Avanoo CEO Daniel Jacobs knows a thing or two about disruption. Jacobs, CEO of Avanoo, a platform that helps companies sustain a positive culture, has spent his entire career at the crossroads of technology and driving organizational purpose. He has spent more than a decade running organizations that have a deep helping purpose, build tight communities and innovate technologically.
Jacobs will be a speaker at Chief Executive’s annual CEO Talent Summit, held September 24-25th at West Point, N.Y. at the Historic Thayer Hotel, discussing how to ignite change and drive clarity in the midst of disruption, exploring on how successful leaders are harnessing and amplifying their stories to create organizational change, unleash hidden potential in their organization and inspire a high-performance culture.
Jacobs spoke with Chief Executive to preview his session. Below are excerpts from this conversation.
The biggest disruptive trend I see is continuous disruption. Digital transformation is here to stay, innovation cycles are tightening to near-real time, and even the most ground-breaking innovations are commoditized within years or even months. The impact of continuous disruption is that no longer are processes, patents, sales processes great competitive advantages. Instead it’s our employees and cultures doing the innovating and disrupting who are our medium and long-term competitive advantages.
Every workplace culture is unique; its stories, configurations, motivations… they are all unlike any other workplace culture in the world. The best way to build positive, high performance cultures is to find, honor, and connect with everything that is special about our people. This can be a challenge because often executives feel most comfortable being prescriptive about our businesses. We want to use a roadmap created by someone else (or that we created in the past) and do that. But a roadmap to the heart and soul of another culture (even yours from a few years ago)… won’t lead you to the hearts of the people right in front of you. They need you to see, honor, and elevate them.
A mentor once shared with me that the meaning of our communication, as CEOs, is the reception it gets. So if we feel there’s a big gap between what we are saying and what employees are hearing, that means we have an opportunity to improve our communication. We can do that by soliciting constant feedback about what employees think they’ve heard, and by refining our communications strategies based on that feedback.
I am looking forward to discussing how stories and storytelling can help CEOs ensure employees feel connected to their culture and business strategy. I am also looking forward to talking about how technology and AI can give CEOs deep powerful, predictive insights into understanding how their culture is evolving in ways that drive business outcomes.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
