Richard Hytner is a leadership expert and facilitator of candid, creative interactions between leaders. He is the former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, a creative powerhouse in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and for eight years, its Worldwide Deputy Chair.
It was in that role that he made two discoveries: that he was a significantly more effective contributor to leadership as a deputy than an as the ultimately accountable leader (the focus of his acclaimed book, Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows); and that Creativity has so much more power to transform a business when practised in the Boardroom, not delegated those with a presumed and exclusive gift for it.
Richard speaks at and facilitates experiences around both themes – Leading beyond the Leader and Creativity in Business. He works with leadership teams to equip them with the confidence and courage to have candid conversations, interactions and ideas that will lead to individual and team outperformance.
Richard has done this in diverse contexts for global auditors, world-class academics, risk advisors, religious leaders, producers, police officers, fashion designers and commercial innovators.
He teaches what he practices in degree and executive education courses at London Business School, where he has been an Adjunct Professor since 2011.
Richard has also contributed his leadership and creative expertise to not-for-profits, including the British Heart Foundation, Planting Promise, a sustainable educational enterprise in Sierra Leone, Shop & Drop, his wife’s bespoke service designed to eliminate shortfalls in foodbank essentials, and the Foundation for Leadership through Sport, of which he is a director.
He co-founded Shareholders United Against Murdoch when Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB tried to buy Manchester United and remains Honorary President of the entity it became – Manchester United Supporters Trust.
The truth is that leadership commentary often underestimates the complexity of leadership and the specific context in which leaders are forming judgments, making decisions, and implementing them. It also underplays the vitally important supporting actors in the daily business drama. Richard argues that whether a team can compete and ultimately meet and beat its ambition will depend directly on how its members behave with each other, how they agree, disagree, and make choices together, and how they allocate responsibilities, often transcending experience and role. Richard’s talk offers insights and practical, immediate action to take.
Creativity is not an abstract concept. Nor is it for an exclusive minority of those who ‘have a gift for it’. It is a way to think through problems and to do things differently. And it is way too important to delegate to a division, department, or team of unaccountable dreamers. Creativity requires a motivated team equipped with the conviction and skills to create. This talk will give you these.
