Heads Talk ®
Heads Talk® is a top 0.5% global executive podcast, featuring in-depth conversations with FTSE 100 and S&P 500 CEOs, C-Suite executives, diplomats, policymakers, academics, strategists, and leaders of global institutions.
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Heads Talk ®
297 - Dame Susan Langley DBE: Power Series, City of London Corporation - Unsquaring the Square Mile: The Chain and the Change
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Episode Title: 🇬🇧Unsquaring the Square Mile: The Chain and the Change🇬🇧
Great institutions are not defined by whether they change. They are defined by how they change.
The ceremonial chain represents continuity. Change ensures continuity remains relevant.
Sometimes, transformation arrives not through revolution, but through quiet evolution. A single word changes. Lord Mayor becomes Lady Mayor. Tradition remains intact, yet expectations subtly shift. One of Britain's oldest institutions continues to honour its past while recognising that relevance depends on its ability to evolve.
In this episode of the Heads Talk® Power Series, I'm joined by Dame Susan Langley DBE, the 697th Lord Mayor of the City of London, only the third woman to hold the office in almost 700 years and the first to be formally styled Lady Mayor.
Together, we move well beyond financial markets. We explore trust, institutions and the changing social contract; why misinformation has become an economic threat; whether capitalism is being quietly redefined; why resilience alone cannot repair broken systems; and why emotional intelligence may become one of the most valuable currencies in the next decade...or sooner.
From the future of the City of London to AI, burnout, social mobility and Britain's place in a changing global economy, this conversation asks an important question: How do institutions evolve without losing the very qualities that made them worth preserving?
Perhaps the answer begins with an even bigger question: Can institutions remain relevant without first reimagining the people they were built to serve?
Topics Covered:
◽️Lady Mayor: Why changing one word changed far more than a title inside one of Britain's oldest institutions
◽️Why misinformation threatens confidence, investment and competitiveness
◽️Team UK: Reclaiming Britain's global narrative
◽️Capitalism's Missing Promise: Is the social contract being rewritten?
◽️Uncertainty and Navigating Constant Change
◽️Burnout, the "always-on" culture and redesigning unhealthy systems
◽️Resilience Paradox: When resilience becomes a substitute for responsibility
◽️Emotional intelligence and Empathy in Turbulent Times
◽️Unsquaring the Square Mile: Opening institutions without losing their identity
◽️The Human Advantage
◽️Power's Final Responsibility: Where leadership begins and process ends
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⛔️Listen to this episode's Heads Talk - The Analysis [TBA]
◽️Episode Sponsored by - Accxia - 𝔼𝕦𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖'𝕤 𝕃𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥 ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖 ℂ𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝔸𝕥𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕒𝕟
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