News and Insights
Global Leaders Converge at the 2024 World Business Forum to Redefine Purpose
November 7, 2024
FINN was proud to return to WOBI’s World Business Forum this year as the event’s public relations partner. Hosted at the Javits Center in New York, the event brought together over 2,500 business leaders from around the globe to address the most pressing issues in today’s business environment. Building on the purpose-centered topics of last year’s event, the forum focused on the theme of Purpose+, which goes beyond financial success to emphasize leadership committed to values and contributing to a greater good.
The FINN Financial Services team was on the ground to offer behind-the-scenes support and capture insights from the event’s impressive speaker lineup, including Francis Ford Coppola, world-renowned film director; Gen. David Petraeus, decorated United States Army General; Amy Edmondson, the world’s No. 1 ranked management thinker; Angela Ahrendts, former SVP of Retail at Apple and CEO of Burberry; and more.
There were several key themes that came through in speaker sessions and presentations this year. Let’s take a look:
The Imperative of Trust and Purpose
“When you can build a culture and a foundation where there’s tremendous trust, it unlocks something. It unlocks the team’s creative thinking and their innovation. They feel an integral part of it, they believe. You can then build structure around that. You unlock their human energy–not just intellect, but passion, drive. So, to build trust, do what you say you’re going to do. That’s leadership in its pure form: being present, being aware and deeply caring.” – Angela Ahrendts, former SVP of Retail at Apple and CEO of Burberry
“Human connection is the key to inclusive leadership. To widen your perspective and increase impact, you must focus on purpose. Purpose is not about the What. It’s about the Why and the Who. As a leader, you lay the foundation for what your team’s purpose is and how it fits into the organization. Start by establishing your team values, and then live those values each day as an example.” – Anne Chow, Founder of Rewired CEO
Unleashing Creativity & Innovation
“Given our world of complex challenges and incredible change, we need organizations that are radically more capable than the ones we have today. Humans are daring, resilient, creative and passionate, but our orgs are not. We need ‘humanocracy,’ a management system designed to maximize contribution for the sake of impact, and we need people who will serve as catalysts for change when enough is enough.” – Gary Hamel, renowned business management strategist
“When it comes to innovation, intentionality and repeatability are key to success. The formula for innovation can be followed by: (1) questioning every requirement, (2) deleting unnecessary steps of the process, (3) simplifying and optimizing, (4) maximizing the cycle time and shortening timelines and (5) only automating last once the process is refined.” – Jon McNeill, former president of Tesla and COO of Lyft
The Value of Failure
“The basis of psychological safety within an organization rests on employees’ comfortability to speak up, ask questions, take risks and make mistakes without fear of repercussions. As a leader, focus on being approachable, kind and a champion of failing well. Failure will not go away when you create an environment where failure is off limits. You just won’t see it. Guide employees to find success through intelligent failures, and celebrate these failures as a learning experience.” – Amy Edmondson, Author and Harvard Business School Professor
“Failure teaches you to rethink the premise you were working on. It forces you to think about the door you are going through to achieve your vision. When it comes to leadership, think about your team members or customers and what door you are asking them to walk through, plus where it will lead them.” – Francis Ford Coppola, world-renowned film director
“Every leadership role comes with the opportunity for things to go awry–and you need to know how to react. You have to acknowledge your mistakes and be ready for setbacks. You have to accept when something won’t get better overnight, or that it will get better before it gets worse. And remember, hard is not hopeless.” – General (Ret) David H. Petraeus, Partner in the global investment firm KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute
The vision of Purpose+ leadership aligns with the emphasis that FINN places on maintaining a workplace filled with creativity, trust, possibility and success. So many of these lessons from the 2024 World Business Forum can guide us to not only be better leaders in our professional lives, but to lead more purposeful personal lives as well.