We came together at this year’s Summit to explore how we are making this intentional, Higher Ambition leadership practice real within – and beyond – our organizations.
HEARD
AT SUMMIT
“Help resilient people embrace their fragility to work toward antifragility. Things get stronger through disruption. This is the new constant, and we are going to be good at it.”
“It’s easy to articulate values but hard to translate them into culture. Celebrate actions. It’s our job to lean in and amplify the efforts of our teams.”
“We need to answer the question for our teams: Why should we come back to the office?”
“Resist the temptation to solve DEI. Listen and understand, then move to empowering and mobilizing.”
“Change only happens when there is urgency. As a senior leader, you have to be intentional about change – the WHY – and turn up the heat to make change happen.”
“Our focus should be to support the culture so people can do their best work. That’s about our purpose, but we also need to be clear on what it’s ok to say no to.”
HIGHER AMBITION
LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
Here are the top takeaways and Higher Ambition practices from our Summit discussions aligned with themes identified in our 2022 CEO Study: How Human-Centered CEOs Fuel Performance – a foundation for the Summit agenda.
HIGH TRUST WITH STAKEHOLDERS FUELS INNOVATION & AGILITY
HIGHLIGHTS
“If a multi-stakeholder approach is consistent with strategy, then it will advance the company and create value. Hard for any investor to argue with this.”
We need to go from “intra” to “inter” and consider how we impact our community. We can influence access, equity, and diverse industry representation.
As you include more voices, more partners, more constituencies it’s harder to create community and find common ground.
PRACTICE
“Build connections with people when you don’t need them…then they will be there when you do need them.”
PRACTICE
Test broader scale collaboration on DEI strategy or other plans, by bringing more people into the process (ex. Shared Google doc plan w/ 30+ contributors).
PRACTICE
Use the shopping mall map analogy. Help stakeholders see where we are in the DEI journey.
PRACTICE
Identify public/social issues your stakeholders care about and proactively consider how you’ll take a stand – or not. Be ready before events happen.
CULTURE IS THE HIGH-STAKES VALUES DRIVER OR DESTROYER
HIGHLIGHTS
“Culture is what we DO. People need a license to do things, to be empowered.” and “Rules are guidelines for people with no judgment.”
Burnout is a big concern. “Our focus should be to support the culture so people can do their best work. That includes being clear on what is ok to say no to.”
You can’t have organizational resilience if individuals haven’t built personal resilience. “Helping people solve their problems outside of work enables them to do better work.”
PRACTICE
Add the employee survey question: “How are you?”
PRACTICE
Consider “All-Leader” calls for common language, common understanding of the facts, plus a 1- page takeaway to share with teams.
PRACTICE
Test if meetings are truly needed by canceling all of them for 6 weeks! Force breaks and create space to think – ex. 20 min or 45 minute meetings.
PRACTICE
Evolve performance reviews to growth conversations – Do you feel you belong here? How can we help you grow here?
HIGHER AMBITION CEOS SHOW UP AUTHENTIC, OPEN, AND VULNERABLE
HIGHLIGHTS
How are you connecting with people’s hearts?
“People want to be seen. When you recognize the things they are doing, it lifts them up.”
“In choosing when to take a stand, be grounded in your purpose. The clearer and less abstract the purpose is, the easier this is to do.”
PRACTICE
Shift from “Ask Me Anything” to “Tell Me Anything” check-ins
PRACTICE
Try just facilitating and listening – not giving your opinion
PRACTICE
Test reverse mentoring to build trust between senior leaders and teams
PRACTICE
Make your time off and your vacations visible to teams, so they know they can take time.
RESEARCH, FRAMEWORKS, &
TOOLS YOU
CAN USE
DOWNLOAD
The 2022 CEO Study
DOWNLOAD
Action Learning Breakout Slides
DOWNLOAD
Sustaining Higher Ambition Across Generations of CEOs Slides
EXPLORE
Articles and Practice Stories from our Community
As we look ahead, we’ll dive deeper on issues raised through the Summit – from the future of work to how to build inclusive and resilient cultures. Through our writing, research, and programming, we’ll explore questions such as:
How can we scale the feeling of personal connection and trust in large, hybrid organizations?
How are we developing the next generations of intentional, Higher Ambition leaders across our organizations? What capabilities do we need to cultivate now?
How do we get people comfortable with the uncomfortable to make progress with inclusion and belonging? We will face resistance, even backlash, at different stages of the journey. How can we be more courageous?
When do you speak out, not speak, or stand alone? How will we navigate this new frontier for companies and C-suites, seen as a vital competency for CEO succession planning?
What more might we do collectively as a Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance to take this practice to the next level and enhance our impact on leaders, organizations and the world?
