One Day Virtual Leadership Conference
October 7th, 2020
(Conference available on playback – you can’t and won’t miss it!)
Rebuild….Refocus…..Re-imagine…..Renew
Iza Login
Kevin Kelly
International sales keynote Speaker and best selling author
Pat McKeown
International best selling author and trainer to special forces, SWAT and olympians
Kelly Swanson
International acclaimed storytelling expert and motivational speaker
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Our Sponsors
COVID-19 has changed the way we work forever. What does it mean for your business?
• 89% of employees were not engaged at work* before COVID-19
• How do you retain or improve employee engagement in a remote-working world?
• 76% of employees want employers to take the lead on change**
• How can you create the culture you want rather than manage the one you have?
* Gallup Employee Engagement Report 2017
** Edelman Trust Barometer 2019
8 takeaways from Leading At The Edge
1. How to Rebuild, Refocus, Reimagine and Renew?
2. How to engage staff and customers through stories?
3. Big picture thinking in times of change?
4. Secrets of influencing?
5. How to develop a culture in the new normal?
6. How to be creative and decisive in challenging times?
7. How to digitize your business?
8. Three lucky participants will get a live mentoring session on their story with Kelly. #Hotspots
Our Partners
Speakers
Iza Login
Big Picture thinking in a new world
Iza Login and her husband Samo founded Outfit 7 in 2009 with the aim of selling the business within seven years for $100m, enough money for them to pursue their non-profit, social agenda.
One major problem though, was that they didn’t have a product or even a clear idea about a product. Another challenge was that the global recession was really beginning to bite.
Kelly Swanson
Harness the power of your story to connect, engage, and get results
Kelly Swanson is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivational speaker, Huffington Post contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television show airing on Amazon Prime.
She is also author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, The Story Formula, and The Gutsy Girls Pocket Guide to Public Speaking.
Patrick McKeown
Energy, Focus and Resilience for the Modern Workplace
Patrick is recognised as a foremost authority in breathing for performance and sleep. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Biology and his work has been circulated in international medical journals and by leading literary publishers.
Kevin Kelly
The Art of Influence in an era of Dopamine Junkies, Liars and Opportunity
Kevin is author of five books including his most recent, “Do! The pursuit of Xceptional Execution” described by Tom Peters as the book he would love to have written. In this book, he interviewed the CEO’s of some of the hottest startups on the planet and identified their success principles.
Paul O’Kelly
Redesigning business for a new tomorrow
Paul O’Kelly is a strategic thinking, leadership and growth strategist and coach. He works exclusively with purpose driven leaders and teams who are deeply committed to growth, positive change and making sustainable impact for good.
John Breslin
Digital Acceleration: Tips and Tools for Individuals and Organisations
Personal Professor (Personal Chair) in Electronic Engineering at the College of Science and Engineering at the National University of Ireland Galway.
Clare Desbonnet
The Secret to Changing Company Culture
Dr. Clare Desbonnet is a leader who is passionate about developing teams in order to deliver great science that meets the needs of patients. Clare has held senior director roles in Quality and Operations in AbbVie and Roche Pharmaceuticals after an early career in specialist roles in compliance, toxicology and R&D in Roche, Boston Scientific & Henkel.
Dave Hickey
Your EMCEE for the day
I have almost 40 years’ experience as a business leader in local as well as multi-national businesses in Ireland and overseas in finance and business leadership roles. I was President of Galway Chamber of Commerce from 2018-2020 and served on its Council for over 13 years. I currently work as a mentor and strategic business adviser.
Conference Organisers
Dave Hickey
I am a recovering accountant, but despite that, I have over 20 years’ experience as a business leader in local as well as multi-national businesses in Ireland and overseas. I have been President of Galway Chamber of Commerce since 2018 and served on its Council for over 12 years.
Now more than ever we need leaders at all levels of society and business. Whether it’s a teenager leading the call to action on climate change or business leader looking to adapt an organisation to changing customer desires, society and employees look to leaders to lead.
BREXIT, climate change, artificial intelligence, Galway’s traffic and many more issues challenge us and our colleagues every day. These demand that we adapt quickly and engage with all stakeholders to make sure we can overcome these challenges.
Leading At The Edge brings world-leading experts in leadership and engagement to your desktop. It will help organisations in Galway and across Ireland set themselves up for success in the decade ahead.
