LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

AGENDA

Wednesday, November 1

Pre-Event Add-On Options

8:00 – 9:00 pm

Welcome Reception

Thursday, November 2

Conference Day 1

Networking

8:00 am – 9:00 am

Networking Breakfast

Verne Harnish

9:00 am – 10:30 am

How to Scale Your Business in 2024

Verne Harnish, Author, Scaling Up and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits

Verne Harnish, the world’s top expert in the art of growing a company and author the two classic bestsellers on scaling businesses will share practical tools and techniques to help you diagnose your challenges and create actionable approaches to help you get it to the next level of growth and profitability. Focusing on the key actions you need to put in place and focus on in 4 key areas—strategy, people, execution and cash—he will show you how you can apply the habits and processes that helped John Rockefeller replace entrepreneurial chaos with disciplined decision making and execution to build one of the most successful enterprises of all time.

Marshall Goldsmith

11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Getting Your Team and Yourself to the Next Level

Marshall Goldsmith, Leading CEO Coach and Advisor, Author, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

Corporations are filled with men and women who are smart, work hard and reach senior management. But only a handful of these leaders will reach the true pinnacle and transform their people and their companies. That’s because it’s hard – and what got people to the top isn’t what will help them bring their people up. The best leaders transform themselves and their leadership approaches in order to transform their organizations. Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author and one of the most revered and in-demand CEO coaches of our time, will show you the common pitfalls to avoid and provide tools to help you transform yourself, your team and your organization.

Networking

12:30 - 1:00 pm

Networking Break

Break and lunch

1:00 – 2:15 pm

Working Lunch and Roundtable Discussions

With four generations of professionals in the workplace today, each group, shaped by different experiences and trends, has its own preferences, priorities and needs. This roundtable discussion will explore key facts about today’s workforce and how they affect how leaders hire, motivate and retain skilled professionals. Participants will share experiences and gain insights into:

  • What makes people want to join and stay with an organization
  • How offering flexible work arrangements can give employers a competitive edge
  • The generation ready for more, and the one for whom discontent over pay may be bubbling below the surface
  • Which generation is most concerned about AI affecting their jobs and which one appears least prepared if it happens
  • Strategies to help engage – and hang on to – their team

 

Featured Speakers:

  • Ash Athawale, SVP and Senior Group Managing Director, Executive Search, Robert Half
  • Leigh Chaban, SVP and Senior Group Managing Director, Executive Search, Robert Half

A dynamic interactive discussion that delves into the transformative power of digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) as key enablers to address the pressing challenges that dominate the executive agenda. We’ll explore how digital transformation can revolutionize your organization’s culture, operations, customer experience, and competitive advantage. Gain valuable insights from industry experts and fellow CEOs on leveraging AI technologies to enhance decision-making, optimize processes, and unlock new growth opportunities. Discover practical strategies to navigate the complexities of digital transformation and harness AI’s potential to drive innovation and success in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to engage with like-minded leaders and shape the future of your organization.

Featured Speakers:

  • Luis Gallardo, Partner, Cherry Bekaert, Digital Platform & Analytics Leader
  • Richard Schwartz, Partner, T&Co by Cherry Bekaert, Strategic Growth & Innovation

No matter the environment, pricing is a strategic discussion that should be on every CEO’s agenda. In this interactive roundtable discussion, we’ll help you assess valuable lessons from the last year of inflation and answer important questions to help you help your management team drive growth in the year ahead:

  • What did we learn from the recent inflation spike? And how can companies prevent getting caught off guard in the future?
  • Has your team pushed far enough with pricing? Probably not – so how can you make sure you are being competitive?
  • How can you make sure your company is monetizing innovation to fuel future growth? If more than 70% of new products face plant, how do you make sure yours doesn’t?

 

Featured Speakers:

  • Adam Echter, Partner, Simon-Kucher & Partners

If you are considering a potential exit down the road, whether short term or long term, knowing what buyers look for and will pay a premium for can instruct your priorities and what you focus on.  In this roundtable, we’ll get insights from experienced M&A advisors on what they see buyers looking for and paying for, and insights from peer CEOs and senior executives on how they are preparing for a potential exit and how that informs their business, human capital and investment strategies and timeframes.

Featured Speakers:

  • Greg Fresh, Managing Director, Chartwell

  • Michael Coppa, Managing Director, Chartwell 

Many of the basic assumptions and rules that underpin your company’s (and your own) benefits planning have been upended.   At the same time, you still face both a tight labor market for key skills and challenges retaining experienced talent.  The most coveted key people expect “an equity stake” or “exclusive benefit” with an eye on going public or the company being acquired in the future.    

