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Developed to engage and inform, Duke CE’s Executive Edge Roundtable Series leverages Duke Corporate Education’s extensive network of experts and client executives for a dynamic, candid conversation that promises a deep-dive into the issues and challenges facing leadership today.

David Welsh

Hosted by David Welsh, Duke CE’s Regional Managing Director of North America, each episode puts a single topic (e.g. strategy, leadership, etc.) into the hot seat, as our guests analyze current approaches, debate methods and philosophies, and share their own personal perspectives and experiences against the backdrop of current events.

Through these roundtable discussions, Duke CE delivers relevant, insightful conversations exploring the challenges facing leaders today, delivering the guidance you need to maintain your Edge.

On-Demand Executive Edge Episodes

Decision Making in Complex Environments

Kelly Wojda

Kelly Wojda
Global Learning & Development Director
Caterpillar

Chris Arvin

Chris Arvin
Manager of Executive Leadership Development
Caterpillar

Karen Pippin

Karen Pippin
Executive Pipeline Development Program Manager
Caterpillar

Robert Lippert, PhD
Clinical Professor, MBA and Executive MBA Programs
Emory University

In the first week of March 2020, the signals around the impact of a pandemic hitting the United States had not yet affected the broader business industry or financial markets. At that moment, in a country of 325 million people, 500 were infected, and 22 lives had been lost. It was still very possible that the United States, which had previously leveraged science, data and governance to avoid maximum impact in prior pandemics, would successfully contain the virus.

It was in this vacuum of information that the executive team at Caterpillar flexed their agility and decision-making skills, leading on the edge by halting the rollout of an organization-wide learning and development program. In this episode of Executive Edge, we will delve into the levers the team pulled in making those early decisions with shifting data and conflicting reports and we will discuss how the program was refined and rolled out digitally to develop those same skills in a new generation of leaders at Caterpillar.

Strategy is Broken: Tectonic Acceleration

Ted Fleming

Ted Fleming
Head of Talent Development
CVS Health

Colonel Kevin W. Farrell, PhD

Colonel Kevin W. Farrell, PhD
CEO
Battlefield Leadership, LLC

Ryan McManus

Ryan McManus
CEO and Founder
Techtonic

In early 2020, the COVID-19 virus ripped across the globe, causing disruption on a scale never seen. Markets tumbled, supply chains fell apart, business models collapsed and global leadership suffered.

Tectonic shifts typically occurring over years jolted organizations in the span of mere weeks, highlighting a painful truth: reliance on outdated strategic frameworks will not protect firms from existential risk. In a context of disruption, hyper-acceleration and exponential change, incremental approaches are not sufficient.

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