Global business gurus, leadership experts to address Dubai’s Emirates Litfest

Business leaders from across the world – including inspirational speaker Chris Gardner, author of The Pursuit of Happyness – are set to address the Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai this year.

Held under the theme ‘United by Words’, the festival held from March 1-9 will feature talks, workshops, discussions and events with more than 170 authors from around the world.

Topics include the impact of artificial intelligence on our future world, effects of the merger between globalisation and technology, workplace health, compassion, emotional intelligence, communication, sustainability and insights on how to transform businesses and careers for future success.

Wall Street businessman Chris Gardner, whose bestselling autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness was also made into a major motion picture, will be one of the main speakers at the event this year.

Globalisation expert Richard Baldwin will discuss The Globotics Upheaval deliberating on why the combination of globalisation and robotics threatens to overwhelm humanity and how the lives of millions of white-collar workers could now be at risk.

“All roads used to lead to Rome. Today, they lead to Beijing,” opines professor of Global History at Oxford University, Peter Frankopan, whose sequel to The Silk Roads serves as a reminder of how the world is profoundly interconnected. In the New Silk Roads, Frankopan asks us to re-read who we are and where we are in the world.

Those interested in technology can hear from Gerd Leonhard, the author of Technology Versus Humanity, who explores the imminent clash between technology and humanity and how to navigate the coming changes.

Transportation engineer Samuel I Schwartz, whose latest book No One at the Wheel: Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future will also discuss the way ahead using artificial intelligence.

Leadership coach Dawn Metcalfe, the author of The HardTalk Handbook will provide key tips on tackling the ‘hard talks’ we tend to avoid and how to effectively have the difficult conversations.

The secrets of leadership will also be highlighted by Ben Lyttleton, a journalist and football consultant, who has gained access to some of the world’s top football clubs to discover their innovative methods for developing talent. His book Edge reveals how we can use them in our everyday lives.

The festival also features the LitFest business days on Wednesday and Thursday – March 6-7 where experts will provide guidance and opinion on topics ranging from workplace wellness, compassion and how to craft a great bio, to time-management and mapping your career path.

Those participating in the panel discussions include regional leaders such as businesswoman Raja Al Gurg, managing director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group as well as Kristin Sherry, career consultant and author of the YouMap: Find Yourself, Paul Evans, an entrepreneur and CEO of a $100m business empire, Fadi Hammadeh, the general counsel for the Al Futtaim Group, author of Family Business Continuity in the Middle East & Muslim World: Betting Against the Odds, as well as businessman Gaurav Sinha, author of Compassion Inc.

Tickets for the show are available at www.emirateslitfest.com.