“Client-Centricity Is Our New Mantra”: New Dentsu CEO Delivers First Address to Staff
Takeshi Sano has taken the helm as Dentsu’s new chief executive, delivering his first address to staff. He declared "client‑centricity" the company’s new mantra and outlined an execution‑led transformation agenda. The plan includes a sweeping international overhaul aimed at streamlining operations and boosting profitability. Sano’s vision signals a decisive shift from legacy structures toward a more agile, data‑driven agency model.
Listening Underpins Changemaker's Chapter Growth Strategy
HIMSS senior director Sepi Browning announced a new growth strategy for its Changemaker chapters that centers on listening to local leaders. The plan will develop best‑practice guides to help chapter volunteers manage and motivate members more effectively. By amplifying the...
DAS Health Appoints Lee Horner as Chief Executive Officer
DAS Health announced the appointment of Lee Horner as its new chief executive officer, marking a strategic leadership shift aimed at accelerating growth. Horner brings more than two decades of executive experience in healthcare software and services, having led high‑growth...
Richard Saldanha: 'Coming Back to Aviva Was Very Much Like Returning Home'
Richard Saldanha re‑joined Aviva Investors in early 2025 after a brief tenure at Royal London Asset Management that began in December 2024. His return surprised industry observers, given the short duration of his RLAM stint and his prior long‑standing role...
Devon Energy’s Gaspar Sees Good Things Ahead, Stemming From His First Year and the Imminent Merger with Coterra Energy
Devon Energy CEO Clay Gaspar reflected on his first year, highlighting a three‑pillar strategy that sharpened culture, organic growth, and portfolio optimization. He explained that the recently announced merger with Coterra Energy is a strategic fit that delivers scale and operational...
The Skills Retail CEOs Need To Win In The AI Era
Retail CEOs are confronting an unprecedented wave of turnover, with 1,500 exits recorded in 2025 – the highest since tracking began. Boards are responding by prioritizing leaders who blend merchant insight with deep technology and AI fluency. AI is slated...
Ruder Finn Atteline Launches Internal Comms, Capability Practise rf.engage
Ruder Finn Atteline has launched rf.engage, a strategic internal communications service line that delivers bespoke leadership training, change management, and employee‑engagement programs across the MENA region. The offering blends real‑world simulation, personalised coaching, and proprietary narrative frameworks to boost leaders'...
Duke Health Names Familiar Face as New CEO
David Zaas will re‑join Duke Health as chief executive on May 1, 2026, after a decade leading Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, where he oversaw eight hospitals and 27,000 employees. Zaas previously spent nearly two decades at Duke Health in various senior...
Xerox Board of Directors Appoints Louie Pastor as Chief Executive Officer
Xerox Holdings announced that Steve Bandrowczak will step down as chief executive officer and the board has appointed Louie Pastor as the new CEO, effective immediately. Pastor, who most recently served as Xerox’s president and chief operating officer, led enterprise‑wide transformation, global...
FNB CEO Harry Kellan Steps Down After Just Two Years
Harry Kellan will step down as FNB CEO at the end of 2026 after a two‑year tenure, making way for long‑time executive Lytania Johnson. The leadership change is part of FirstRand’s broader simplification strategy, which reorganizes FNB into three distinct...
Syensqo: Heike Van De Kerkhof Appointed Chair of the Board of Directors and Martine Snels Independent Non-Executive Director
Syensqo announced that Heike van de Kerkhof will assume the role of independent chair of its board on March 3, 2026, succeeding Rosemary Thorne. The board also welcomed former Allnex CEO Miguel Mantas and industrial veteran Martine Snels as independent directors, while...
Venu Srinivasan Re-Designated as Chairman & MD of Sundaram Clayton
Sundaram Clayton Ltd has re‑designated Venu Srinivasan as Chairman and Managing Director, succeeding R Gopalan who stepped down with immediate effect. Gopalan will remain on the board as a Non‑Executive Independent Director. The announcement coincided with the stock closing at ₹1,189,...
