In an age of digital disruption, how do you turn highly trained global teams into real drivers of business outcomes? Deborah Kops turns the question inside out and starts with a word most organizations need to stop using.

During WWII, mathematician Abraham Wald noticed something strange: the returning planes had bullet holes everywhere except the engines. What he concluded changed leadership thinking forever.

How do we stop being treated like a cost center and start being treated like a strategic partner? Upender Rao, Former GBS APAC Lead at Salesforce, asks. Deborah Kops has a surprising answer. There's a difference between being trusted with a task and being trusted with an outcome. Until companies give their global teams the authority to make real decisions and be accountable for real outcomes, nothing will change. And AI isn't going to solve it; it's going to expose it.

Want to understand life at its rawest? Try Antarctica, because nothing humbles you faster than 10,000 penguins looking at you like you’re the one who waddles funny. Here's my take after two weeks on the ice.

This week’s question comes from Candace Dingman, COO, Lifepoint Business Services, Lifepoint Health:

“Based on your experience advising and observing GBS transformations globally, what are the three non-negotiable change management strategies…”

When we were dating, I "suggested" to my (now) wife that we should take a freefall parachute jump over The Palms, in Dubai. As you can see from our photo, she would be the self-proclaimed "risk averse" one, so someone had to "go first". Here's my thoughts as to why a leader in business has to jump first!

Nothing builds character more than the quest for mulled wine!

Last weekend, we ventured into the Strasbourg Christmas Market, known as the “Capital of Christmas,”. What started out as "oh this'll be fun", turned into a resilience bootcamp, but left some leadership lessons, coupled with enough mulled wine to make even your toughest Q4 meeting seem manageable.

This week’s question comes from: LeDon Brooks, VP, Business Services Hub, Schneider Electric

“How can GBS organizations build the trust required to move beyond traditional back-office roles and operate as true strategic partners that deliver enterprise-wide value?”