Common World Business Leadership Issues

28 September, 2004

Common World Business Leadership Issues to be Examined.

New Zealand business leaders are not alone in the challenges they face in the modern, more competitive and progressively global business world.

A comparative sampling of the issues chief executives in New Zealand and the United States believe are critical to on-going business success has been taken by the New Zealand Institute of Management as a precursor to its International Leadership Summit being held in Auckland on 7-9 October.

Leading business thinkers and commentators, including the likes of Druker Foundation head, Frances Hesselbein, leadership consultant Margaret Wheatley, and author and educator Jim Collins will present at the Summit.

The relevance of their presentations should not be in doubt, maintains New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM) national head David Chapman – the critical leadership issues most on the minds of business leaders the world over are essentially the same.

Perhaps surprisingly, controlling costs and making profits was not at the top of the issues list but rather ranked three points further down. Top of the list was the challenge of balancing organisational demands and priorities. Then came motivating and inspiring employees in a rapidly changing world, with managing resources –HR and otherwise – following closely.

Chapman says these are the very issues that will be aired and dissected at the leadership summit. “It is not just a talkfest but a very practical forum with the participation of world leaders in management in which to confront already apparent management issues and to logically anticipate those most likely to emerge over the next few years,” he says.

“For example, there is already evidence in the United States that the number 1 emerging leadership challenge is to solve the problem of getting people who have different agendas and goals to work together productively.”

He says the question of business social responsibility is also firmly on the discussion agenda given a growth in anecdotal evidence that companies that nurture the efforts of their own people before the interests of shareholders, actually achieve higher levels of performance and investor returns over the longer term.

Chapman says the Leadership Summit is arguably the single most important leadership education and insight forum ever to be held in this region of the world. “It’s about powerful leadership in this age of rapid change and it brings together the best in the world of leadership practice, thinking and forecasting to deliver both local and global perspectives to the new issues being faced by our own organisational leaders.

He said the event has already attracted a significant number of chief executives and senior managers from major corporates from throughout the wider Asia-Pacific region and who have noted the attraction not only of the presenters, but equally the opportunity to meet with their new company peers.

The International Leader Summit is being held at the Hyatt Regency, Auckland on 7-9 October. Bookings can be made through the New Zealand Institute of Management and full details are available at www.leadershipsummit.co.nz. Spaces are still available and some booking discounts are still available.

ENDS

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