The Leading Speakers blog

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Humanitarian, Super-model, Actress and Entrepreneur

Elle MacPherson is one of the most recognizable super models in the world. Perhaps best known for her record of six covers of Sport’s Illustrated’s highly anticipated Annual Swimsuit issue. Time magazine ran a cover story on her career entitled The Big Elle in 1986. In addition to making her mark in the world of business, Elle is also a successful actress having starred in Sirens, Batman & Robin and The Edge and also guest starred in sitcom Friends. She enjoyed worldwide success with her own sell out calendars in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and the Your Personal Best The Body workout video that was voted the year’s best by Billboard magazine in 1995.

Throughout her 25 year career, Elle has been a prominent figure in fashion, film, television and business.

In detail
Transcending the traditional career path of the super model, in 1989 Elle established her own company, Elle Macpherson Intimates in Australia. As Chairperson, she has piloted the company and today Elle Macpherson Intimates is considered one of the most highly recognizable fashion lingerie brands in all markets. More recently Elle was appointed on the Board of Directors of Hot Tuna Surf overseeing design, management and strategy.
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Expert in Strategic Marketing, e-Business and Innovation

Professor Mohanbir Sawhney is a globally recognized scholar, teacher, consultant and speaker.

He is currently the McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology and the Director of the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

“A globally recognized thought leader”

In detail
Professor Sawhney is the co-author of three books and his research has been published in leading journals like California Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Management Science, Marketing Science, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
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International Business Consultant, Author & Lecturer

Dr Jonas Ridderstråle is at the forefront of the new generation of European-based business gurus. He cuts through the madness and hyperbole surrounding the global economy and his appeal is truly global. Jonas has attained tremendous media coverage throughout the world. The 2005 Thinkers 50, the bi-annual global ranking of management thinkers, ranked him (and his colleague Nordström) at number nine internationally and as the leading European business guru.

“Rebel with a cause”

In detail
Dr. Ridderstråle holds an MBA and a PhD in international business and has been recognized as Sweden’s outstanding young academic of the year. Formerly, he was an assistant professor at the Stockholm School of Economics where he was responsible for the school’s Advanced Management Program. Jonas is currently a visiting professor at Ashridge Business School in the UK. His research focuses on new organizational models and leadership styles in the information age and has been published in leading academic journals. Jonas contributed to the best-selling Financial Times Handbook of Management and Business: The Ultimate Resource. He is on the editorial board of The Capstone Business Encyclopaedia.
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Former President of the Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. His attempts at reform helped to end the Cold War, and also ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and dissolved the Soviet Union. He introduced a policy of openness or “Glasnost” and he was also the architect of “Perestroika” or deep political and economic reforms. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He is now president of the Green Cross organisation and writes a regular column for the New York Times Syndicate.

“The Face of Perestroika”

In detail
From 1970 to 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev was the Deputy Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. as well as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Soviet Union between 1984 and 1985. He was Secretary for Agriculture between 1978 and 1985 when he took the position of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee until 1991. He was elected to the Congress of the People’s Deputies of the U.S.S.R in 1989 and became President of Russia in 1990.
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Leading Business Advisor and Author

Ram Charan is a highly acclaimed business advisor, speaker, and author and he has coached some of the world’s most successful CEO’s. For 35 years, he has worked behind the scenes at companies like GE, DuPont, EDS, Ford, Duke Energy and Verizon. Ram is a favorite among executive educators. He won the Bell Ringer (best teacher) award at GE’s famous Crotonville Institute. He won similar awards at Wharton and Northwestern. He was among Business Week’s top ten resources for in-house executive development programs.

“I get to do what I love to do.”
Ram Charan on speaking

In detail
Ram started his business career as a teenager working in the family shoe shop in India. He went on to earn an engineering degree and then MBA and doctorate degrees from Harvard Business School. He graduated from Harvard with high distinction and was a Baker Scholar. He then served on the Harvard Business School faculty.
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Wimbledon Winner 1987

Pat Cash is best known as the flamboyant winner of Wimbledon 1987. Nowadays he is developing his business interests which include working with the Cash/Hopper Tennis Academy in Australia which he set up with fellow Australian Gavin Hopper. Pat is also kept busy with his television commentary work and in his capacity as the UK President of the charity GOAL, helping street children in the third world.

An icon of professional tennis

In detail
Australian born Pat, started playing tennis at eight years old, and through perseverance, was the best player in Australia by the time he was 14. In 1982, Pat reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and in 1984 the semi-finals of the US Open and the Wimbledon Championships.
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Best-Selling Author and Expert on HR and Management Issues

During his 17 years with The Gallup Organization, Marcus Buckingham has helped lead their research into the world’s best managers, leaders and workplaces. He has continued to gain experience in management practices and employee retention and has spent the last decade helping clients find and motivate their most talented employees.

“Marcus is the most engaging and useful business speaker working today. His advice is grounded in research and at the same time appeals to common sense.”

In detail
Marcus holds a master’s degree in social and political science from Cambridge University and is a member of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Leadership and Management. He has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Fortune, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review and USA Today and is routinely lauded as an invaluable resource in informing, challenging, mentoring and inspiring people to find their strengths and obtain and sustain long-lasting personal success.
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The World’s Greatest Chess Player

Garry Kasparov has been the highest-rated chess player in the world and is widely considered the greatest chess player that ever lived.

He is the founder and inspiration behind the Kasparov Chess Foundation whose mission is to introduce chess into the educational system worldwide. He is a regular contributor to the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal and remains the highest rated payer in the history of chess and the only icon in the game of over 100 million players. In 2005 Garry announced his retirement from competitive chess after 21 years as the #1 ranked player in the world.
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Management Author and Professor of Leadership

John Adair is internationally recognised as a writer, teacher and management consultant. In 1978 he was appointed as the world’s first Professor of Leadership Studies at Surrey University. He is currently Visiting Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter. Professor Adair has been named as one of 40 people worldwide who have contributed most to the development of management thought and practice.

Professor Adair has worked as a consultant for a wide range of national and international companies, including Shell, Honeywell, Mercedes and Unilever. Working with ICI for nearly 10 years, he helped the company to develop the ‘manager-leader’ concept, which supported ICI in becoming the first British company to make £1 billion pounds profit in 1986.
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Leading Authority on Corporate Strateg

C.K. Prahalad is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most significant forces in corporate thinking. He has been voted the world’s most influential living management thinker and is the first Indian-origin thinker to claim the title. His research specialises in corporate strategy and the role and value added of top management in large, diversified, multinational corporations. He has helped companies such as AT&T, Ahlstrom, Honeywell, Rockwell, and Steelcase look at their core capabilities and market opportunities in a transformational way.

“The most influential thinker on business strategy today”
Business Week

In detail
Professor Prahalad is a graduate from the University of Madras, the Indian Institute of Management and Harvard University. He has written extensively on core competency and strategy, and has published several best selling business books and award-winning articles. His book, co-authored Competing for the Future with Gary Hamel, was rated a best-seller, and has been printed in fourteen languages.
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