While these dynamics create new challenges, they also create new opportunities to differentiate. Further, companies that do experience these “next level” events rarely prepare their principals for the personal financial & tax impacts.   A little advance planning can help you maximize your own benefits, provide competitive advantage and gain an edge in retaining and attracting key talent.

Join this session to understand the new landscape, discuss changed employee expectations and consider plans to prepare key insiders in a robust merger & acquisition environment.  

Featured Speakers:

  • Chip Bauder, Head of Private Wealth Premier Solutions, Raymond James & Associates

  • Anthony Fagella, Private Wealth Advisor & Managing Director, Alex Brown, a division of Raymond James

Networking

2:15 – 2:45 pm

Networking Break

2:45 - 4:15 pm

ChatGPT: A C-Suite Crash Course

Conor Grennan, Top AI advisor to CEOs, boards and government; Dean of Students, NYU Stern School of Business; Founder, GenerativeAI@stern

Getting your teams to get the most out of the generative AI revolution—or even devise a strategy for doing so—requires a reframed way of thinking about technology that’s unlike anything that has come before. In this highly-interactive keynote session one of the pioneering thinkers in the business uses of generative AI will give you an exclusive deep-dive into building a culture that learns faster, executes more skillfully and thinks through strategic problems with more power and agility—all by harnessing the rich potential of ChatGPT. Whether you’re a power-user or an AI newbie, you’ll get an edge on rivals—safely—with this powerful 90-minute crash course.

Networking

4:15 - 4:30 pm

Networking Break

Alan Beaulieu

4:30 – 6 pm

Piercing Through the Noise

Alan Beaulieu, President, Institute for Trend Research (ITR)

There is an extraordinary amount of noise concerning the status of the economy today and what the future will look like. ITR Economics will present a dispassionate look at the trends that define the economy and inform us about the future through 2025, and we will discuss how it will impact attendees. We will be looking into key industries to determine what phase of the business cycle they are in and what the future looks like for each. Some industries are faring better than others; it is important you know which industries/markets they are in order to potentially mitigate the impact of business cycle decline. Our assessment of labor costs and labor availability through 2025 will be presented, as these will have a prolonged impact on how we do business and what capital expenditures can help ameliorate the pressures. Inflation is currently waning. The rate of inflation will recede as the economy weakens, but it will not be gone. Global economic expansion later this decade will again push up prices of raw materials and then finished goods. Higher labor costs will once again contribute in a significant way to the upward pricing pressure. The discussion on inflation will flow into a discussion on interest rates through at least the near term. Management objectives consistent with our forecasts for inflation and interest rates will provide actionable takeaways for attendees. Attendees will leave the conference with the confidence that comes from an accurate, proven, analytical approach to the economy. We will provide attendees with clear direction regarding what will be and what must be done in order to maximize revenue and profit growth.

Cocktails and dinner

6 - 7:30 pm

Cocktails and Heavy Hors d'oeuvres

Friday, November 3

Conference Day 2

Networking

8:00 am – 9:00 am

Networking Breakfast

Hermann Simon

9:00 – 10:20 am

Hidden Champions: Secrets of the World’s Most Successful Companies

Dr. Hermann Simon, Author, Hidden Champions and Founder of Simon-Kucher (Leading Growth Focused Consulting Firm)

One of the most respected business thinkers in Europe, Dr. Simon founded and built one of the leading management consulting firms in the world, Simon-Kucher, by focusing on Revenue Growth Strategies and helping leading corporations apply beset practices in pricing and sales to growth their top and bottom lines. He’s studied what makes many small and medium companies succeed over multiple generations—despite much larger competitors by focusing on specialized market niches. Companies don’t need to be big to be great, and he will share the lessons he’s learned from companies that have survived and thrived over multiple generations by focusing on a few key core principles.

Cindy Baier

10:40 am – 12:00 pm

Leading Through Crisis with Purpose and Care

Cindy Baier, CEO, Brookdale Senior Living and Author, Heroes Work Here: An Extraordinary Story of Courage, Resilience, and Hope from the Frontlines of COVID-19

Hopefully, you will never be tested like Cindy Baier. As CEO of the nation’s premier operator of close to 700 senior living communities when COVID-19 hit, she was tasked with the critical challenge of saving resident lives. That experience has changed not only how she leads—but also who she is. She will share her story and what she learned about leading with purpose and transparency, inspiring you and your team to pull others together more effectively and with more meaning and joy.

12:00 pm

Adjourn

Golf Outing

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.

To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.

New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

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.

To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

Roundtable

Strategic Planning Workshop

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:

  1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
  2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
  3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

 

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.

To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.