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CONTENT GUIDE

20-21 october 2025

PLENARY SESSION

20 OCTOBER 2025

Leadership 2030: Navigating Influence, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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  • Professor Jonatan Pinkse  

    Jonatan Pinkse is Professor of Sustainable Business and the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Business at King's Business School. 

    His passion is sustainability, strategy, and innovation. He is a regular speaker on topics related to strategy and innovation for net-zero and sustainability, business model innovation for disruption, the green transition, cross-sector partnerships, and digital platforms. 

    In his research, Jonatan analyses how firms make strategic decisions to create a sustainable economy and deal with tensions between issues and actors. He investigates opportunities and barriers for firms to adopt disruptive and sustainable technologies from cognitive, organizational, and institutional perspectives. 

    Jonatan has authored more than 60 scholarly and practitioner articles in journals such as the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management Studies, Research Policy, Journal of International Business Studies, Organization Studies, California Management Review, Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 

    In 2020, he was included in the prestigious Highly Cited Researcher list, and in 2023, in the Stanford University list of the top 2 per cent of the world's scientists. Before moving to London, he held positions at the University of Manchester, Universiteit van Amsterdam, and Grenoble Ecole de Management. 

    He is deputy editor for the journal Organization & Environment and has edited numerous special issues. He is theme lead of Social, environmental & technological transitions of the ESRC-funded The Productivity Institute. 

  • Moderator: Dr. Gillian Brooks 

    Panellists:

    • Dr. Declan Woods, Professor of Leadership Practice at King's Business School

    • Aekta Mahajan Patel, Executive Fellow at King’s Business School.

    • Juan Diego Du Bois, Customer Growth Associate - Google Customer Solutions (GCS)

    Dr. Declan Woods is a Professor of Leadership Practice at King's Business School, designing and delivering innovative executive development programmes for c-suite clients. He is a Chartered and HCPC-Registered Psychologist, accredited Master Coach, and trained team coach. He has a Master of Education degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of Cambridge, an Executive MBA from Warwick University and an Executive MA in change consulting from INSEAD.  

    Aekta Mahajan Patel is an Executive Fellow at King’s Business School. She is the Global Head of Venture Capital at the Department for International Trade. In 2012, Aekta was selected as one of Management Today’s “35 Women Under 35” list. More recently she was featured in the TimeWise Power list.

    Juan Diego Du Bois has rejoined Google's EMEA Headquarters in Dublin as a Customer Growth Associate, helping Spanish small-to-medium-sized businesses grow through Google Ads advisory. He recently graduated with First Class Honours in Business Management from King’s College London, where he completed a placement year at The Walt Disney Company’s Destinations division and a semester abroad at The Wharton School of Business. Originally from Peru, Juan Diego has long been passionate about using leadership for social impact, such as founding a social organisation that raised over $75K to deliver more than 183,000 meals to 2,000 families in the Peruvian community of Manchay. With leadership training from both King’s and Wharton, and experience within tech and media, he is eager to share how today’s graduates are shaping the future of leadership in an AI-driven world.

    • Digital Disruption – How will emerging technologies redefine service delivery and guest engagement? 

    • The Resurgence of Sustainability – How will environmental and social responsibility (again) become central to luxury value propositions? 

    • Political Fragmentation – How will geopolitical shifts and regulatory divergence create new complexities for global operations? 

    • Understand how emerging technologies are transforming guest expectations and service models in luxury hospitality and events. 

    • Evaluate the renewed importance of sustainability in shaping future luxury value propositions and brand loyalty. 

    • Identify key leadership skills needed to navigate geopolitical complexity and drive innovation in a fragmented global landscape. 

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MASTERCLASS SESSIONS

20 OCTOBER 2025

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WORKSHOPS

20 OCTOBER 2025

What makes you a resilient leader?

  • Professor Jonatan Pinkse & Dr. Gillian Brooks

  • This workshop is designed to help leaders shift their approach to managing competing demands and tensions. Rather than viewing tensions as constraints or unsolvable dilemmas, participants will be introduced to the concept of “both/and thinking”, a mindset that embraces paradox and sees opportunity in complexity. Through a structured and hands-on exercise, participants will learn how to move from a reactive stance to a creative one, developing the ability to stay comfortable with competing demands. By reframing tensions as sources of innovation, leaders will discover how to unlock new possibilities and enhance their problem-solving and strategic thinking skills.

