Highlights from the second Helen Alexander Memorial Lecture, given by Dame Carolyn McCall.
On Tuesday night, Dame Carolyn McCall, chief executive of ITV, gave the second annual Helen Alexander Memorial Lecture – supported by the CBI, the Economist, Informa and the University of Southampton.
The overarching theme for the lecture is Women on Business, rather than Women in Business, and McCall chose to pick up on the topic of trust in business – something Helen spent a lot of time working on as the first female president of the CBI.
“Trust has to start with purpose,” she said. “This has to be authentic and really 'lived' by the management and people in the organisation. It informs how companies behave with their people and customers. It helps staff understand why the company exists and why that matters and it helps them understand why they make the decisions they do.”
Emphasising the importance of leaders, like Helen, being strong, open and honest, she continued: “They have to create an organisation that reflects th