Toxic Positivity or Doom and Gloom? Why Times Like These Require a New Leadership Style
In today’s turbulent environment, passive reassurance is no longer a viable leadership tactic. Executives are urged to abandon both toxic positivity and fatalistic pessimism, opting instead for a balanced, authentic approach that acknowledges challenges while inspiring confidence. The article highlights...
Toxic Bosses Don’t Just Hurt People. They Hurt the Bottom Line
Toxic bosses are a pervasive problem, with 87% of professionals reporting at least one and 57% leaving jobs because of a bad manager. Their behavior erodes psychological safety, stifles creativity, and drives high turnover. In North America, manager‑related attrition accounts...
Chief People Officer Appointments Down by a Fifth
Global hiring of chief people officers (CPOs) has dropped by more than a fifth over the past three years, with the United Kingdom accounting for 11% of worldwide appointments despite its modest economy. Women now occupy almost three‑quarters of new...
3 Insights Into the Future of Business From Steven Bartlett
Steven Bartlett, the 33‑year‑old entrepreneur behind the hit "Diary of a CEO" podcast, outlined three forward‑looking business insights during a PwC‑hosted SXSW session. He emphasized hiring "agent maxxers"—specialists who can direct AI agents rather than hiring generic staff. Bartlett warned...
Superdry CEO Julian Dunkerton on What Makes His Stores Industry-Leading
Superdry’s new Oxford Street flagship, rebranded as a "reimagined space," combines the core label with partner concepts such as a Bench collaboration and vintage Ralph Lauren and Carhartt displays. Founder‑CEO Julian Dunkerton argues that today’s shoppers need immersive, differentiated experiences...
GHD Appoints Liz Griffiths as Chief Growth Officer as Part of Strategic Leadership Shake-Up
GHD, the Wella‑owned hair‑tools brand, announced a senior‑leadership overhaul to support its ambition of becoming a multi‑category hair‑tech giant. The company is converting its Chief Marketing and Digital Officer role into a broader Chief Growth Officer (CGO) position, appointing current...
How Fortune 500 Communicators Are Rethinking Employee Communications and Culture
At Ragan’s Employee Communications & Culture Conference in Boston, Fortune 500 leaders from Honeywell, Cisco, M&T Bank and Humana showcased new tactics for engaging large workforces. Sessions highlighted equipping managers with practical toolkits, producing short‑form internal videos using phones and...
Sleep Number’s Linda Findley on Her Rise From Communicator to CEO
Linda Findley, who rose from a journalism‑trained communications role at Alibaba to become CEO of Sleep Number, used the Page Spring Seminar to argue that communications is not a support function but a form of leadership. She highlighted the importance...
IWD Voices: Christine Lai – ‘It’s About Holding Both the Industry and Ourselves Accountable So That Change Is Universal’
Christine Lai, featured in International Women’s Day Voices, redefines fairness as equity rather than uniform treatment. She argues that true fairness requires allocating resources to remove barriers and level outcomes for diverse individuals. Lai emphasizes that career growth should be...
The My Pleasure Advantage: Why Chick-Fil-A Wins on People – Webinar Recap
In a recent HCI webinar, Nicholas Lawrence, Chick‑fil‑A’s Executive Director of People & Culture, outlined how the chain builds a gold‑standard service culture. He highlighted three pillars: consistent standards over time, intentional definition and enforcement of those standards, and leadership...
ADNOC, OMV Unveil Executive Leadership for Polyolefins JV
ADNOC and OMV have launched Borouge Group International (BGI), consolidating their polyolefins assets under a new joint venture. NOVA Chemicals CEO Roger Kearns will lead BGI as chief executive, while ADNOC finalizes its acquisition of NOVA Chemicals this month. The...
Cybersecurity Is a Calling, Not Just a Career — Dr. Priyanka Sunder (PD) on Women Leading the Charge
Dr. Priyanka Sunder, a two‑decade cybersecurity strategist and award‑winning leader, discusses how women are reshaping governance, risk and compliance (GRC) in the industry. She highlights the shift from compliance check‑boxes to continuous resilience, emphasizing cloud security controls, data localization, and...
