Adam Smith

In June 2024, the University of Glasgow brought together a group of business leaders from a diverse range of industries for the inaugural Enlightened Leader Executive Retreat, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

Taking place in Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, this unique experience gave participants the opportunity to have informative and impactful discussions and debates, take time to reflect on their own leadership journey, and be inspired by Scotland’s great enlightenment thinkers.

Limited to 20 participants, the two-day event included interactive sessions led by senior University of Glasgow academics and special guest speakers. The sessions included:

• The Enlightened Leader: combining economy, purpose and ambition

The opening session explored what makes a leader in 2024 through emplacing it in some of Adam Smiths’ key ideas.

• The Enlightened Mindset: burnout and thriving

This session looked at what it means to have an enlightened mindset amongst the pressures of economic, political and cultural challenges that contemporary organisations face.

• The Enlightened Environment: leadership as eco pedagogy:

The outdoor workshop explored ways to engage with sustainability as both a business challenge and a leadership opportunity.

• The Enlightened Individual: understanding your impartial spectator

This session explored how leaders understand and leverage the complex relations and connections that make up the workplace and commercial society in 2024.

If you would like to learn more about the Enlightened Leader Executive Retreat, register your interest through Microsoft Forms.