Leading Through Tension: Reframing Competing Demands as Opportunities

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  • Professor Jonatan Pinkse & Dr. Gillian Brooks

  • This interactive workshop invites participants to identify and reflect on the core attributes of resilient leadership. Using a dynamic and engaging format, participants will take sides and defend their views on which leadership qualities they believe are most essential for navigating the future of the luxury hospitality sector. Through structured, playful debate, they will gain a deeper appreciation of diverse perspectives and develop a clearer understanding of the leadership skills they need to cultivate. The session is designed to spark critical thinking, foster dialogue, and encourage personal reflection on what it means to lead with resilience in a rapidly changing industry.

PLENARY SESSION

21 OCTOBER 2025

Power Across the Top: Architecting Executive Teams

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  • Dr. Marc Lepere

    Marc is a Professor of Practice in Sustainability in the Banking & Finance department at King’s Business School, King's College London, where he leads Executive Education on ESG & Sustainability. He is an Economics graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and holds a Master of Science degree from King’s. Marc has published in leading journals including Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Financial Times and Discovering Truth (series 1) which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. 

    In addition to his roles in academia, Marc is also an entrepreneur and social entrepreneur. In 2021, he founded ESGgen which builds on his doctoral research. ESGgen is a new online accounting platform, purpose built for SMEs. It is designed to make it easy, fast and affordable for SMEs to get annual, assured ESG data and accounts in line with International Accounting Standards (to complement financial accounts). Marc has served as Chief Marketing Officer for Havas Worldwide; Executive Vice President for McCann Erickson WorldGroup and Deputy Chairman of Dentsu in Europe, Middle East and Africa. 

  • As climate risks rapidly evolve into immediate operational and financial challenges, executive teams must lead with sharper alignment, faster response, and deeper strategic foresight

    • Learn how climate risks are becoming operational and financial risks  - faster than companies realise. 

    • Discover how to protect long-term value from climate risks whilst addressing short-term financial pressures. 

    • Understand how to manage teams to design, and deliver, well-designed sustainability initiatives that can enhance customer/guest experience and revenue, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and lower operating costs. 

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MASTERCLASS SESSIONS

21 OCTOBER 2025

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WORKSHOPS

21 OCTOBER 2025

Building psychological safety to manage wicked problems

  • Dr. Marc Lepere & Dr. Gillian Brooks

  • This workshop is designed to help hospitality/event CEOs, CFOs and GMs understand how hospitality investors, insurers, and lenders expect climate disclosures to meet the same standards as financial statements. By mapping risks and opportunities and working with a case study, executive learn how climate-related risks are reshaping business priorities and how well-architected teams can protect long-term value whilst addressing short-term financial pressures.

Understand how climate reporting is financial reporting

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  • Dr. Marc Lepere & Dr. Gillian Brooks

  • This workshop is designed explicitly for hospitality/event team leaders responsible for delivering luxury guest experiences. Through practical exercises, individual reflection and group discussion team leaders learn strategies to manage wicked-problems by cultivating team trust, resilience, and performance without compromising guest experience.

SPEAKERS & PANELISTS

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    Dr. Gillian Brooks

    Associate Dean, Executive Education Programme Director, Executive MBA

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    Dr. Mladen Adamovic

    Reader in Leadership & Global Management

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    Dr. Alexandra Budjanovcanin

    Programme Director, Professional and Executive Education Deputy Director, Public Policy and Management MSc

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    Dr. Dana Minbaeva

    Professor of Strategic Human Capital

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    Dr. Robyn Klingler-Vidra

    Vice Dean, Global Engagement

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    Aekta Mahajan Patel

    Executive Fellow at King’s Business School.

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    Dr. Declan Woods

    Professor of Leadership Practice at King's Business School

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    Juan Diego Du Bois

    Customer Growth Associate - Google Customer Solutions (GCS)

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    Professor Jonatan Pinkse

    Professor of Sustainable Business & Director of the Centre for Sustainable Business

  • A middle-aged man wearing glasses, a light blue shirt, and a brown jacket looks to the side with a thoughtful expression.

    Dr. Marc Lepere

    Executive Fellow of Kings College London & Fellow of the Higher Education Academy