Leadership Exchange on Rethink risk 

Convening influential leaders to discuss risk and how we respond to it

June - September

On 30 June and 29 September 2021, over 50 diverse and engaged minds from a range of backgrounds gathered virtually to discuss something that’s impacted all of us: risk. We spent an active morning listening, learning and collaborating. We heard from Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Senior Fire Officer, with her personal and academic reflections on risk, and Matthew Syed, Author, thinker, and expert on high performance on how to harness learnings from our pandemic response and apply them in our new and different world.

The group, as part of our Rethink risk leadership exchange series, held open discussions and debates around the role of leaders, organisations and society in preparing for, and responding to risk, collaboratively developing and testing a pragmatic agenda for action.

“The risk landscape is evolving at a pace we’ve never seen before. We are all having to rethink the risks we face and how we approach them.”

Sam SamaratungaHead of Risk, PwC

How we can work together to drive real change

Perspectives from the community

We need to move from static risk registers and instead ask people what keeps them up at night. You then get a list of important challenges linked to your business strategy.

The pandemic has enabled us to be more agile and changed the mindset where people are willing to take a bit more risk.

Recent changes to the way we work, prompted by the pandemic, have the potential to play a fundamental role in addressing the inequalities we see as a nation.

People are a huge part of resilient supply chains. It’s important to consider the conditions needed to attract talent, and manage succession planning for an ageing workforce.

Agenda for action

Over the course of two sessions, we heard from our clients how they would like to come together and drive real change, and how they plan to address the biggest challenges facing organisations and leaders at present. Our agenda for action was co-created by this Leadership Exchange community, shaped directly from the client insights and contributions. As a community, we all have agreed to champion the risk agenda.

Our risk focus has shifted.

We have a greater understanding of risk on a personal, organisational and societal level.

Build a new risk culture.

We should encourage a risk culture that enables people to be curious, speak up, innovate and learn new things.

Harness positive changes.

Let’s build on the positives from the past 18 months, such as collaboration, greater agility, and a focus on our purpose.

“We're faced with complex and interconnected challenges. In response, we must recognise the importance of having diversity of thought and opinions, so we can work together to build a growth mindset.”

Sarah Isted Risk Management Partner

The opportunities and challenges facing individuals, organisations and society as we move into the post pandemic world are complex and interconnected, but exciting ones for us to tackle. Our agenda for action is a powerful thought leadership series, setting out pragmatic advice for leaders in addressing risk. Take a 'reset on risk' by reading the articles below to help set the scene for rethinking the risk agenda.

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Contact us

Andy Woodfield

Andy Woodfield

Partner, PwC United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 7804 3750

Sarah Isted

Sarah Isted

Risk Management Partner, PwC United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)7834 251939

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