Russell Beck

With a rich and diverse background of experience spanning continents and industries Russell has led billion-dollar engineering projects, been European Head of Talent for Yahoo! and Managing Director of a £120 million turnover outsourcing business. He works with organisations delivering keynotes, interactive workshops and bespoke development programmes helping them make sense of and prepare for the future.

“The pace of change has never been this fast…. and yet it will never be this slow again.”

Today’s world is more complex and uncertain than ever before with threats and opportunities coming at us seemingly overnight and from places we least expect. Leading is hard at the best of times, but today’s leaders must tackle an increasingly complex range of issues, seeking to maintain strategic focus whilst facing a multitude of distractions from talent acquisition and retention, hybrid work environments, future skills, innovation, creativity, sustainability…. The list seems endless, yet failing to address any of these can lead to missed opportunities, a disengaged workforce and a loss of competitive edge.

Faced with rapid changes in technology, globalization, demography and shifting customer demands, standing still is not an option. To navigate this maze, leaders must prepare for a future that is both uncertain, but one that is certain to happen. It is all up in the air, it is happening to all of us, and it is all happening at once.

Russell Beck is your trusted navigator in this ever-evolving landscape. Author of the leadership book of the year – ‘The world of work to 2030’ – and a highly successful business leader, he brings a rich tapestry of experience spanning continents and industries. Lifting you out of your echo chamber, Russell joins the dots, offering practical advice, challenge and solutions that helps leaders future-proof their organisations and unlock the full potential of their people. Through inspiring keynotes, interactive workshops and bespoke consultancy services, he empowers you to take tangible action and drive transformative change.

Russell’s most popular keynotes include:

The Future of Work – The Reality of the Changing World

‘The pace of chance has never been this fast…. and it will never be this slow again.’  We all know the world is changing, but we do not realise quite how much or how fast it is actually changing.  We live in our echo chambers and assume that what we experience on a day-to-day basis is the same as that experienced by everyone else.  It isn’t.  Based on his award-winning book, in this session Russell will lift you out of your echo chamber, challenging your preconceptions and exposing you to the reality of the changing world.  And once exposed, we can start to answer the all-important question…. ‘So what?!’

The Future of Work – Skills and Capability

The headlines are unanimous; technology is redefining work and placing a use-by date on many of the skills businesses have acquired.  For individuals the story is starker, with the (promised) imminent threat of the destruction of millions of jobs.  For both parties, what is the truth?  Going forward, what skills will businesses value in their people?  From a human perspective, we can’t beat the machines, so how do we future proof our careers?  In this session, Russell will share key takeaways to help leaders consider the future business landscape and prepare for what is coming next.  He will discuss the impact of AI and technology on work; he will show the skills organisations will most need in the future and he will help us understand how to remain relevant and thrive in this ever-changing environment.

The Future of Work – Attracting, Retaining and Inspiring the Best Talent

Today’s economic reality is that those with “talent” absolutely have a choice on where they choose to work. Employee demands have changed, and business needs a different approach if it wants to attract, retain and engage the people they need to survive and thrive.  Based upon his award-winning book, in this session Russell will showcase his 7C’s © model to help you explore what creative and pragmatic steps you can take, beyond compensation, to make your offer more conscious and real, enabling you to truly be a destination employer.

Authentic Leadership

Self-awareness has been cited as the most important capability for leaders to develop.  We all influence those around us, but due to their seniority, leaders of any group often have a greater influence than those lower down the hierarchy.  In this session, Russell will challenge and make conscious what you are signalling to others as being acceptable and how consistent you are being.  It will raise your self-awareness, it will challenge your beliefs around your personal brand and overall will enable you to become a more authentic leader.

The Generation Game – The Challenges and Opportunities of a Multi-Generational Workforce

There are five generations actively in the workplace today, giving the potential for co-workers to be separated in age by 50 years or more.  Stereotypes are rife and contain grains of truth, but we forget we are each a member of a generation and we are each more than the stereotypes suggest.  In this session Russell will look at the generations and through a variety of lenses make sense of their behaviours and attitudes.  He will then consider where the potential strengths of each generation lie, how to motivate them and, from this, where the potential sources of inter-generational conflict may arise.