Margaret Heffernan

Margaret Heffernan

Business Author, Financial Times and Huffington Post Columnist, Mentor and TED SpeakerEntrepreneur, CEO & Author of books including Embracing Uncertainty and Wilful Blindness
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€15k–€25k
UK (incl NI)

Margaret Heffernan

Business Author, Financial Times and Huffington Post Columnist, Mentor and TED SpeakerEntrepreneur, CEO & Author of books including Embracing Uncertainty and Wilful Blindness

Why book Margaret Heffernan?

  • Margaret Heffernan was named a “Top 25” by Streaming Media and a “Top 100 Media Executive” by The Hollywood Reporter . Her TED talks have over 16 million views
  • She is a five-time CEO , renowned for her expertise in business, leadership, and innovation. Margaret has  led multiple tech and media companies in both the UK and the US
  • Margaret is also a six-time author . Her books  Wilful Blindness and Beyond Measure offering groundbreaking insights into organisational success and workplace culture

Biography

Margaret Heffernan is a charismatic and authoritative speaker who takes little at face value and regularly challenges received wisdom. With an unerring ability to highlight the talent that often lies underutilised in organisations, this five-time CEO and six-time author consistently questions common business practices in ways and from angles that never fail to surprise. Her aim? To show organisations how to ‘get out of their own way’ and release the talent already in their ranks.

Originally a producer for the BBC, Margaret moved to the US in the 1980s where she became a renowned media executive through her work at The Learning Company, Standard & Poor’s, and others. To date she has written six books.

Her latest, Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together , invites us to adapt to a world in which uncertainty is now the default rather than the exception. It could not be more timely as Covid19, Brexit, AI and other volatile forces bring unprecedented disruption to lives and businesses across the globe.

Among her other roles, Margaret is a Professor of Practice at the University of Bath, Lead Faculty for the Forward Institute’s Responsible Leadership Programme and, through Merryck & Co., she mentors CEOs and senior executives of major global organisations. She also writes for the Financial Times and Huffington Post.

She was shortlisted for a Thinkers50 Strategy Thinking Award in September 2021.

Margaret Heffernan is a renowned entrepreneur, CEO, professor, and author.

Her books include Embracing Uncertainty , Wilful Blindness, and Beyond Measure . She formerly led both UK and US companies including IPPA, Marlin Consulting, and iCast Corp.

Today, she mentors CEOs and senior executives in order to help them build resilient leadership strategies.
Margaret is an expert in business, leadership, and innovation and regularly contributes to both The Financial Times and The Huffington Post.

She is also among the highest watched TED speakers, with over 16 million views worldwide.

Topics

Creative Thinking for the Leaders of the Future

Since the Industrial Revolution, management has been a three legged stool: forecast/plan/execute. But as accurate forecasting becomes more difficult, and the world keeps springing surprises, that model no longer serves us well enough. Making the future, rather than waiting for it to arrive, is now the biggest challenge of leadership. And it calls for greater creativity and imagination than ever before. What do we mean by creative thinking? Where can we find and develop it, in our organisations, institutions, in ourselves? What can we learn from creatives who encounter and embrace uncertainty all the time? A lot more than you might think….

Disruption: Uncertainty is the ‘new normal’.

With business’ ability to predict accurately being increasingly curtailed by myriad disruptive forces (such as Covid19, AI, climate change) leaders need to understand that uncertainty is here to stay. In this powerful keynote, Margaret illustrates the tools and approaches leaders need to adopt in order to navigate the ‘new normal’ with confidence and purpose.

Leadership: The Future of Leadership.

Leaders used to run their organisations with a 3 step process: forecast/plan/execute–and for decades, it worked well enough. But now that the future is uncertain, stakeholders demand participation, transparency and long-term thinking, which crucially, feels harder than ever. In an age of ambiguity and anxiety, what are the crucial skills and characteristics that leaders must have? What is their relationship to experts, to stakeholders, to the world at large. Where will we find such leaders and what kind of development will they require?

Business Strategy: The End of Efficiency.

Since the Industrial Revolution, people and processes have been managed for efficiency: bigger, faster, cheaper. Technology optimises for efficiency too. It is the watchword of management everywhere. But while efficiency delivers tangible benefits in complicated environments, it plays havoc with complex ones. Being able to distinguish the difference between the two, knowing when efficiency is safe and when it’s dangerous, has never been more critical. Get it wrong and companies risk spending too much, amplifying endemic risks or missing huge opportunities to innovate. In today’s organisations, being too efficient is as dangerous as being spendthrift. How can you tell when efficiency is your friend — or a foe?

Masterclasses

The Uncharted Journey

CEO, TED speaker and business thinker Margaret Heffernan has designed this Masterclass in collaboration with Personally Speaking based on her latest book Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together.

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    Margaret Heffernan

    Margaret Heffernan

    Entrepreneur, CEO & Author of books including Embracing Uncertainty and Wilful Blindness

    why book margaret?