Google Is to Journalism What Vikings Were to Monks. Now Their Man Will Run the BBC
Matt Brittin, former President of EMEA Business and Operations at Google, has been named the Director‑General designate of the BBC. The appointment pits a tech‑industry veteran against a public‑service broadcaster steeped in decades of editorial tradition. Brittin will inherit a...
5 Upgrades Your Employees Will Actually Appreciate
Employees now value practical upgrades that enhance daily productivity over superficial perks. Companies that invest in modern collaboration platforms, ergonomic workstations, continuous learning, flexible schedules, and reliable fiber connectivity see higher engagement and lower turnover. Research links a positive employee...
Make Job Negotiations Fairer in Your Organization
Harvard Kennedy School professors Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi argue that short‑term DEI training alone won’t fix inequitable job negotiations. They advocate systemic, behavioral‑design solutions such as anonymized applications, structured interviews, and algorithmic tools to curb bias. The authors cite blind auditions...
The Category Creator: How Michael Koch and HubKonnect Are Building the Hyperlocal Intelligence Retail Economy
HubKonnect, led by serial entrepreneur Michael Koch, has defined a new enterprise‑AI category called Hyperlocal Intelligence, which analyzes real‑time local signals to optimize decisions for individual retail locations. The platform ingests millions of data points—demographics, weather, traffic, and store performance—to...
Capital A Taps Former CIMB Heavyweight as Deputy CEO
Capital A announced the appointment of former CIMB executive Effendy Shahul Hamid as deputy chief executive officer, effective 6 April 2026. The move follows the group’s recent divestiture of its aviation businesses to AirAsia X, signaling a strategic shift toward its core digital...
David’s Bridal CEO Kelly Cook on Betting Big and Knowing When Not To
David’s Bridal CEO Kelly Cook marks her first year by redefining the company from a single‑purchase wedding dress retailer into a year‑long, data‑driven bridal ecosystem. She reframed the problem, discovering that a bride’s journey spans 18 months and hundreds of...
The Enterprise’s New Hire Is an AI Agent
Enterprises are moving from treating AI tools as isolated utilities to onboarding them as fully fledged agents, complete with job descriptions, authority limits, and human supervisors. Harvard Business Review advises treating new agents like interns, measuring reliability and timeliness alongside...
LABJ Stock Index: March 30
Effective succession planning is essential for family offices to ensure continuity of wealth management and business operations across generations. The article outlines six strategic considerations, ranging from legal framework reviews to emotional handling of senior family members. It emphasizes that...
Scott Sports Appoint Hsuan Boon Tan as New Co-CEO
Scott Sports announced that Hsuan Boon Tan will join Pascal Ducrot as co‑CEO, replacing Juwon Kim who returns to majority owner Youngone Corp. The co‑CEO structure, first introduced in August 2024, follows a disputed leadership change earlier this year. Ducrot...
Building the Right Team Is Key for Emerging Managers
Emerging private equity managers are increasingly recognizing that talent is the cornerstone of successful fundraising and future deal execution. Building a cohesive team with complementary skill sets, industry expertise, and cultural alignment can differentiate a nascent firm in a crowded...
Why Risk Alone Doesn’t Get You to Yes
Security leaders often present technically sound risk briefings, yet executives delay action because risk data alone doesn’t compel decisions. The gap lies in translating exposure into business‑focused consequences that align with revenue, compliance, and operational goals. Executives need clear, stakeholder‑specific...
A Rising Female Hospitality Leader: Kassidy Angelo, Managing Director of Gioia Hospitality Group
Kassidy Angelo left a finance career at J.P. Morgan to become Managing Director of Gioia Hospitality Group, steering the rapid rise of Daniel’s, a Florida steakhouse brand. Within a year the Fort Lauderdale location earned a Michelin Guide recommendation, and...
Laurent Proutière: «We Are a Hybrid, Power Boutique»
Indosuez Wealth Management Asia posted a strong 2025 performance, with assets under management climbing 23% to $23 billion and transactional revenue surging 40%. The unit added $500 million of net new money, driven by a 45% rise in discretionary portfolio management assets...