WHAT’S NEXT:
2023 Topics and Themes
We came together at this year’s Summit to explore how we are making this intentional, Higher Ambition leadership practice real within – and beyond – our organizations.
HEARD
AT SUMMIT
“Help resilient people embrace their fragility to work toward antifragility. Things get stronger through disruption. This is the new constant, and we are going to be good at it.”
“Our focus should be to support the culture so people can do their best work. That’s about our purpose, but we also need to be clear on what it’s ok to say no to.”
“It’s easy to articulate values but hard to translate them into culture. Celebrate actions. It’s our job to lean in and amplify the efforts of our teams.”
“Change only happens when there is urgency. As a senior leader, you have to be intentional about change – the WHY – and turn up the heat to make change happen.”
“Resist the temptation to solve DEI. Listen and understand, then move to empowering and mobilizing.”
“We need to answer the question for our teams: Why should we come back to the office?”
HIGHER AMBITION
LEADERSHIP
IN ACTION
Here are the top takeaways and Higher Ambition practices from our Summit discussions aligned with themes identified in our 2022 CEO Study: How Human-Centered CEOs Fuel Performance – a foundation for the Summit agenda.
HIGH TRUST WITH STAKEHOLDERS FUELS INNOVATION
& AGILITY
HIGHLIGHTS
“If a multi-stakeholder approach is consistent with strategy, then it will advance the company and create value. Hard for any investor to argue with this.”
We need to go from “intra” to “inter” and consider how we impact our community. We can influence access, equity, and diverse industry representation.
As you include more voices, more partners, more constituencies it’s harder to create community and find common ground.
PRACTICE
“Build connections with people when you don’t need them…then they will be there when you do need them.”
PRACTICE
Test broader scale collaboration on DEI strategy or other plans, by bringing more people into the process (ex. Shared Google doc plan w/ 30+ contributors).
PRACTICE
Use the shopping mall map analogy. Help stakeholders see where we are in the DEI journey.
PRACTICE
Identify public/social issues your stakeholders care about and proactively consider how you’ll take a stand – or not. Be ready before events happen.
CULTURE IS THE HIGH-STAKES VALUES DRIVER OR DESTROYER
HIGHLIGHTS
“Culture is what we DO. People need a license to do things, to be empowered.” and “Rules are guidelines for people with no judgment.”
Burnout is a big concern. “Our focus should be to support the culture so people can do their best work. That includes being clear on what is ok to say no to.”
You can’t have organizational resilience if individuals haven’t built personal resilience. “Helping people solve their problems outside of work enables them to do better work.”
PRACTICE
Add the employee survey question: “How are you?”
PRACTICE
Consider “All-Leader” calls for common language, common understanding of the facts, plus a 1- page takeaway to share with teams.
PRACTICE
Test if meetings are truly needed by canceling all of them for 6 weeks! Force breaks and create space to think – ex. 20 min or 45 minute meetings.
PRACTICE
Evolve performance reviews to growth conversations – Do you feel you belong here? How can we help you grow here?
HIGHER AMBITION CEOS SHOW UP AUTHENTIC, OPEN, AND VULNERABLE
HIGHLIGHTS
How are you connecting with people’s hearts?
“People want to be seen. When you recognize the things they are doing, it lifts them up.”
“In choosing when to take a stand, be grounded in your purpose. The clearer and less abstract the purpose is, the easier this is to do.”
PRACTICE
Shift from “Ask Me Anything” to “Tell Me Anything” check-ins
PRACTICE
Try just facilitating and listening – not giving your opinion
PRACTICE
Test reverse mentoring to build trust between senior leaders and teams
PRACTICE
Make your time off and your vacations visible to teams, so they know they can take time.
RESEARCH, FRAMEWORKS, &
TOOLS YOU
CAN USE
DOWNLOAD
The 2022 CEO Study
DOWNLOAD
Action Learning Breakout Slides
DOWNLOAD
Sustaining Higher Ambition Across Generations of CEOs Slides
EXPLORE
Articles and Practice Stories from our Community
WHAT’S NEXT:
2023 Topics and Themes
As we look ahead, we’ll dive deeper on issues raised through the Summit – from the future of work to how to build inclusive and resilient cultures. Through our writing, research, and programming, we’ll explore questions such as:
How can we scale the feeling of personal connection and trust in large, hybrid organizations?
How are we developing the next generations of intentional, Higher Ambition leaders across our organizations? What capabilities do we need to cultivate now?
How do we get people comfortable with the uncomfortable to make progress with inclusion and belonging? We will face resistance, even backlash, at different stages of the journey. How can we be more courageous?
When do you speak out, not speak, or stand alone? How will we navigate this new frontier for companies and C-suites, seen as a vital competency for CEO succession planning?
What more might we do collectively as a Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance to take this practice to the next level and enhance our impact on leaders, organizations and the world?