Six huge stories from CMI's 2019 President's Dinner

16 May 2019 -

CMI’s new royal patron; Management Book of the Year; CMgr of the Year; Lifetime Achievement and Gold Medal winners; Management 4.0 launch. What a night!

CMI Insights

CMI members, partners, staff and guests came together for a special night at Kensington Palace. The sun shone, and some major developments were announced:

The CEO Next Door wins Management Book of the Year

A collection of myth-busting and counter-intuitive insights about what it takes to get ahead was named ‘CMI Management Book of the Year’.

The CEO Next Door by Elena Botelho, Kim Powell and Tahl Raz (published by Penguin Random House) was named overall winner – and winner in the Practical Manager category – at the annual President’s Dinner, hosted by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

The book draws on the biggest dataset of CEOs in the world – in-depth analysis of 2,600 leaders, drawn from a ghSMART database of 17,000 CEOs, as well as 13,000 hours of interviews. The judges said that it the book helps you discover the way actual CEOs of top companies think and behave, and the kind of traits to develop if you want to make your ambitions a reality and take your career right to the top.

The Management Book of the Year is organised by the Chartered Management Institute in association with the British Library and is sponsored by Henley Business School. The objective is to search for books that inspire and inform both existing and aspiring managers.

Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex appointed CMI patron

The President’s Dinner was enhanced by the presence of Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex who has succeeded His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh will be succeeded as CMI’s patron. The Duke of Edinburgh provided CMI with 50 years’ service, after becoming Royal patron in 1969.

The Countess of Wessex is an active supporter of UK industry, and in particular works to promote the role of women in the workplace. In addition to her work with the CMI, Her Royal Highness also works closely with Women’s Network Forum, which aims to promote gender equality across UK businesses, and is Chair of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Women in Business Group.

Ann Francke, CMI’s chief executive, said: “The Countess is a tireless supporter of UK business and workplace diversity, and I am honoured that she will become the CMI’s new Royal Patron. With The Countess’s support we will continue our efforts to inspire UK managers to become better managers, particularly when it comes to the advancement of inclusive leadership.”

Matt Carr wins new Chartered Manager of the Year award

A new award for Chartered Manager of the Year was presented at CMI’s President’s Dinner, and the inaugural winner was Matt Carr, director of business administration at Dulwich College International, who set up a new college in Shanghai, China, in ten months flat. You can read about the former submarine officer’s impressive and innovative approaches to management in the next edition of CMI’s Professional Manager magazine.

McKinsey UK managing partner Dame Vivian Hunt is CMI Gold Medal winner

Dame Vivian Hunt DBE CCMI, a senior partner for McKinsey & Company and managing partner for its UK and Ireland offices, was named CMI Gold Medal winner. She has previously been named one of the Powerlist Foundation’s top ten most influential black people in Britain. The Financial Times named her one of the 30 most influential people in London. In 2018, she was awarded a DBE for her services to the economy and women in business. In her acceptance speech, she called on all managers to be “professional and progressive”. We’ll be reporting on her speech in detail later today.

Julia Unwin presented with CMI Lifetime Achievement award

The trailblazing public and voluntary sector leader Julia Unwin was named CMI’s Lifetime Achievement award winner. In a remarkable career, she was been CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and is currently chair of the independent inquiry on the future of civil society. She gave a riveting speech, and spoke of her belief that leadership is a skill and that “learning how to do it is never over.” Again, we’ll be sharing more of her thoughts on this channel.

Management 4.0 launched

Finally, CMI president Bruce Carnegie-Brown officially launched ‘Management 4.0’, which he described as “a national conversation about what management and leadership will look like in the fourth industrial revolution.”

“In a workplace transformed by technology, new patterns of work and the rise of new and disruptive business models, what skills will the next generation of managers and leaders need? How will businesses and government rise to the challenge of re-skilling and retraining workers? And what will great management and leadership look like in a digital world?”

These are questions that CMI will be asking in collaboration with managers and partners up and down the country. CMI has published a discussion paper setting out the research areas in more detail, and is seeking your input on the direction of the project. Events and consultation will run throughout 2019, building up to the launch of a major report in 2020. Please keep an eye out for opportunities to get involved – and join the conversation!