what was happening in the business - leaving room for unexpected events as well. We then started to research and collect a wide range of captivating stories, videos, quotes, interviews, etc. and also film our original material if needed to meet the objective. We drew insights from philosophy, literature, sports, and popular culture. Together with the founder, we then reviewed the material and brought it together in a uniquely relevant, inspiring and interactive presentation - tailored to his taste and style. This gave the founder a platform to capture everyone’s attention, set the direction, course correct where needed, reflect and comment on the collective thinking process he observed, foster faith in the targets and focus all minds on the common purpose and way of working.
Impact
Over the years, the founder’s speech grew out to be an eagerly-awaited moment in the year for the participants. It helped the participants feel they are part of something special and something larger than themselves. Leaders felt inspired and re-energised, ready to go out of their comfort zone and help grow their business, their teams and themselves beyond what they thought possible.
