Crisis Management

Baroness (Karren) Brady

Karren ran the business side of Birmingham City FC through promotion, relegation – and brain surgery. Karren’s mantra for leaders growing any enterprise can be summed up in 5 tips: work hard (be persistent); use every opportunity to network (spread your message); move on (failure is history); don’t get side-tracked, and do your sums.

Alastair Campbell

Alastair ran Labour’s communications for ten years, in and out of government. Alongside co-hosting The Rest is Politics podcast, he advises on both political and organisational strategy, as well as working extensively with charities and campaigning around mental health. He’s written a slew of books including Winners, drawing inspiration from high achievers in sport, business and politics. In presentations Alastair explains what to do when you come under pressure: “Challenge your basic assumptions, put yourselves in your opponent’s shoes, devise a tight plan from t...

Rt Hon Lord (Sebastian) Coe

On the track Seb’s talent and commitment earned eleven world records and two Olympic gold medals; he has since led the most successful Games in recent history. After serving as one of many Vice Presidents, Seb is tasked with turning around World Athletics and restoring the reputation of international athletics, in the gaze of the world’s media. In speeches he shares the lessons as an athlete and as a leader delivering a vision, managing crisis and bringing about change.

Chris Hadfield

Chris learned Russian and emergency medicine on top of his test pilot and aeronautical training before spending six months in orbit. He is now best-known for performing Bowie’s Space Oddity in space – as well as publishing An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth and appraising the candidates in BBC2’s Astronauts - Do You Have What It Takes? Chris shares insights on leadership, collaboration, human ingenuity and how to avoid being paralysed by fear in the four seconds between system failure and death. He also reveals what spacewalking tells us about life on Earth.

Rt Hon Lord (William) Hague

William served as Party Leader, Commons Leader and Foreign Secretary – contending with war in Libya, terrorist threats, and relations with Europe. He weighs up the impact of Brexit, China, the invasion of Ukraine, and inflation on government policy, national security and globalisation. How will political leaders respond to the key challenges: from migration and populism to Putin's aggression and Xi Jinping's attitude towards tech and trade battles?

Christian Horner

After a successful career on the track Christian started his own racing team only to be approached shortly afterwards to run the new Red Bull set-up. As new entrants to one of the most technical and competitive sports in the world, within five years they’d won both drivers’ and constructors’ championships, and repeated the feat for each of the following three seasons. Christian reveals what it’s taken to build and maintain success in the face of rivals with more money, resources, and political power in the sport. He considers what makes the culture of Red Bull spe...

Lord (Digby) Jones

After heading the CBI, Digby entered government and circled the globe, lobbying on behalf of British business. He remains both an ardent supporter and insightful critic of business and business leaders, challenging them to better embrace change and innovation, to empower their people to take risks and explore new ideas, and to look globally for inspiration, competition and opportunities.

Baroness Manningham-Buller

As Head of the Security Service, Eliza dealt with the wake of 9/11 and a growing threat from Al-Qaeda. As Chair of the Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest charitable funders of medical research, she oversaw an organisation that both predicted and led work tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and its long-term effects. With insights and lessons on leadership from throughout her career, Eliza explains that leaders' priorities must change in order to keep pace with the constant emergence of new, often unimagined challenges, from existential threats such a...

Ciaran Martin

Ciaran Martin is Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government. He was the founding Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ. He has worked directly with five Prime Ministers, and a variety of Senior Ministers from three political parties.