How can your business bolster productivity in these extraordinary times? Chris Swan shares some of the critical answers, creative ideas, and practical solutions discussed with top C-suite leaders as part of an executive leadership conference hosted by the Environmental Financial Consulting Group (EFCG).
Read "Five Tips to Boost Productivity in the Virtual World" leadership insights 
"It's important to take lessons out of this rather quickly. So, what can you learn out of this crisis? What can you do? How can you shape your solution? How can you shape your services? How can you shape the sale of your product? This is pretty much something that every single industry or every single client has to think about." - Ullrich Ackermann, Chair of the Board at TRANSEARCH.
Ullrich shares his views on dealing with the ever-evolving status of organisational life, with the AESC.
Read "The Now, The Next, and The New Normal" leadership insights
Following the sale of its premier brand, the legacy portfolio of companies that constituted a diversified investment group required a new business identity, a cohesive growth strategy and new leadership to drive results.
This case study highlights how TRANSEARCH helped shape and align organisational cultures across diversified component companies, and found a General Manager with the level of experience and credibility in the finance markets capable of pushing the kind of innovation and cultural transformation required to achieve the group's exciting new business plan.
Read the challenge, action, impact and client perspective of finding an anchor for culture transformation and an important driver of new business expansion.
Read "Developing a New Business Identity" leadership insights
"Whatever your position and industry, chances are the 'critical skills' required for your role have shifted in the past few years, and will continue to do so… The ability to flexibly and efficiently learn and apply the learning across situations - is the secret sauce to thriving amidst uncertainty."
Read "Future-proof your skill set for the decade ahead" leadership insights
How do you prepare before commencing your new Executive role? The following suggestions will help:
Insights from "7 'Must Do' before you commence your new Executive role" by Bill Sakellaris, Managing Director of TRANSEARCH International Australia. #executiveleadership #talentmanagement
Overcoming the current talent gap in the Canadian Power Utility sector has become a priority for every board of directors.
TRANSEARCH International Toronto partner The Bedford Consulting Group highlights the tremendous challenges ahead as the sector works to keep pace with digital change and adopt new technologies in the name of efficiency, environmental responsibility and innovation.
Read "Forecasting the Future with Digital Disruption" leadership insights
Choosing the right leader for any organisation is its most important business.
Just ask employees and shareholders, and they will tell you that their experience and investment will hinge on whether they can follow the person with the utmost accountability for future results.
Customers, too, will weigh in but most often only if issues with products or services are somehow disrupted or changed without their support. These are the silent majority stakeholders who will assume the mantle of leadership for the brands they support will be passed from one capable steward to another.
Too often, companies select an individual based on their deep corporate experience and bottom-line track record without probing at the personal attributes that tell others about the kind of person they truly are and what new charges should expect from them.
Trust the view of others who would tell you that there are individuals in major leadership roles within large, global enterprises who, at their core, may not actually be leaders capable of inspiring others, but who are rather lacking in character, courage and respect and therefore tend to alienate the real leaders below them in the organisation chart.
This isn't saying that people who are universally liked and admired must be the only ones considered to lead today's global companies. Quite to the contrary, many recognise from the start of their business careers that one cannot please everyone. Invariably, big business results require difficult decisions.
The larger question, however, is whether the individual in the Chief Executive's seat is consistent and equitable in his or her communication with and treatment of others, and whether the individuals who most closely demonstrate the stated values of the organisation hold the leader in high regard or harbour resentment about the boss.
Personal stories and experience about individuals' one-on-one experiences with a leader offer an important glimpse into what motivates the leader. The things that are most important to him or her – and whether their daily behaviour aligns with those same things – say an awful lot about the person and what should be expected of them in the future.
Among the most revealing signposts of executive leadership are the little things that frame the memories of current colleagues, former employees and other business associates. These are the individuals with the most informing perspectives about the candidates for your company's leadership role because the volume of time spent with the individual is significant and consistent.
Sure, they can share a few of your candidate's idiosyncrasies. After all, you're not hiring a perfect candidate. More importantly, however, they can relate views on how the leader inspired them to greater success and career growth. They may also share stories about how their lives have been changed for the better from the experience of working with a true difference maker.
As with so many things in life, with great opportunities comes great risk. Just remember that picking the right leader for your enterprise is about far more than evaluating the individual's fit with your biggest and most important job description.
What matters most is whether the individuals who best represent your company's values would get excited to follow the person you choose to lead. That's when the magic happens for others.
Given that by 2020, Millennials will make up more than a third of the global workforce, how this generation will lead others is becoming an increasingly pressing issue in the modern workplace. Here is Bedford's take on the shift and how your company can prepare for Millennial leadership now.
The demand for skilled leadership exceeds supply worldwide and the pressure is high for organisations to find and retain top talent. Ulrich F. Ackermann, Chair at TRANSEARCH International, is interviewed alongside other global AESC leaders for the most recent Executive Talent magazine to discuss the tremendous growth in the executive search and leadership consulting profession.
Read "The Global Expansion of Executive Search" leadership insights
Our highly successful client was struggling to continue its expansion and had stagnated at $800 million in annual revenue. The company was having difficulty attracting new customers despite having a superior business approach and commitment that outperformed large, publicly-traded competitors and which was far more sophisticated and more consistently delivering elegant solutions than its privately-held competitors.
The challenge was to sort and answer the question of whether a new leader of marketing and communications could develop and then execute the kind of market-focused strategy that could help pull the company forward. The following case study explains how we tackled that challenge.
Read "Catalyst for Growth | TRANSEARCH International Case Study" leadership insights
Change is and will continue to be the order of the day in todays business climate, and that can be intimidating for a first-time CEO. Any time a new chief executive is appointed - be they an internal promotion or an external hire, leading a successful company or an underperforming one - the status quo just won't cut it.
Assessing and managing change is a key part of any new CEO's job and both external and internal appointments face unique challenges. In this Q&A, Darren Raycroft shares his experience in helping first-time CEOs manage their first few critical months in a new role.
Read "Keys to success in your first CEO role" leadership insights
Businesses in the energy sector have tremendous challenges ahead as they work to keep pace with rapid digital change. David MacPherson explains how to maximise the return on any investment in innovation by ensuring energy sector employers have the right leaders in place to make change happen.
Read "Leadership and Disruption in the Power Utility Sector" leadership insights