Kevin Kelly
Much has happened since we launched this event in 2019. At that time, our hope was to bring a World Class Cast of Speakers to the Capital of Culture Galway in Oct 2020.
Covid 19 has put a stop to the event in person but hasn’t reduced our resolve to proceed with a Virtual equivalent on the same day.
The challenges remain the same and maybe have even deepened. There exists a serious leadership vacuum around the world from local communities to heads of states.
In our own small way, we want to shine a light on best leadership practice from across the globe and bring these insights into your office.
I believe also there is also a need for instruction, inspiration and a how to with regards our navigation away from the challenges at hand. We hope to provide same on October 07 with our range of speakers.
From selling and influencing, big picture thinking and remodelling how we do business, to working under pressure to following your passion, the speakers will provide a roadmap on how to Lead and influence in 2020 and beyond.
I look forward to you and your team being stirred, shaken and informed at our Virtual event on Wednesday, October 7th, 2020.
Contact us
Kelly Swanson
Harness the power of your story to connect, engage and get results
Kelly is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivational speaker, Huffington Post Contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television show airing on Amazon Prime.
She was a featured entertainer for Holland America Cruise Lines, keynote speaker for the International Toastmasters Convention and has keynoted major conferences and corporate events across North America.
Recognition for Kelly
Award-winning storyteller: Hollywood Advisory Board, National Parenting Publications
What you’ll learn from Kelly
How storytelling can help you engage and retain employees, lead with more impact, close more sales and differentiate your brand
What others say about Kelly
“APA’s members were mesmerised as you took over 2,000 people on a journey, which was more relevant to our theme than I could have imagined” American Payroll Association
“You have kick started something in our organization that will make a profound difference in our culture” Carolinas Healthcare
“Her ability to use storytelling to motivate and encourage a group of business professionals is remarkable” VA Bankers Association
Some of Kelly’s publications and appearances
Kelly is the author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, The Story Formula, and The Gutsy Girls Pocket Guide to Public Speaking.
She is a regular blogger and contributor to Huffington Post on storytelling and motivational speaking.
Kelly runs the Story Mastering Studio as well as workshops and camps on public speaking, presenting, and storytelling.
See Kelly in action
Find out more about Kelly
Kevin Kelly
The Art of Influence
Kevin Kelly knows the challenges and joys of the selling ideas more than most having sold across industries and cultures all his life. He packs 25 years plus of energy, enthusiasm and results into his presentations.
Kevin is a master storyteller who has worked around the world with Fortune 500 companies and prestigious associations like the Million Dollar Round Table. Kevin’s keynotes consistently deliver an interactive conversation that engages, informs, inspires and empowers attendees with a toolbox of invaluable takeaways.
He has written six books on motivation and sales as well as appearing on TV and radio in Ireland and overseas.
He lives in Furbo, County Galway with his wife Deirdre and son Conor.
Recognition for Kevin
“Working with Kevin on our Xceptional Execution Video series was a fantastic experience. He is passionate, committed, creative and cooperative. The feedback was excellent.” Microsoft
What you’ll learn from Kevin
What others say about Kevin
“Kevin’s positive thinking is infectious and entertaining. His take on sales motivation is different” Pfizer
“Kevin exceeded every hope I had when I invited him to speak to our retail sales team.” Johnson Brothers
“Kevin has the ability to engage his audience from the moment he steps into the room.” ICON
Some of Kevin’s publications
Do! The Pursuit of Xceptional Execution – highlights what makes startups and their leaders succeed against all odds.
Basics before Buzz: Managing in Challenging Times – how focusing on people – customers, employees and you – will bring success.
Get Real: Thinking and Doing Differently – 39 actions you can take now to improve competitiveness.
See Kevin in action
Find out more about Kevin
Iza Login
Big Picture thinking in a new world
Iza Login and her husband Samo founded Outfit 7 in 2009 with the aim of selling the business within seven years for $100m, enough money for them to pursue their non-profit, social agenda.
One major problem though, was that they didn’t have a product or even a clear idea about a product. Another challenge was that the global recession was really beginning to bite.
Today, over 400 million monthly active users support the apps, and Tom’s YouTube channel has more than 7 billion views. Outfit7 has seen more than 10 billion downloads. Unlike many mobile app creators, the Logins have proved adept at turning popularity into profit. In early 2016 the Logins decided to cash out – the company was sold for $1bn.
