Past events

The Leading Edge events

The Leading Edge: Ideas shaping a better world.

We are delighted to continue our Leading Edge speaker series and to be welcoming some of the world’s most prestigious thinkers to the University of Exeter Business School as part of our new series of online MBA events, The Leading Edge.

This series of inspirational talks will provide a space for us to discuss some of the most pressing global challenges and consider how we can all play a role in shaping a better and more sustainable world.

If you are an MBA student, faculty or alumni, or a forward-thinking chief executive or business manager, this series will give you the chance to hear and share fresh perspectives on contemporary challenges in business.

If you are keen to explore creative and innovative approaches to tackling social and environmental challenges, this is your opportunity to join with managers from across the world and take part in provocative and thought-provoking conversations stimulated by our prestigious guests.

When	Time	Description	Add to your calendar
10 October 2023	17:00	Viv Groskop – Happy High Status: How to be effortlessly confident Join Viv Groskop, award-winning writer, comedian, TV and radio presenter, as she shares her thoughts on determining your own ‘status’ - how you relate to others, how you carry yourself and how your internal confidence is reflected externally. Viv’s new book Happy High Status brings to life a new, authentic and contemporary way of thinking about how you “sell” yourself to the world. Full details	Add event
28 November 2023	17:00	Skinder Hundal-The arts, shaping a new purpose-driven leadership approach Join Skinder Hundal MBE, Global Arts Director for the British Council, as he outlines the powerful role arts and culture can play on a global stage. With a background in multiple arts forms across the world, Skinder will outline the contribution he and the British Council are making to Cop28 and to driving new digital collaborations across countries as diverse as Vietnam, Brazil and France. He’ll share his experience of TED Global, Google Cultural Institute and the Venice Biennale and outline how he thinks today’s cultural sector can shape our understanding of contemporary leadership. Networking: You also have an opportunity to meet other leaders attending this event with time at the beginning and end of the event to network.. Full details	Add event
23 January 2024	17:00	Dr Margaret Heffernan – CEOs and their climate crisis blindspot Join Dr Margaret Heffernan, acclaimed author, speaker, former CEO and academic, as she shares why she believes today’s CEOs need to wake up to the climate emergency. Margaret will draw on her experience of mentoring CEOs and senior executives of major global organisations and the ideas she has developed through her TED talks and writing, in particular through her books Wilful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril and Uncharted: How to Map the Future. Networking: You also have an opportunity to meet other leaders attending this event with time at the beginning and end of the event to network.. Full details	Add event
7 March 2024	17:00	Dr Cath Bishop-Olympic success to a new understanding of high performance Join Dr Cath Bishop, a triple Olympian, former British diplomat, leadership and culture coach, as she shares her thoughts on how we need to reframe the concept of high performance and success in our organisations. Drawing on her book ‘The Long Win’, one of the FT’s top 10 Business Books of 2020, Cath will reflect on the need to move away from a short-term way of thinking and towards a broader and deeper understanding of meaning and purpose. Networking: You also have an opportunity to meet other leaders attending this event with time at the beginning and end of the event to network. Full details	Add event