Business Leaders Panel at ExO World Summit

On April 16th 2020, Oxford Leadership hosted a Business Leaders Panel at the ExO World Summit. In this clip: Jorn Madsen, CEO at Maersk Drilling, Lutz Schuler CEO at Virgin Media, Jeff Dodds COO at Virgin Media, March Nohr Group CEO Miroma Agencies, George Patterson Managing Director at HSBC Global Tech Investments, discussing the topic “Purpose-Driven Leadership.”

Oxford Leadership hosted the Business Leaders Panel at the ExO World Summit, 14-16 April. An entirely online event held in partnership with Singularity University, OpenExo, Xprize and other XO pioneers.

The panel was hosted by Brian Bacon, Founder & Chair of Oxford Leadership and explored the challenges business leaders are facing, how they are steering through the Covid19 storm. The panel  explored….

What mid-term changes can be seen on the horizon, as the world recovers from the Corona crisis? What new opportunities do business leaders see emerging? How do they expect our world to change and be changed by this event? What will we or should we do more of and less of as a result? How might customer expectations and society change? How might their industries be altered? How will work be differently organised? What is most important for the business community going forward? Will this result in better or worse balancing of purpose and profit as a driving force for global enterprises?

The Summit gathered leaders around the world to share thoughts on how to deal with the forthcoming global crisis. Although the focus will lie with the COVID-19 crisis, the event will also look at the future of business, as well as the future of global trade and environmental issues.

“We can choose to stay isolated in precarious times, or we can come together to ignite a global conversation on our future and how to transform it to make it better,”

OpenExO Chairman and Founder Salim Ismail.

While the effects of the Corona crisis has been devastating for some businesses, Brian Bacon believes we could use this opportunity to reform, reconstruct and remodel our usual strategies. He likens it to leading through the eye of the storm. Gone are the days where business-as-usual was enough to sustain a company’s growth; long forgotten are the times where industries could afford to deprioritise innovation and change. Reminding us that a pendulum always swings, Brian urges people around the world to get ready for the upswing and steer towards it:

“Some people will be paralysed or maddened by panic, and many will make futile attempts to rebuild the world as it was”, he says: ”Then, there will be others who seize this moment as the opportunity to create an entirely new beginning and create a new, better world for everyone.”

Oxford Leadership has long advocated for purpose-driven business to redefine their goals and find their core values. This crisis, Brian Bacon argues, can easily be transformed into an opportunity rather than a disaster: we should remind ourselves that it is often times like these that reminds us why we started at the very beginning. Businesses with souls never die out; it is the purpose that keeps us moving forward.