Pink suits and ice-breakers: what we learned at CMI Communities Live, Birmingham

When you openly share knowledge, experiences and ideas, you can tackle even the biggest problems. That’s the philosophy behind CMI’s Communities Live series of events, held in person and streamed live online.

Here’s an example. The workplace is evolving at a phenomenal pace. As industries adapt to new challenges in technology and the workforce, how can leaders thrive, rather than struggling to keep up? 

This was the focus of the latest Communities Live event, held in Birmingham in March. 

The event, titled ‘Future-proofing Leadership: Adapting to change in a fast-moving world’, saw CMI members gather at Arden University’s Birmingham Crossways Campus, together with key faculty figures, to address the skills gap, the impact it’s having on individuals and businesses, and what good preparation for the future really looks like. 

Watch on demand: CMI Communities Live, Birmingham

Back to the future

After an introduction by Ann Francke OBE, CMI’s chief executive, the audience was treated to a warm and inspiring fireside chat between Dr Heather Melville OBE CMgr CCMI and Byron Dixon OBE CMgr CCMI, founder of Micro-Fresh, a leading freshness technology provider. 

Byron made an often overlooked point: that future-proofing is not all about looking ahead. Past learnings can be an invaluable resource, too. 

• Read more: six things we learned at CMI Communities Live, Middlesbrough

“Mentorship has played a huge role,” he said of his impressive career. “I have a lot of friends, who are now about 70, who were around when I was 25. They guided me. They’re still guiding me. I bounce ideas off them on all sorts of things.”

Byron went on to explain how he’d gone from growing up on housing estates in Leicester in the 1970s to being an early alumnus of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses scheme – and now CEO of a global brand with offices in 13 countries. Even today, he’s still getting leadership advice from people who are more experienced. 

“We have an advisory board at Micro-Fresh,” he added. “They’ve been where I want to go. As I’m going forward, it’s like an ice-breaker at the North Pole. You don’t know what’s in front of you. But if someone’s there saying ‘Come towards me’, it makes things much easier.”  

Startling speed

With the conclusion of the fireside chat, personal branding expert and event host Dr Tru Powell returned to the stage (in a striking “CMI pink” suit) to introduce a Communities Live panel discussion on the skills gap and AI. 

The speed of technological change is startling. Ethical questions surrounding AI are creating resistance among some organisations. Yet our panellists pointed out that young people are using the technology, whether managers like it or not. And without AI, the UK risks failing to achieve the productivity it needs to compete in future. 

For people to future-proof their careers in the AI era, they’ll need to learn to use their brain together with the technology and all it offers. It is leaders’ responsibility to enable this for their teams.