Chris Gardner the key to the success

Author of critically acclaimed Pursuit of Happyness

Chris Gardner is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and single parent whose work has been recognized by many esteemed organizations around the world. He is the author of two bestselling books, The Pursuit of Happyness and Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. Gardner was an executive producer on the iconic and critically acclaimed film adaptation of The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith. Through his positivity, courage, tenacity, discipline and common sense, Gardner’s story is one of overcoming setbacks and hardship to become a top earner on Wall Street before founding his own brokerage.

Leading Organizational Transformation

• From living on the street to working on Wall Street: On surmounting obstacles and beating the odds
• Transforming the impossible into the possible: What self-empowerment means and how to achieve it
• The keys to breaking cycles and opening up new opportunities
• Philosophies on navigating tumultuous times and creating a fulfilling, successful life

Professor of Psychology at University of British Columbia and leading happiness and well-being researcher

Dr. Elizabeth Dunn is a distinguished professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and a leading expert on the study of how time, money, and technology shape human happiness. Her experimental research has not only been published in top-tier journals, including three articles in Science, but also widely featured in international media like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and CNN. She is also the co-author of the acclaimed book Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, which has been recognized by the Washington Post as essential reading for leaders.

Unlocking Potential Through Building Social Connections

• How we can increase employee happiness in a time of ever-changing workplace structures
• Science-backed strategies for creating strong workplace connections
• Why strong personal connections create an enduring resource for the organization especially in more difficult times
• How artificial interactions affects our feelings of happiness and social connection
• How to balance technology and human touch, an essential skill for organizations incorporating AI tools in their strategy

Modupe Akinola is a leading authority on organizational performance and diversity, and an Associate Professor of Management at Columbia Business School. Her research on stress and discrimination has been published in numerous academic journals and media outlets, including The New York Times, Forbes, and The Economist. Akinola has received several awards, including the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science and the Best Paper Award from the Academy of Management Journal. 

She advises leaders on managing stress, diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives and women’s leadership. Before becoming an academic, Akinola was the head of diversity at Bain & Co., where she contributed to the organization’s recruitment and retention framework for people of color. She earned her Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Harvard.

Driving Organizational Performance and Diversity

• Strategies organizations can employ to increase the diversity of their talent pool
• The biases that affect the recruitment and retention of women and people of color in companies
• How organizational environments can engender stress and the impact on individual and organizational performance
• Building businesses that increase employees’ productivity, enhance their creativity, and improve health outcomes

Stephen M. R. Covey is the bestselling author of The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything. He is the former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, which, under his stewardship, became the largest leadership development company in the world. Covey personally led the strategy that propelled his father’s book, Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to become one of the two most influential business books of the 20th Century, according to CEO Magazine. His latest book is titled Trust and Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others.

Trust and Inspire: Unleashing Greatness in Others

• Why the old rules of leadership no longer apply
• Trust and Inspire: A comprehensive framework for an alternative to command and control
• How trust and collaboration will be the foundation of the future of work
• Revealing the fundamental beliefs of a Trust and Inspire leader

Luis Huete has been a professor at IESE Business School since 1982 and has lectured in Harvard Business School as well as other Business Schools over the world. He has worked as a consultant with top management teams in over 800 companies in more than 70 countries, and is also a member of the Board or Advisory Boards of more than 10 companies and institutions. He is the author of several milestone management books including Servicios y Beneficios, Administración de Servicios and Clienting. His latest book, Construye tu sueño 2.0, was published in 2023.

The Talent of Transforming While Performing

• Companies are living systems: The need of “vitamins” to boost their vitality and “vaccines” to stimulate their immune systems
• The importance of diversity in teams for complex decision-making: Strategies for effective collaboration
• Invincibles in execution: How to align organizational structure, leadership, and culture
  with strategy
• Reshaping the dynamics and formats of executive committees

The Skills That Transform Leaders Into Legends

Dr. Sharon Melnick is a corporate psychologist and global authority on personal power in leadership whose work is informed by 10 years of groundbreaking research at Harvard Medical School. She has worked with a range of organizations from Fortune 500 to fast-growth companies, as well as esteemed institutions such as the U.S. White House, United Nations, and West Point Military Academy. She is CEO of Horizon Point Inc, a global coaching and training company, and is the best-selling author of In Your Power: React Less, Regain Control, Raise Others.

The Talent of Transforming While Performing

• Introducing the three Power Portals – abilities that let you transform intractable situations into win-win solutions
• How to be strategic rather than reactive when faced with moments of stress and tension
• How to engage resistant colleagues and team members to cooperate in solving joint problems
• What it takes to stay in a state of mental and emotional clarity, and connected to the mission of your organization and life