Advance CEO Breakfast 2022 – Virtual Reality Empowers Inclusive Leadership

Zurich, September 27, 2022 – This year’s Advance CEO Breakfast lived up to its ambition to be truly different from any other CEO event. Upon arrival, numerous mysterious boxes were laid out on the floor, each delineated by a safe zone of three square meters. Curious glances were shed here and there, yet the secret was not revealed until the official welcome by Alkistis Petropaki, General Manager Advance, Malvika Singh, Co-Founder & Board Member of Advance and CEO Impact, and Andreas Berger, CEO Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and Board Member of Advance. – The event was kindly hosted by Swiss Re.

“Espresso shot”: Effort and commitment pay off (GIR 2022)

The energy in the room left no doubt: The Advance CEO Breakfast has become a tradition in the agendas of Advance members’ CEOs. So have the “expresso shots” with which this gathering typically kicks off. This year, it came hot off the press from the Gender Intelligence Report (GIR) – an annual research cooperation between Advance and the Competence Centre of Diversity & Inclusion (CCDI) at the University of St. Gallen (HSG).

Petra Jantzer, Advance President and Senior Managing Director Accenture, presented the key insights from the Gender Intelligence Report 2022 and their implications for leadership. For the first time, the report compared sector performance in female pipeline management – with suprising results: The glass ceiling can be broken as demonstrated by the MEM (metal, electrical and machinery) industry and the Pharma/Med-tech sector. What are the best-in-class industries doing differently?

Gender diversity success factors according to GIR 2022
The study reveals the following as the top three success drivers: 1) anchoring both diversity and inclusion in the corporate strategy, 2) setting inclusion goals for managers, 3) gender-equitable talent management across all levels, educational backgrounds and age groups.
Find the report here

Actionable take-aways and commitment take more than theory. Thus, immersion followed suite in the shape of a science-based learning experience, enabled by innovative VR (virtual reality) technology. The program has been tailor-made for this C-level audience by Advance in cooperation with technology partner wondder.

CEOs Teleported into the body of a woman in Business

CEOs went through the experience of typical business situations in the body of a woman. Scenes include a senior female leader who spends the first day in her new role on the executive board of a company. She is the first and only women on the board. Living this was certainly a new experience especially for the male CEOs among the guests. The female CEOs were indispensible for the reflection following the VR-journey.

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Outcome: CEOs Playbook of inclusive leadership

The experience was debriefed in breakout groups, each focusing on a specific topic such as for instance ‘succession planning’, ‘C-suite meetings’ or ‘ client meetings’. CEOs identified concrete actions they can take to mitigate bias and role model inclusive leadership behaviors. – The result is a co-created playbook of inclusive leadership as a shared outcome, complemented by individual commitments in writing.

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CEO Breakfast 2023: Save the Date

Our next CEO Breakfast will take place on Friday, September 29. This event is exclusive to CEOs of Advance member companies.

thank you to our host!

GAllery

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Let’s break the glass ceiling together!

Get insights on gender diversity development in Swiss Business plus the tools for inclusive leadership and gender-equitable talent management.
Gender Intelligence Report 2022