Executives around the world are scrambling to cope with a tsunami of crises: a global pandemic, shattered economies, trillions in debt, and more. Yet there’s a specific group of people who can single handedly make—or break—your organization’s response to it all: the board. Best-in-class boards create the agility to adapt to rapid growth, looming recessions, and unexpected shocks. But broken boards, or those that are simply inefficient, create environments where failures and scandals easily take hold (think: Boeing, Volkswagen, and FIFA). Today, this risk of disaster is tenfold.

Professor Cossin is the founder and director of the IMD Global Board Center, the originator of the Four Pillars of Board Effectiveness methodology and an advocate of Stewardship. He is the author and co-author of books such as Inspiring Stewardship, book chapters (such as Governance Risk: A Guide for Investors) and many articles in the fields of governance, investments, risks and stewardship, several of which have obtained citations of excellence or other awards.

He works with owners, boards and senior leaders to provide the latest thinking on best-in-class governance, board effectiveness, the governance and selection of investments, board dynamics and strategy design. He favors an adaptive and interactive approach to finding distinctive solutions for organizations on a wide range of governance topics. His latest research focuses on stewardship, how we can foster organizations to have long-term positive social impact while creating economic value for all. His past research has dealt with optimizing governance in critical decision making, M&As and risks.

Carlos is a keynote speaker, author, and organization development professional with over 30 years of experience supporting global corporations, including Mars, Inc., and IBM. He has written two books on teamwork: “Lessons from Mars: How One Global Company Cracked the Code on High Performance Collaboration and Teamwork”; and “Virtual Teams: Holding the Center When You Can’t Meet Face-to-Face.” Both books are based on original research Carlos conducted during his 17 years as an internal consultant at Mars, where he worked with iconic brands such as M&M’s, Snickers, and Wrigley’s gum.

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE. The son of a United States Marine, Brian is an international trainer, TEDx presenter and consultant, he specializes in applying the science of influence in everyday business situations. Brian is one of only 20 individuals in the world who currently holds the Cialdini Method Certified Trainer designation. This specialization was earned directly from Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. – the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.