UNLEASH America 2024: 10 leaders tell us ‘this is what courageous leadership means today’

As we wrap up 2024, it’s time to reflect on the trends that have shaped the HR and HR tech world this year. At UNLEASH, we’re proud to be at the heart of this evolving industry, creating moments that inspire, inform, and ignite action.

That’s why we’re sharing this video trend roundup—a nod to the conversations and innovations that defined the year.

But this isn’t just about looking back; it’s about looking forward.

We’re thrilled for our next opportunity to unite HR leaders and innovators at UNLEASH America 2025 from May 6-8, and share our mission of being the most loved HR and HR tech marketplace in the world 🌎.

What has leadership looked like to your business and teams?

In this video package, we tackle the topic of leadership, and the trend of it moving from command to collaboration.

CEOs and CPOs told us this year that this transition often requires courage – for both the positive, and negative challenges that come our way.

There have certainly been any number of issues throughout 2024 that have called for leadership qualities to come to the fore. With the ever-increasing pace of technological development, ongoing disagreements about where work takes place and a laser focus on improving productivity, employees are hard pressed from numerous angles.

This is where courageous leadership from HR and management figures comes to the fore; but this can take many forms, dependent on the individuals, circumstances and nuances of any given situation.

At UNLEASH America 2024, the UNLEASH Editorial team set about asking different HR leader speakers from the International Festival of HR: What does courageous leadership mean to you?

As you might expect, UNLEASH heard a variety of answers from speakers, ranging from the optimistic and proactive, to the grounded and realistic.

Keynote speaker and world-renowned leadership expert, Dr Kirstin Ferguson, explained that to her it means “standing up for what you believe in, even in the face of pressure not to do so,” recommending to “start small” with something that isn’t working the way it should and finding an opportunity to start the conversation in a courageous way.

Professor of International Economics at Brown University, Mark Blyth, took a different view, stating that often courageous leadership is seen as a response to “figuring out that they’ve been caught in the wrong side of something.”

Meanwhile, George Rogers, Chief Culture Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory, tells UNLEASH about his acronym for great leadership, PEACE: Purpose, Empathetic, Adaptable, Conductors of Chaos, and Engagement.

So when I say courageous leader, they light up the room, they provide peace to everybody that they’re around,” Rogers explains.

What does courageous leadership mean to you? How do you see that in your day-to-day?

Join us – UNLEASH America 2025

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