NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--World of Business Ideas (WOBI), the global business content hub, hosted the 12th Annual World Business Forum at the Koch Theater November 12-13, 2015, featuring a lineup of inspirational and thought-provoking ‘Story Makers.’ Speakers included Mark Bertolini, Steve Bock, Richard Branson, Jim Collins, Carolyn Everson, Oscar Farinetti, Adam Grant, Herminia Ibarra, Walter Isaacson, Stephen Kydd, George Kohlrieser, Stephen Ritz, and Kevin Spacey, who focused on addressing four fundamental business challenges faced by leaders in the areas of personal growth, development of talent, business growth and transformation.
Recurrent themes on Day One included the importance of breaking down old narratives and creating new stories, of risk-taking, especially in the face of increasingly short business cycles and stories all around us of great companies failing. Successful companies today must not rest on their laurels or let arrogance set in says Jim Collins. But in the face of such disruption, a big challenge faced by many leaders is having a positive mindset. Human beings, who have been hardwired with a negative mindset for survival purposes, must learn to also focus on the positive, and this skill is something necessary for good leadership, according to George Kohlrieser. Leaders must also be 100% caring, ask great questions, make good people choices, be humble and must always be willing to learn.
Selecting the right people for your organization was stressed by Wharton professor Adam Grant. Leaders must also know how to spot the ‘givers’ from the ‘takers’, weed the takers out of an organization and build a culture of productive giving. A strategy Grant uses to encourage generosity is called the Five Minute Favor - which is the act of doing someone a favor in a short amount of time on a daily basis.
Day One continued with two visionaries from the world of food. The CEO of Eataly Oscar Farinetti’s vision of success centers around people and knowing where your organization is on the ‘life’s curve’ and when it’s time to reinvent yourself. Steven Kydd, founder of digital food and travel network Tastemade provided a look into how his company is created a network of ‘creators’ around the world who are telling their stories of food and adventure for the mobile generation, a generation who aren’t just consumers but also story makers. Tastemade also collaborates with global grands looking to share their stories in a way that will resonate with millennials, beyond traditional advertising.
Day One ended with a standing ovation for educator and visionary Stephen Ritz, creator of the Green Bronx Machine who shared his story about transforming an entire community by teaching young people how to grow their own food in the Bronx. With his movement, Stephen hopes to inspire others to forge ahead despite seemingly invincible odds. If he could do it in the Bronx, surely anybody can make a difference in their community.
Day Two opened with a focus on professional growth and investing in human capital. Insead Professor Herminia Ibarra stressed the importance of breaking away from conventional practices and acting our way into a new way of thinking. This Do-it-Yourself approach involves three important changes in behavior 1) make day-to-day work more strategic, redefining a job away from the routine to making strategic contributions; 2) diversifying networks, in order to benefit from a broader range of individuals across different industries and 3) be more playful and experiment more.
Choosing the right people for your business was stressed once again on Day Two by hiring up and employing people ‘who are better than you’ commented Richard Branson or who you would be ‘willing to have lead you,’ said Facebook’s Carolyn Everson. Indeed, investing in human capital is crucial and our scarcest resource according to Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini. Walter Isaacson spoke about the importance of creativity and that the best creative teams are the ones who are willing to rub up against each other and get dirty.
Kevin Spacey closed the conference by reminding us how powerful storytelling can be and how consumers are now storytellers with more content created in 24 hours around the world than in 60 years of television. Transformation by trying new things is key, and Spacey reminded us that ‘Netflix learned what the music industry didn’t learn…give people what they want, when they want it at a reasonable price, and they probably won’t steal it.’ Spacey closed the forum by reminding the audience of one of the most important lessons he learned from friend Jack Lemmon, “If you have done well in whatever business you are in, it is your duty to send the elevator back down.”
WOBI wishes to thank all sponsors for their support of the World Business Forum this year. Presenting Sponsors included Teleperformance and Nikkei Asian Review; Official Airline Partner: Lufthansa Airlines; Premier Sponsors: Columbia Business School and The Wharton School; Supporting Sponsors: Nespresso, QFC Qatar Financial Centre, UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education, and 4Voice; and Official Transportation Partner: UBER.
ABOUT WOBI
WOBI (World of Business Ideas) is a business content hub, a place where experiences and knowledge converge. For more than two decades, we have been there for all those who share our passion for business; restless and curious minds excited by the challenge of transforming ideas into projects and projects into businesses. Our mission is to create transformational experiences dedicated to building better people, better business and a better world.
Connect with WOBI via: Facebook (@wobi.en); LinkedIn (@wobi); Twitter (@wobi_en); and YouTube (@wobi). Hashtags: #wobi #wbfny
Press inquiries and to request images: pr@wobi.com.