    • Margaret Heffernan was named a “Top 25” by Streaming Media and a “Top 100 Media Executive” by The Hollywood Reporter. Her TED talks have over 16 million views
    • She is a five-time CEO, renowned for her expertise in business, leadership, and innovation. Margaret has led multiple tech and media companies in both the UK and the US
    • Margaret is also a six-time author. Her books Wilful Blindness and Beyond Measure offering groundbreaking insights into organisational success and workplace culture
    Margaret Heffernan

    Biography

    Margaret Heffernan is a renowned entrepreneur, CEO, professor, and author. Her books include Embracing Uncertainty, Wilful Blindness, and Beyond Measure.

    She formerly led both UK and US companies including IPPA, Marlin Consulting, and iCast Corp.

    Today, she mentors CEOs and senior executives in order to help them build resilient leadership strategies.

    Margaret is an expert in business, leadership, and innovation and regularly contributes to both The Financial Times and The Huffington Post.

    Margaret Heffernan

    She is also among the highest watched TED speakers, with over 16 million views worldwide.

    Furthermore, she is a Professor of Practice at the University of Bath and also Lead Faculty for Forward Institute’s Responsible Leadership Programme.

    Topics

    Creative Thinking for the Leaders of the Future.

    Since the Industrial Revolution, management has been a three legged stool: forecast/plan/execute. But as accurate forecasting becomes more difficult, and the world keeps springing surprises, that model no longer serves us well enough.
    Making the future, rather than waiting for it to arrive, is now the biggest challenge of leadership. And it calls for greater creativity and imagination than ever before.
    What do we mean by creative thinking? Where can we find and develop it, in our organizations, institutions, in ourselves? What can we learn from creatives who encounter and embrace uncertainty all the time? A lot more than you might think….

    Disruption:

    Uncertainty Is The ‘New Normal’.

    Disruptive forces like COVID19, AI and climate change will continue to limit business’ ability to predict the future.
    This powerful speech equips leaders with essential tools and strategies to navigate the ‘new normal’ with confidence and purpose.

    Business Strategy:

    The End Of Efficiency.

    Since the Industrial Revolution, businesses have focused on efficiency as the key to success.
    While this approach sometimes works, it can create risks in complex ones.
    Efficiency can lead to overspending, increased risks, and missed innovation.
    How will you determine when efficiency drives progress, or holds you back?

    Leadership:

    The Future Of Leadership.

    Leaders once relied on a simple three-step process: forecast, plan, and execute.
    As uncertainty grows, stakeholders expect participation, transparency, and long-term thinking.
    To navigate complexity, leaders must develop critical skills, build strong relationships with experts, and engage stakeholders effectively.

    Margaret Heffernan

    Masterclasses

    You may want to go deeper with your audience. Masterclasses can be tailored and developed to suit your audience needs, be it a 90-minute Masterclass, a half-day or full-day workshop or a full online or face-to-face programme.
    Please contact one of our expert team to discuss.

    The Uncharted Journey

    CEO, TED speaker and business thinker Margaret Heffernan has designed this Masterclass in collaboration with Personally Speaking based on her latest book Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together.

    Resources

    Podcasts

    Books

    Embracing Uncertainty by Margaret Heffernan
    Uncharted by Margaret Heffernan white book cover
    Wilful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan white book cover
    The Naked Truth by Margaret Heffernan Orange and pink book cover

    testimonials

    “Margaret delivered a colourful and engaging masterclass to a sold out session here in the IMI.
    She discussed how deceptively small measures can have a disproportionate impact on building a strong, sustainable organisational culture.
    The Q&A session with Margaret was our best yet.”

    David Magee, IMI

    “Margaret was brilliant, very approachable and positive. She delivered an incredible presentation.
    Please pass along our appreciation, along with her average score from the audience: 8.82/10. Amazing score and great presentation. Very inspiring!”

    Excellence Summit

    “Margaret’s contribution at our annual strategic offsite was outstanding! We could not have wished for a more thought provoking and insightful presentation.
    Our colleagues who were there also agreed with the majority rating her session as the one of the most valuable of our offsite.”

    Allianz Global Investors

    “Margaret was fabulous, a great storyteller with practical tips. She was one of the highest rated speakers of the event.”

    LINKAGE (USA)

    “The feedback for Margaret was fantastic, delegates really got a lot out of what she said, and how she said it!
    Content was fantastic. Margaret related to the brief really well and crucially brought the fantastic external perspective that we were looking for.
    When it came to the panel, Margaret was a brilliant asset and brought a huge amount to the table.”

    Aisling Lewis, MPD Leader, Procter & Gamble

    “As you can tell from the evaluation summary, those in the room were really engaged.
    They benefitted not only from the stories you shared, but also those you encouraged in the room.
    Everyone was able to take something away to use back at their organisations.
    I couldn’t have asked for more from a masterclass.”

    KKS ACADEMY

    “The presentation was excellent, very well received by the teams, at all levels.
    Everyone could take something back to their day to day life, reflect and hopefully make some beneficial changes.
    During all the presentations we had, every single GSK presenter from Legal referred to your presentation!
    Thanks again. It was a pleasure to listen to your speech.”

    SK (London)

    +353(0)1 475 0360

    info@personallyspeaking.com

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