Agency Agenda: Moonfolks' Anish Daryani Sets Eyes on New Market Entries This Year
Moonfolks CEO Anish Daryani announced the agency’s next regional expansion into Vietnam, following a recent launch in Brunei. The plan uses a hub‑and‑spoke model with Indonesia as the central hub and local specialists in each market. Daryani also highlighted a...
London Drugs President Clint Mahlman to Retire
London Drugs announced that longtime president and COO Clint Mahlman will retire on May 29, 2026 after a 41‑year career that began as a part‑time stock boy. The board named veteran technology executive Nick Curalli, who has spent over three decades at...
Vasudha Pharma Chem Gets Punam Attar as CHRO
Vasudha Pharma Chem has appointed Punam Attar as its new chief human resources officer. Attar joins from Granules India, where she led HR and administration since March 2024, after a series of senior HR roles at Dr Reddy’s, Abbott, and...
AI Leadership in Southeast Asia: Rethinking How We Lead
Artificial intelligence has moved from future promise to present reality across Southeast Asia, prompting leaders to embed AI into every facet of their businesses. However, many executives are accelerating adoption faster than their organizations can adapt, creating a mismatch between...
What Are the Responsibilities and Liabilities of Boards of Governors During Times of Strategic Change?
University boards are facing heightened scrutiny as the Office for Students (OfS) tightens communication and expects regular reporting on governance risks, especially around financial pressure and strategic change. The Committee of University Chairs is updating the Code of Higher Education...
Monster & Bear Unveils New Leadership Team as Co-Founder Sarah Hickey Goes Full-Time Directing
Melbourne‑based production studio Monster & Bear announced that co‑founder Sarah Hickey will exit day‑to‑day leadership to pursue full‑time directing, beginning with Gristmill Productions’ *Little Lunch* Season 2 in May 2026. The company introduced a refreshed leadership team, appointing Samantha Haines as Head...
Blackett Joins Sky’s Diversity Advisory Council
Sky announced that Karen Blackett CBE has joined its Diversity Advisory Council, bringing extensive leadership experience from WPP UK where she oversaw a $2 billion P&L and a 13,000‑person workforce. Blackett, now a non‑executive director and brand‑transformation consultant for firms like...
Baidam Sets Sights on Growth and Impact
Baidam has accelerated its growth by promoting senior staff, notably appointing Anita Sheridan‑Roddick as chief revenue officer and Beau Hodge as CEO. The firm added 15‑17 new employees in the past six months, expanding its technical footprint across Victoria, ACT...
Behind the Brand: Why Hurtigruten's Evolution Matters for the Travel Trade
In early 2024 Hurtigraten and HX split, leaving Hurtigraten as the pure‑play Norwegian coastal cruise brand. The company now markets two distinct products—year‑round Original Voyages along the historic Bergen‑to‑Kirkenes route and premium Signature Voyages on the Svalbard and North Cape lines....
Wecom Fiber’s New CEO
Wecom Fiber, an Arizona‑based broadband provider, appointed Rachel Solomon as its new chief executive officer, while former CEO Paul Fleming transitioned to board chair and head of government and external affairs. Solomon joins after serving as senior vice president of...
Tech CEOs Suddenly Love Blaming AI for Mass Job Cuts. Why?
Tech CEOs from Meta, Amazon, Block and others are increasingly blaming artificial intelligence for recent mass layoffs, shifting away from traditional efficiency rhetoric. Meta alone cut 700 roles while Amazon shed about 30,000 corporate workers, citing AI‑driven productivity gains. The...
GlobalMET Appoints Jillian Carson-Jackson as Managing Director
GlobalMET has appointed Jillian Carson-Jackson as its new Managing Director, bringing over four decades of maritime operations, regulation, and training expertise. Her career spans three continents and includes senior roles in national administrations and international bodies, with recognized authority in...
Top ICE Official Falling Apart Medically Due to Stress of Getting Yelled At
Acting ICE director Todd Lyons has suffered at least two stress‑related hospitalizations, according to Politico. The episodes stem from intense pressure, notably from White House adviser Stephen Miller, who repeatedly berated Lyons over deportation targets. Lyons publicly blamed President Joe Biden’s policies for...