Cristiana Falcone: press release interview

Let’s talk about innovation, leadership and ethics with Cristiana Falcone at her recent talk at 4YFN – 4 Years From Now – held in Barcelona. The central theme of the event, moderated by David McClelland, was the long-term success of entrepreneurs and business leaders. The blueprint for real stable and lasting business success was well illustrated by Larry Fink, co-founder and chairman of the financial giant BlackRock, in his recent letter to CEOs – Cristiana Falcone explains. “To be successful in the long run, it is essential that customer relationships are based on the “purpose” of the businesses. A CEO can achieve the purpose through a consistent voice to clearly communicate the ultimate purpose of the business, and ensure the implementation of a cohesive strategy based on long-term values and vision. These ingredients will inspire and engage the stakeholders that companies rely on to generate profits for shareholders.”

Formula for complex:

“The formula for complex companies and organizations to succeed over the long term was outlined by Larry Fink, co-founder Chairman of financial giant BlackRock, in his recent letter to CEOs – as Cristiana Falcone reports and points out. “To be successful in the long run, it is essential that the market focus and interaction with clients be based on ‘purpose.’ A CEO can only achieve the purpose if the company has a clear and shared strategy if it looks to the long term, and if it creates value. These ingredients will inspire and engage the stakeholders that companies rely on to generate profits for shareholders.”

“But not only that,” Falcone continues, “the pandemic has accelerated digital evolution; the virtual environment on which everyone’s life and companies’ business has shifted has necessitated momentous changes.  No sector has escaped the transformation processes induced by the fourth industrial revolution–based on moreover sustainable technologies–making it necessary also for a step change in leadership models, in essence toward empathetic and ethical leadership.”

And right on this issue, Cristiana Falcone, in collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy of the Pontifical Lateran University, launched Ethical Leadership Lab, a workshop on ethical leadership that interprets the foundations of philosophy in a current key addressed the issues of sustainability, transparency, valuing people, and ‘artificial intelligence.

“We started with Aristotle. “Ethics in the Time of the 4th Industrial Revolution and Aristotle 4.0″ was the first of the workshop conversations.  Then Kant, and finally Mill. The Lab was the privileged place where guests and participants, starting from the main values inspired by philosophy, discussed real situations, experiences, failures, and successes, thus considering the current challenges that companies and individual professionals face today. Challenges that are basically two,” Cristiana Falcone emphasized, “one concerns the fourth industrial revolution, dictated by technological evolution further accelerated by the pandemic; the other concerns sustainability in the round, that is, environmental, social, and corporate governance. In other words, how a company and the context in which it operates look at profit, the planet, and people. For companies, this is a new approach to stakeholders rather than solely to shareholders.”

“People with different experiences, roles, and cultures exchanged views addressing the issues of happiness, excellence, and value because today the leader must practice listening with empathy, base the cohesion and empowerment of their team on the sharing of emotions, and must stimulate a sense of participation in decisions,” adds Cristiana Falcone, “just as Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum, said some time ago.“

In 2004 Cristiana Falcone headed the Media, Entertainment, Information and Sports section of the World Economic Forum, later becoming Senior Advisor to the Executive Chairman and Founder, taking responsibility for the development of innovative services and products and geopolitical risk assessment related to emerging technologies. 

“Today’s leaders must be endowed with both pragmatism and creativity. In fact, characteristics such as future-oriented vision, creative thinking, and a predisposition for shared value-which, of course, must not be divorced from implementation skills-determine the value of the actions of modern leaders, who are tasked with establishing strong strategic partnerships with all of the company’s stakeholders. 

Leaders must combine strategy with emotional intelligence, and be quick and flexible to adapt the company’s skills, resources and business models to respond to new needs and changes taking place.”

Let’s also not forget that leadership today is no longer concentrated in a few hands but thanks in part to artificial intelligence, big data and augmented reality, it has increasingly become a diffuse leadership, made up of ecosystems of interconnected systemic powers and influences. 

The last theme is the role that networking and social networks can play in education.

“People’s relationship with social platforms is complex and changes depending on age, location and purpose. In the U.S. for example, social media is very focused on diversity, which, on the one hand, enhances inclusion and diversity policies in the workplace, but on the other hand, struggles to improve employer branding and company business performance.” 

Could the metaverse be a significant upgrade of the latest generation of social networks, with new applications for marketing?

“The metaverse was born from an idea of fluidity between real and virtual, analog and digital, offline and online. The concept in the Facebook founder’s head clearly leads to services and products that allow those who manage and sell them to enter the most private space of the customer/consumer by influencing their emotional and psychological sphere in 360 degrees more than is already possible. I find brilliant the real-world application of the metaverse concept adopted by Netflix’s marketing through the line, after watching the docu-series “Bad Vegan:” I was emailed an offer for a gourmet meal cooked by the bad vegan team in a pop up restaurant and delivered by Postmate…it was a super tailored offer for New York residents only ….the fluidity between real and virtual is clear and much more concrete than the abstract discussions so many are having these days about the metaverse.”

We thank Cristiana Falcone and you can read a brief biography of her below.

Cristiana Falcone has more than 20 years of professional experience in strategy design and implementation of partnerships for business development gained working with leaders of multinational companies (SONY, Shell, Revlon), interacting with international governmental organizations (ILO, IFAD, FAO, UNDCCP, IADB) and operating in the media world (Radio Televisione Italiana, Gruppo Espresso, Univision, Viacom). 

In 2004 she directed the Media, Entertainment, Information and Sports section of the World Economic Forum and then became Senior Advisor to the Executive Chairman and Founder, who entrusted her in particular with responsibility for the development of innovative services and products and geopolitical risk assessment related to emerging technologies. 

Since 2006, she has been CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of the JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation, which promotes innovative global initiatives in health, education and poverty reduction to achieve the UNSDG goals.

She is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Paley Center for Media, Internews, the cultural and publishing project Formiche, Tufts University, the Summit Institute, and the Guido Carli Foundation.