Be:Change – Why is it such a relevant topic?

The past few years have been nothing but a series of unprecedented circumstances and one crisis after another. The whole world has been through a turmoil of changes, and people have to keep adapting to change after change. 

The current state of the world presents many challenges, but it also has room for opportunities, growth, and progress. Rather than simply reacting to change, let’s strive to be the change we want to see. This year, the theme for Nordic Business Forum is Be:Change. We want to encourage leaders not only to survive and cope with change but to create it and become it. With our world-class speakers, we will be diving into the subthemes of leadership, innovation, and resilience.

Leadership 

The leaders of today have to face challenges they never needed to worry about before. How to lead a team on Zoom? How does remote work affect employee well-being and engagement? How to strategize and plan effectively when the future is so uncertain?

To answer your questions and help you with today’s leadership challenges, we have speakers such as Patrick Lencioni, who is an expert in strong leadership and building effective teams. Over the years, he has created several models to help facilitate teamwork. At Nordic Business Forum 2023, he will introduce us to The Teamwork Trifecta, a compilation of his popular teamwork models. He will define the three crucial processes any business needs to work together effectively. 

Speaking of strong leaders, we will also hear from Nicolai Tangen, the manager of the world’s largest publicly held financial fund, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund. Nicolai will share his leadership insights in his keynote How to Make Sense in a Time of Turmoil. 

Great leaders also need great advisors, such as renowned futurist Amy Webb. She is an advisor for CEOs of well-known companies, such as Google, Cisco, and Coca-Cola. Amy uses data-driven models to create trajectories of trends and determine the probabilistic outcomes of different scenarios. At Nordic Business Forum 2023, she will present her 10-Year Forecast so we can get some idea of what to prepare for!

Innovation 

To keep up with the rapidly changing world, companies need to be innovative and come up with creative solutions. How can leaders ensure their employees are in the right mindset for innovation? How can leaders themselves use creativity to navigate change or to create it? And how can we keep adapting to new innovations taking over rapidly, such as generative AI or immersive virtual experiences? 

A great example of an innovative leader is our speaker Jos de Blok, who is an expert on How to Create a Striving Organization Without Administrative Burden. Jos is the mastermind behind Buurtzorg, a neighborhood nursing company that provides quality care without a management structure. They have won employer of the year five times in the Netherlands. His speech at Nordic Business Forum 2023 is guaranteed to spark innovation and encourage the audience to think differently!

After Jos has helped us to reimagine our company structures, we have Rebecca Henderson with her keynote, Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire. Rebecca is an expert in organizational and strategic change and will give us her insights into creating sustainability within business models.

And, of course, we have innovation and creativity expert Francesca Gino, an award-winning researcher who focuses on how people can have more productive, creative, and fulfilling lives. She will be sharing with us her insights on how teams can tap into their creativity, unlock their potential, and achieve new levels of success in her keynote speech, Mastering Innovation and Reinvention. 

Being innovative and creative is all fun and games until you need to put your creative ideas into action! Gladly, we have someone who is ready for a Discussion on Productivity and Innovation. It is, of course, Tim Ferriss, the expert on habits and self-development. We are looking forward to tips from him on how to combine that creative energy with productivity to create something tangible. And perhaps we will also hear his thoughts on building good habits and developing resilience. 

Resilience 

When uncertainty is lurking around every corner, it is crucial for companies, as well as their leaders and employees, to be resilient. Resilience helps us endure the pressure caused by the surrounding chaos and to cope, and adapt to the constant changes and disruptions. How can leaders stay resilient when it seems there is no end in sight to the current instability? 

One of our speakers has endured a lot in their life from a young age but has turned her story into one of resilience and determination. It is, of course, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai. She will be sharing her inspiring story in her keynote, Creating Change, and encouraging the rest of us to overcome challenges and fight for what we believe in.

Resilience is a quality that can be trained and developed. So is leadership, and creativity. 

Through these amazing speakers (and some who will be announced later), we are hoping to provide you with memorable insights and food for thought, so you can leave Nordic Business Forum 2023 feeling inspired, empowered, and ready to Be:Change.

PS. If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, the best time to do so is now. Prices go up tomorrow on Friday 27th of January!