The emergence of the internet combined with technology developments in areas like sensors including IOT, smart phones and social media has seen society rush head long into a hyper connected world together with an explosion of data, much of it personal.

The 4th Industrial Revolution is putting pressure on private and public sector organisations to adapt and transform in response to forces beyond their control. But many of those organisations are already stressed out, overworked and for many workers a place to endure rather than enjoy.

Gone are the days where ‘trust’ is assumed because the organisation has been well established for years. Gone are the days where ‘trust’ is given to the leader because they have the title or wear the badge ‘CEO’ or ‘boss’. Gone are the days where people will be invisible and work tirelessly at the bottom rung of the ladder, with very limited feedback, support and job interest, simply in hope that one day they may be noticed and be able to climb up to the next rung.

The situation was every leader’s worst nightmare: Archana Patchirajan, founder of an Indian technology startup, had to call her staff into a meeting and give them some devastating news. Due to a stark lack of funds, Archana would have to let them go. She could no longer afford to pay them.

Any experienced surfer knows how important it is to keep one eye fixed on the horizon. While a wave is still forming a long way off, that is the time to start paddling, to get into position and get ready. Leave it too long or fail to move at all, and you’ll be wiped out as the wave crashes upon you.

For small businesses, breeches can be hard to see from the outside. For corporations, breeches can be hard to see from the inside, as the recent Banking Royal Commission revealed.

World class musician and thought leader Mark Schulman shares one of his most potent formulas that he has incorporated into his daily life for many years - a key to success that has kept him in the forefront of the minds of some of the worlds most successfull entertainers and business leaders.

Katerina Kimmorley, founder of Pollinate Energy & the Innovation Fund is a Cleantech expert, Venture Capitalist, social entrepreneur and advocate for women changing the world.

Our team at Ovations give you recommendations for some of their most favourite speakers for 2019 - Innovators, movers and shakers, and speakers that struck an emotional chord with them.

Wanting to transform your work place culture? Stephen Simpson provides three tips that will help you identify the unwritten ground rules of your workplace environment, and how they impact the culture that defines how your employees and management interact.

During the 2018 Teleperformance Leader Insights Forum in Dubai and Amsterdam, I shared the foresight that customers are taking life (and commercial) matters into their own hands. Literally and metaphorically. This empowerment fundamentally calls for a re-design of your brand’s customer journey, and a re-assessment of the strategic and tactical roles of your marketing, customer experience and sales professionals. Yesterday your customer changed. Now it must be your turn.

As you would expect Digital and Technology will continue to drive changes in how we live, work and play.  So what are the big things coming to fruition in 2019?

Traditional strategies for personal and commercial success cannot longer sustain the pace of modern life. The future of work requires high levels of creativity, an ability to process vast amounts of information, and consistently produce relevant, impactful outcomes.

No matter who you are, or what walk of life you come from, we all have something in common - money. Whether you have a little or a lot, money will be at the top of the list for people to talk about, as Australia experiences its first real property downturn in over 10 years, and banks tighten lending conditions due to the Royal Commission into Financial Services.

Humans, by their nature, are creatures of habit. We fall into the same routine, the same patterns. We eat at the same restaurants, sit at the same desk, walk the same route to work and go about our jobs (and relationships) in the same, comfortable way. It’s good…until it’s not.

What makes this The Future Consumer’s generation so significant is that they are not shaped by an analog past, instead their default is digital. A magazine is not a magazine; it’s a broken iPad. They may not understand why there was ever a need for a physical street directory, because in their world everyone, everywhere has Google Maps at their fingertips. Interestingly enough, the pure digital native doesn’t know why the save icon in Microsoft Word has the image of a floppy disk, because they’ve never used one.

I love the New Year, it brings fresh goals, hopes and possibilities. It’s also terrific that Woman in Leadership is one of the hot trending topics in 2019.

Cyber security and data breaches – why should we care? Because it will happen to you - And it will hurt. That may seem flippant, but it’s based on some hard facts.

Everyday we are influenced by those around us. Whether that’s who were following on social media, who we’re watching on Television or who’s podcast we have in our ears.

I read and hear so much about the secretto happiness, it seems that there is nothing new to say. But often with sharing stories we find the answer is as simple as doing happiness.