In close cooperation with her husband and sons, she has spent the last three years running the Login5 foundation, in which they endeavour to solve the most pressing problems of humanity. Login5 Foundation’s purpose is pure water, pure air and pure consciousness.
The story of how Outfit7 grew out of that recession to a €1bn business in seven years has its roots in manifestation, strong leadership, adaptability and a culture of ownership at all levels of the organisation.
It’s a story that’s relevant today as we deal with the fall-out of the pandemic and its global economic impacts. Leading through uncertainty will look at what’s needed from today’s leaders as we move from surviving to thriving.
Iza has worked for Microsoft and Novartis and ran Kali, a centre for higher quality of life. After years of project management, communication and motivation experience, her role as Deputy CEO of Outfit7 was to open the door to developing business ideas of this young company. With meticulous workflow planning, focused management of internal and external teams, she have managed to create a fertile ground for achieving outstanding business results.
Iza holds a Master’s Degree in IT from University of Ljubljana.Iza Login and her husband Samo founded Outfit 7 in 2009 with the aim of selling the business within seven years for $100m, enough money for them to pursue their non-profit, social agenda.
Paul O’Kelly
Redesigning business for a new tomorrow
Paul O’Kelly is a strategic thinking, leadership and growth strategist and coach. He works exclusively with purpose driven leaders and teams who are deeply committed to growth, positive change and making sustainable impact for good.
Paul is currently working with clients in Ireland, USA, Canada, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania and with teams globally in Asia, South America and Australia. In 2019 he designed a strategy, culture, leadership and high-performance team project which included workshops in 18 countries and 11 languages.
His early career roles included Manager of European Marketing for a Fortune 200 company. In this role he was the first employee in Europe and established a highly profitable customer base in 7 countries, production in Ireland and distribution in Europe.
He delivers his results through 1 to 1 work with the leader or the leadership team; and through larger scale and whole organisation processes. Paul has facilitated workshops with 400+ people in a room and through multiple workshops he and his teams have engaged 1,000’s of people in a single organisation. He thrives in the challenges of rapid growth, internationalisation, deeply ingrained disunity or hostility, in multicultural and multinational environments.
He was retained by Dubai Government to work with Ohio University on the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Programme for Sports Leadership Development for emerging leaders from all sectors. His coaching clients include leaders at the X Prize Foundation in Los Angeles, Generali of Italy (as part of the Generali Global Leader Accelerator Programme in association with Duke University) and other senior leaders in more than a dozen countries. His leadership coaching builds on deep insights gained in more than 30 years of sports coaching with successful individuals and teams especially in Gaelic Football.
Paul is regularly invited to speak at international events, facilitate learning workshops, share his experience at universities and schools. These include Big Business Day, Riga, Latvia; EuroGeographics European Conference, Belfast; Axor Executive Forum, Ukraine; the ALTO Global Conference, London; the Association for Coaching in Dublin, Belfast and Cork; Gazelles Four Decisions Workshops in the UK; EO New York Forum Retreat in Rejykavik, Iceland; University of Limerick, Ireland. Principal Officers Network Conference for the Houses of the Oireachtas Service, (Ireland Government).
Patrick McKeown
Concentration and focus under stress
Patrick is recognised as a foremost authority in breathing for performance and sleep. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Biology and his work has been circulated in international medical journals and by leading literary publishers.
He is breathing advisor to the Extreme Performance Training XPT programme created by American big-wave surfer, Laird Hamilton.
Patrick has worked with elite military Special Forces, SWAT, and with Olympic coaches and athletes.
He has helped tens of thousands of people worldwide who experience breathing pattern disorders, sleep disordered breathing and anxiety, and trained over 400 breathing instructors across 45 countries.
Recognition for Patrick
‘The Oxygen Advantage’ an International bestseller translated into 14 languages
What you’ll learn from Patrick
What others say about Patrick
“Using OA for the reduction of stress in SWAT and other High Stress Law Enforcement activities is what I am most interested in now and I have a lot to work with” SWAT Commander, California
Some of Patrick’s publications
The Oxygen Advantage – an Amazon bestseller
Anxiety Free – Stop Worrying and Quieten Your Mind
Sleep with Buteyko
See Patrick in action
Find out more about Patrick.
Dave Hickey
Dave Hickey is a recovering accountant, accidental salesperson and strategic business adviser based in Galway.
He currently works with organisations and businesses of all sizes to help define, develop and communicate strategies to allow them amplify their impact.
