The Leading Speakers blog

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The World Renowned Interviewer

Sir David Frost is probably the world’s most prominent television interviewer.

In addition to hosting and creating television programmes, he is a publisher, lecturer, impresario and chief executive officer to numerous companies.

Landmark interviews have always featured in his remarkable career. Perhaps the most infamous being the Nixon Interviews, broadcast in virtually every television nation around the world.

“One-man conglomerate.”

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Author of ‘The Name of the Rose’ and Professor of Semiotics

Italian born Umberto Eco is a prolific author and essayist and has published numerous books and articles covering a wide range of subjects from Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages to Semiotics - the Science of Signs and Symbols. He reached ultimate fame when his book ‘The Name of the Rose’ was made into a blockbuster film.

A laureate graduate from Turin University in 1954 Umberto Eco was cultural programme editor for RAI - Italian Radio and Television - from 1954 to 1959. He joined the publishing house of Bompiano in Milan as senior non-fiction editor in 1959 and was with them until 1975. Since 1962 Umberto Eco has been a regular columnist for some of Italy’s leading newspapers such as Il Giorno, La Stampa, Corriere della Sera.
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First Woman to Summit Everest from North & South Sides

Cathy O’Dowd is a winning explorer and raconteur.

Not one to submit to adversity, she reached Everest’s peak from the south, despite facing the worst storm in the mountain’s history.

She took on the challenge of the treacherous north side two years later, but her attempt ended when she stopped to try and save a dying climber.

A year later she returned and succeeded in becoming the first woman to climb Everest from both the north and south sides.

The first woman to conquer both the north and south sides of Everest

In detail

A former university lecturer with a Masters degree in Media Studies, she grew up in South Africa.

Now based in Europe, she remains an active adventurer, from the heights of the Himalaya to the wilderness of the Arctic. In 2003 she attempted a new route up the notorious east face of Everest.
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Celebrated Author of ‘Wild Swans’

Jung Chang is the author of the best-selling book ‘Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China’, which has sold over 12 million copies and been translated into 30 languages. ‘Wild Swans’ has won many awards, including the NCR Book Award UK (1992), UK Writers’ Guild Best Non-Fiction (1992) and Book of The Year UK (1993). Her biography of Mao Tse-tung, ‘Mao: The Unknown Story’, was published in 2005 and has sold over 800,000 copies in 14 languages and is being translated into a further eleven.

A compelling writer and raconteur

In detail

Born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China in 1952, Jung Chang worked as a peasant, a ‘barefoot’ doctor, a steelworker and an electrician before becoming an English Language student and, later, an assistant lecturer at Sichuan University. She left China for Britain in 1978 and was awarded a scholarship by York University, where she obtained a PhD in Linguistics in 1982 - the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British University. She has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the Universities of Buckingham, York, Warwick and the Open University.
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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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Founder of Interdisciplinary Unit for Sustainable Economy and Professor of Anthropology and Economics

Prof. Dipak R. Pant advises governmental, non-governmental and business organizations on policy and planning issues for environmentally sustainable and socially sound development. A tireless world explorer, he is regarded as the pioneer of ‘Extreme Lands Program’ which conducts ethnographic field surveys, economic studies and collaborative economic and social development planning in the most marginal and difficult terrains of the world. He is credited with shaping the global development debate by linking social and environmental sustainability with market competitiveness through the strategic concept of ‘place-brand’.

“Italy’s leading speaker on sustainable economic development”

In detail
In addition to his role as the leader of Interdisciplinary Unit for Sustainable Economy and Extreme Lands Program, he lectures on sustainability issues, development planning and global human security issues in some West European, Chinese and US scientific institutions. His field experience, insight and informed perspective are regularly sought by the business community, scientific organizations, governments and NGOs.
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Expert on Virtual Leadership (Leading People at a Distance)

Mark Fritz is the MD and Founder of Procedor Limited, a company focused on enabling leaders to become even more successful. He is an associate of Ashridge College in the UK, co-teaching Leading Complex Teams; and leads an MBA Seminar on Virtual Leadership at HEC in France. He also leads MBA Workshops on Virtual Leadership at the Instituto de Empresa Business School in Spain.

“Discipline” and “Passion” are the Keys to Success

In detail
Mark Fritz has vast international experience having lived in Egypt, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, UK and USA. Prior to founding Procedor, Mark enjoyed twenty-five years in a series of global leadership roles at Eastman Kodak Company.
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Author and Leading Thinker on Organisational Learning and Sustainability

Peter Senge was the Director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and is presently on the faculty at MIT. He is the founding chair of SoL, the Society for Organizational Learning, a global community of corporations, researchers and consultants dedicated to the interdependent development of people and their institutions. He has lectured throughout the world, translating the abstract ideas of systems theory into tools for better understanding of economic and organisational change.

“Strategist of the Century”

In detail

Peter Senge received a B.S. in engineering from Stanford University, an M.S. in social systems modelling and a Ph.D. in management from MIT. He has written many articles published in both academic journals and the business press on systems thinking in management. ‘The Journal of Business Strategy’ named Dr. Senge as one of the 24 people who had the greatest influence on business strategy over the last 100 years.
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Authority on Leadership

Dr. Stephen R. Covey, is an internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organisational consultant, founder of the former Covey Leadership Centre, and co-founder/co-chairman of Franklin Covey Company - the largest management and leadership development organization in the world.

Dr. Stephen R. Covey is founder and chairman of the Covey Leadership Centre, a world-wide consulting company that implements leadership training for organisations and individuals. He is also the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, a six-million best-seller in 32 languages; Principle Centred Leadership; and First Things First. An internationally recognised author, lecturer and leadership mentor, Dr. Covey’s expertise encompasses the fields of personal relations, organisational development, management and leadership. He has appeared as a guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs. Dr. Covey is a Harvard M.B.A. graduate and holds a doctorate degree from Brigham Young University, where he is currently an adjunct Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Business Management.
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Foremost Thinker on Human Resource Strategy

Dr. Lynda Gratton is Professor of Management Practice at London Business School where she directs the school’s executive programme, “Human Resource Strategy in Transforming Organisations”. Over the last decade Lynda has led The Leading Edge Research Consortium, a major research initiative involving companies such as Hewlett Packard and Citibank. A global authority on the people implications of strategy Dr. Lynda Gratton writes, teaches and consults across the world on human resource strategy.

“People are our most important asset”

In detail
In 2005 Lynda was named by the Times as one of the top 50 thinkers of the world (one of only 4 women). She is acknowledged as one of the world’s most influential thinkers in HR Strategy, and was recently ranked in the Top Ten of HR Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential poll. In 2004 Lynda was appointed a Research Fellow of the Advanced Institute of Management in the UK and is Director of the Lehman Centre for Women in Business.
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