Richard Gerver

In this unique session, Richard will explore why change and uncertainty becomes so challenging for so many people; links to risk aversion, a need for safety, security and control, hamper and stifle so many people and organisations. Gerver argues that we must return to our childhood to see where things begin to go wrong and how we must change our mindsets and motivations as a result. He will explore issues of empowerment and the impact of Taylorism and industrial models as well as the power of creativity, curiosity and confidence to understand how to embrace change in uncertain times and just why we must shift the paradigm to understand that change is not a program or a strategy but is an ever present in the organic nature of the 21st Century. He will use his unique perspective as an educator, a leader and a performer to provoke new thinking about change as a core factor in defining our future successes on human and organisational levels.

Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it – Ancient African proverb

The mass education system that the vast majority of us experience was created for a different time and place; it was created to control and maintain structures, systems and stability. For generations it worked reasonably efficiently; people knew what routes led to what kind of lives; professional, blue or white collar. An education that led to a higher qualification guaranteed certain opportunities and life choices for example.

Times have changed; economic shifts, social and environmental upheaval and most importantly the rise and exponential development of new technologies have left society breathless and ill prepared for the challenges that face our local, national and global futures.

Education defines the success of a society’s ability to control and manage change yet education has changed little since the extraordinary shift in the way life is led in the 21st century, as a result we are caught in a world where people are scared and often paralysed by the prospect of change, we are being overwhelmed by crises of global proportions around the economy, the environment and socio ethnic cohesion.

The world has created the most sophisticated generation of consumers we have ever seen; the “on demand” generation. To them, much of what the formal education system offers is out-dated and irrelevant.

If we are to prepare our children for their futures, education needs to radically rethink its purpose, its approach and its values. In his keynote presentation, Richard Gerver will explore the challenges we face, the questions we need to ask and the routes we need to take if our legacy for our young is to be one of success and empowerment.

Recent surveys of employee satisfaction in both the US and Europe show that most people see happiness rather than financial reward as the most important factor in their working lives, citing shared, clear and tangible vision and values as the crucial defining factors. At the heart of any successful leadership and management strategy must be a sense of empowerment felt by every member of the team; that starts with a strong shared and implemented vision. In this speech Richard shares his experience of leading and managing vision development and transforming organisations through employee empowerment.

The day will be focused on a deepening understanding of innovation and creativity; particularly in the context of leading a culture shift that develops a sustainable capacity for continuous and self-led innovation, throughout an organisation. It will work on the three core principles of COMMUNICATION, EMPOWERMENT and IMPACT.

During the day, delegates will:

• Develop a deeper understanding of why employees often resist change and innovation; often regarding the process as something that must be ‘endured’ rather than embraced.
• How we can change that perception through the communication of vision into action.
• Explore the nature of transformational leadership and transformational mind-sets through people management techniques exemplified from a series of case studies.  
• How to reframe performance management and professional development structures in order to promote a culture of embedded innovation, shared ownership and accountability.
• How to stimulate and maintain a focus on future thinking and innovation when under pressure and scrutiny.
• How to sustain innovative cultures through the development internal action research methodologies.

The purpose of the day is to encourage delegates to explore the human elements of organisational culture shift and change in order to embed a deeper understanding that without focusing on developing the contexts and capacities of people within and organisation to lead change and innovation, systems and structures cannot take root, embed and ultimately lead to sustainable transformation.

Richard will use his experience as an educator, leader and advisor to lead delegates through that process and help them to develop clear people management and development strategies which they can deploy immediately in order to implement the culture shift necessary that results in successful, creative organisations.

Delegates will also gain a number of insights in to the mind-sets and philosophies of business leaders such as Eric Schmidt and Steve Wozniak.

Ultimately the day will lead to a confident understanding that success starts with a focus of investment in time, on human capital and capacity.