Dave has spent over 30 years working in finance, operations, strategy, marketing and sales roles with Irish and international companies in Ireland as well as overseas.
Most recently he was CEO of a local media group in Galway with print, radio and digital operations.
Dave is President of Galway Chamber of Commerce (2018-20) and has served on its Council since 2007. In this role his focus is to develop a leadership capability for the business community which challenges as well as collaborates with governments and agencies to make Galway the best place in Ireland in which to live, learn work and visit.
Previously a frequent guest on radio he has organised and presented numerous conferences and awards ceremonies.
Clare Desbonnet
Dr. Clare Desbonnet is a leader who is passionate about developing teams in order to deliver great science that meets the needs of patients. Clare has held senior director roles in Quality and Operations in AbbVie and Roche Pharmaceuticals after an early career in specialist roles in compliance, toxicology and R&D in Roche, Boston Scientific & Henkel.
After a promotion to a managerial position in 2010, Clare transitioned from delivering patents & successful projects, mainly as an individual contributor, to forming teams and nurturing individuals to deliver to their best ability. The transition from specialist to leader was enabled by Clare’s desire for learning, her drive to make a difference and her courage to pursue something new. As a member of the Roche senior leadership team from 2015 to 2020 Clare played key roles in downsizing the site in preparation for closure, continuing the business to maintain supply to patients of life saving medication, upskilling site employees for the future through LEAN and specifically leading the coaching aspect of the Lean into our Future program that allowed the site to build a learning organisation (site achievements for ‘Legacy to Lean’ through a learning organisation were recognised with an award at WIT 2019 LEAN Conference).
Clare is also an advocate for supporting women advance in their careers in science & technology. Clare received two highly commended awards for both the STEM and Employee Shining Star categories in the national Network Ireland awards in September 2019 and recently received the President’s choice award for Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year 2020 from Network Galway. Clare lives in Craughwell with her husband Mani and their three children; Cathal, Maeve and Aine.
John Breslin
John has taught electronic engineering, computer science, innovation and entrepreneurship topics during the past two decades. Associated with three SFI Research Centres, he is a Co-Principal Investigator at Confirm (Smart Manufacturing) and Insight (Data Analytics), and a Funded Investigator at VistaMilk (AgTech). He has written 200+ peer-reviewed academic publications (h-index of 41, 7100 citations, best paper awards from IoT, DL4KGS, SEMANTiCS, ICEGOV, ESWC, PELS), and co-authored the books “Old Ireland in Colour”, “The Social Semantic Web” and “Social Semantic Web Mining”. He co-created the SIOC framework, implemented in hundreds of applications (by Yahoo, Boeing, Vodafone, etc.) on at least 65,000 websites with 35 million data instances. He has featured in over 200 mainstream media items including articles from Forbes, New Scientist, Washington Post, and France 24, and has given over 50 talks and been on 20 panels at venues including Stanford, Tsinghua University, US Library of Congress, and University of Chile. John is Co-Founder of boards.ie (Ireland’s largest discussion forum website), adverts.ie (classified ads website), and StreamGlider (real-time streaming newsreader app). He has won two IIA Net Visionary Awards, and an ITAG Outstanding Contribution to the ICT Sector Award. He is an Advisor to AYLIEN, BuilderEngine and Pocket Anatomy. He is Co-Founder of the Galway City Innovation District / PorterShed and Startup Galway. John is a Non-Executive Director at WestBIC, where he serves as Chair. He also undertook the Entrepreneurship Development Program at MIT in 2017. He coordinates the STARTED Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance. He also runs the Old Ireland in Colour project, with a book forthcoming at the end of 2020.
Digital Acceleration: Tips and Tools for Individuals and Organisations
Our digital universe has accelerated rapidly over the past 15 years, from social networks to mobile, from blockchain to AI assistants. It can be difficult to navigate the vast world of digital tools available: it sometimes feels like digital is accelerating out of reach, but there are actually a broad range of accessible frameworks that can be used by both individuals and organisations and that should be known about today. John will give us an overview of what’s useful to us in everyday work, but also what’s coming down the line and things to be aware of, in a talk that is a mix of practical and futurist.
John Breslin is a Personal Professor (Personal Chair) in Electronic Engineering at the College of Science and Engineering at the National University of Ireland Galway, where he is Director of the TechInnovate / AgInnovate programmes.