When Jacinda Ardern became the prime minister of New Zealand in 2017 at the age of 37, she also became the world’s youngest female head of government. Where did she turn for leadership principles as she led her island nation through the pandemic, an economic downturn, a volcanic eruption, and a terrorist attack on two mosques over the subsequent five years?
Appropriately, perhaps, Jacinda looked to an even younger cohort for inspiration. “The most important leadership principles can be found in what we teach our children,” she told a Talent Connect 2023 audience in New York City last week, “empathy, curiosity, bravery, and kindness.”
If you’d like to hear all of what Jacinda had to say or you simply want to learn what her spirit animal is (hint: it’s not a kiwi), visit the Talent Connect 2023 Highlights site. It’s a one-stop cache of the key moments from both Talent Connect Summit (the live event) and Talent Connect Show (the global digital event) and the place to find keynote talks, panel discussions, customer stories, breakout sessions, and more.
Watch — or rewatch — keynote addresses
We’ve got it all — everything from Spike Lee on how he got started in film to Sherry Cassano on the key lessons Pfizer learned from creating a vaccine for COVID-19 in just nine months. Check out:
• Jacinda Ardern on Leading Through Crisis and Uncertainty. Jacinda wisely noted that you have to view leadership as temporary and make every day count. “Someone,” she told the Talent Connect audience, “asked me recently when I first thought about standing down, and my answer was, ‘The day I was elected.’”
• Ryan Roslansky, the CEO of LinkedIn, on Redefining Work in the Age of AI. “The old playbooks won’t work in this new world of work,” Ryan tells the summit. “They won’t.” Instead, Ryan shares snapshots of four companies — Genpact, Siemens, IBM, and Canva — that have successfully moved skills to the center of their talent strategies or rethought how HR should be organized.
• Jennifer Shappley, VP of talent at LinkedIn, and Hari Srinivasan, VP of product at LinkedIn, on Work Changes Today: LinkedIn’s Path Forward with the Talent Community. As the leader of LinkedIn’s recently formed talent function, which brings together talent acquisition and talent development, Jennifer is “customer zero” for LinkedIn’s recruiting and learning products. Hari lays out the exciting, generative AI-driven enhancements that are rolling out for LinkedIn’s suite of recruiting and learning products.
• Sherry Cassano, the SVP of people experience at Pfizer, on Recruiting and Developing Leaders at Pfizer. Sherry notes that Pfizer developed a successful vaccine for COVID-19 in nine months, a process that normally would take 10 years. She shares the five chief learnings from that experience, including accepting failure and redefining leadership.
• April Rinne, futurist and author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, on Beyond the Ladder: Making Change Work for Careers. April suggests that the metaphor of a “career ladder” is not only outdated but counterproductive. She suggests we replace career ladders with career portfolios because they “offer a kind of flexibility and future readiness that ladders simply do not.”
• Spike Lee, the groundbreaking and award-winning filmmaker, in conversation with LinkedIn News editor Leah Smart on Trailblazing Insights: A Fireside Chat on Leadership and Career Triumphs. In a truly far-ranging discussion, Spike shares his insights on everything from parenting (“Parents kill more dreams than anyone”) to what he sees as the impossibility of being an overnight success.
Idea Exchange videos
• Devin Banerjee, the senior managing editor for industry news and community at LinkedIn, moderates a discussion, “Drive continuous career development, today” with Dr. Terri Horton, a workforce futurist and LinkedIn Learning instructor; Mark McLaren, the head of talent and capability at Bunnings; and Jenna Alexander, the Global Talent Centre of Excellence leader at Randstad.
• Devin also moderates a roundtable focused on “Attract for today, hire for tomorrow,” with Lars Schmidt, founder of Amplify Talent and a LinkedIn Learning instructor; Roz Francuz-Harris, the vice president of talent acquisition at Zillow; and Valerie Vadala, the global head of talent acquisition at Shutterstock.
Customer story videos
Leaders at three large companies share how they’re using technology, internal mobility, and learning and development to elevate the employee experience, help with career development, and improve retention:
• Donna Morris, EVP and chief people officer at Walmart, embraces what she sees AI doing for her company. “We do not see new technology as reducing headcount,” she says. Instead, she sees the AI tool called My Assistant that has been issued to Walmart employees as a lever for more creativity and empathy and as something that will drive more business impact.
• Maud Alvarez-Pereyre, the chief people and transformation officer at LVMH, says a key for the French luxury goods manufacturer is, “We want to treat our talent as well as we treat our clients.”
• Ashwani Prashara, the CHRO of hydrocarbons at Reliance Industries, says it his belief that “ordinary people, given the right environment, can do extraordinary things.” And part of that right environment comes from investing heavily in learning and tapping into the innate curiosity of their workforce.
Breakout Sessions
Videos of a dozen of this year’s top breakout sessions will go live on October 25 and you’ll want to check back at Talent Connect 2023 Highlights. Some of the highlights include:
• Systemic HR: A New Operating System, with Josh Bersin, a global industry analyst and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company, and Kathi Enderes, SVP of The Josh Bersin Company, and hosted by Teuila Hanson, chief people officer at LinkedIn
• Talent Acquisition’s Missing Metric: Unlocking the Power of ‘Quality of Hire,’ with George Kilroy, chief people officer at Fabletics; Logan McDougal, consultant at Egon Zehnder; Erin Scruggs, vice president and head of global talent acquisition at LinkedIn; and Ben Olson, director of talent acquisition innovations and solutions at LinkedIn
• Power a Dynamic Workforce by Embracing AI, with Chris Louie, the vice president of people at Thomson Reuters; Dr. Terri Horton, a workforce futurist and LinkedIn Learning instructor; and Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, chief innovation officer at ManpowerGroup, and hosted by Lindsey Shintani, vice president of product marketing at LinkedIn
• Shaping the Future of the Workplace with Emerging Technology, with Jo-Ann Feely, global managing director of innovation at AMS; Ajay Sah, vice president and global head of talent acquisition at Capgemini Financial Services; and Dan Reid, senior director of product management at LinkedIn
• Driving Culture Change for Business Outcomes: An Insights-Informed Approach, with David White, vice president of people analytics at LinkedIn, and Shujaat Ahmad, director of people analytics at LinkedIn
• Revolutionizing Talent Acquisition: AI Meets Inclusivity and Authenticity, with Roz Francuz-Harris, vice president of talent acquisition at Zillow
Don’t miss highlights captured by the Talent Blog
Keep checking back to Talent Connect 2023 Highlights for more in-depth coverage and other stories we’ll be posting on the Talent Blog. Here’s what’s available already:
• AI Is Making Companies Rewrite Their Playbooks. But It Will Also Help Them Do It
• LinkedIn Unveils Major Product Upgrades to Help Employers Navigate the New Talent Landscape
