Back2Better: Behind Video Walls: Communicating Strategy with Humanity with James Ashton

James Ashton

The pandemic has pushed communication skills to the forefront like never before. CEOs must communicate strategy with humanity and reinforce the power of collective endeavour as workforces continue to operate remotely. They must do so from behind “video walls,” as one CEO put it recently.

As the business world seeks to regain some semblance of normality, leadership will not. The leaders who will thrive are the “Humans” who listen carefully, admit mistakes, communicate authentically and take seriously their duty of care for colleagues.

Join us as financial journalist James Ashton defines nine types of leaders encountered in his 20+ years of journalism. Meet the Alpha, the Campaigner, the Fixer, the Lover and more. Discover their methods and motivations, where they fit—and occasions when they don’t. Which type are you? James will share:

  • how leaders can develop more Human characteristics
  • the decline of Alphas
  • what charity leaders can teach corporate leaders and vice versa
  • the rise of Sellers and how promoting soap powder and shampoo created a golden generation of CEOs

James Ashton is a UK-based financial journalist, speaker and consultant. He was City Editor and Executive Editor of the London Evening Standard and Independent titles, City Editor of the Sunday Times and has written for the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Scotsman and Reuters. Today he writes widely on business, technology and leadership and hosts his own podcast, Leading with James Ashton.

back2better speakers 2021 april 28th

About Back2Better

We are excited to partner up with Executive Networks to bring an exclusive collection of new resources for navigating change through the Back2Better webinar series, which includes 50 Webinars in 50 Weeks. The series officially kicked off in September 2020 and focuses on real-time actionable insights from the world’s top business leaders, academics, and HR thought leaders that help organizations adapt and evolve to the new future of work.

A catalyst for deeper exploration of the world of work, Back2Better is a platform for community knowledge-sharing that will help prepare forward-thinking organizations and their leaders to evolve and grow in the months to come. Through informative webinars delivered over the course of 50 weeks, this program covers timely topics selected moment to moment through a process informed by Executive Network member surveys, research from the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, and insights from an esteemed advisory board. This is your opportunity to explore how you can adapt to the future of HR post-COVID with leading business professionals from Harvard, NYU, Amazon, and other top institutions and organizations.

Share this article:

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest and greatest ideas in business, management, and thought leadership.

*mandatory field

Thinkers50 will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide news, updates, and marketing. Please confirm that you agree to have us contact you by clicking below:


You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at . We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please visit our website. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Privacy Policy Update

Thinkers50 Limited has updated its Privacy Policy on 28 March 2024 with several amendments and additions to the previous version, to fully incorporate to the text information required by current applicable date protection regulation. Processing of the personal data of Thinkers50’s customers, potential customers and other stakeholders has not been changed essentially, but the texts have been clarified and amended to give more detailed information of the processing activities.

Thinkers50 Awards Gala 2023

Join us in celebration of the best in business and management thinking.