We were thrilled to kick off our Leadership in Focus Forum with the launch event on 2nd May. The event was hosted at the International House premises in Covent Garden and was organised by the Spanish Chamber in collaboration with them, as well as with Avocets Consulting and Hill Networks, all of whom are members of our Chamber.
The event provided guests the opportunity to get a good insight on the areas of expertise of the companies working with us for the sessions.
This activity gathered a good number of attendees interested in learning more about our forthcoming series of events on leadership and what they could expect from the sessions. Mr. Igor Urra, Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber, welcomed all participants to the event and introduced the speakers from these three member companies. The first to step on stage was John Waterman, from Avocets Consulting, who proposed a warm-up exercise which made guests think about what a real leader is and showed them how to become a good one.
Next in line was Chris Moore, from International House, who introduced David Solomon, an expert in cross-cultural management also from IH. David went on to explain how managing diversity in teams goes beyond languages skills and highlighted that leaders are made, not born, although this learning process may be a difficult mission when we talk about leadership in teams within a fast-moving environment.
Andrew Weale, from Avocets Consulting, got everyone’s attention when he explained how to create the perfect pitch.
From Matthew Hill, of Hill Networks, we gained confidence in leading international projects thanks to his coaching experience overseas. Leadership is not only about being courageous and addressing actions, but also about empathy and understanding people, and therefore, as he pointed out, we need to know our team before managing it.
Last but not least, Andrew Weale, from Avocets Consulting, explained how it is possible to improve your presentation skills and show confidence when speaking in public. Thanks to him guest were able to discover new ways of expressing themselves in the context of international communication and take advantage of every challenging situation.
Guests had the chance to mingle in a relaxed atmosphere.
The speakers captured the attention of all the participants and succeeded in both creating anticipation for the forthcoming sessions and encouraging guests to engage with each other. Our attendees had a lively chat in the Q&A round with the speakers, followed by a jovial period of networking to conclude this inspiring evening.
We thank all the participants for coming and making this interactive experience a successful way to create better leaders working beyond borders. We take this opportunity to remind you that it is possible to register here for the first session of our leadership forum on Tuesday 21st May about Leading Multicultural Teams.