Business leaders and academics explore ‘time as currency’ at UL executive education event
Prominent business leaders and academics gathered at University of Limerick this week to explore the theme of time and its currency in the workplace.
It’s About Time – a leadership seminar hosted by Executive Education at UL’s Kemmy Business School – brought together a distinguished audience of professionals for critical reflection and discussion around an increasingly important conversation; not simply how we manage time, but how time shapes leadership.
Led by Dr Sarah Kieran, Director of Executive Education at Kemmy Business School, the event featured speakers from industry as well as across the University community, combining real-world leadership experience with cutting-edge academic perspectives.
Guests were presented with an opportunity to explore key questions sitting at the heart of modern leadership, with topics exploring time as a barrier versus a strategic resource, and time’s impact on organisational culture, innovation and performance.
“Leaders are driven to deliver for their organisations in an accelerated fashion, yet in the same breath we ask how we build the critical thinking skills and the levels of collective cognition needed to effectively work in complex environments, particularly with AI; how we elevate market-differentiating innovations and complex problem-solving on our teams – those elements of business that AI cannot reach and competitors cannot replicate,” explained Dr Kieran.
“The answer is simpler than many realise. It is to create the time and space for rich, diverse and provocative dialogue between teams that spans the boundaries of the organisation. This is simply about how leaders choose to use time.
“Today, we created that space; took the time to examine a core leadership concept from a diverse range of perspectives. Where better to start this series of leadership seminars than with time itself?”
Speaking at the event, Executive Dean of the Kemmy Business School, Professor Michael Morley, shared his insight on time as one of the most culturally constructed aspects of human behaviour.
“Some cultures view time as a scarce resource to be managed efficiently; and if that is the leader's raison d’etre, then of course, punctuality, schedules, targets, deadlines, and performance will dominate the discourse. But there's also what we refer to as ‘the relationship clock’. In this cultural context, time is primarily seen as a vehicle for relationship investment and relationship building. Here, relationships take precedence over schedules and deadlines. Time invested in relationships serves as the conduit to eventually getting things done,” said Professor Morley.
Other topics at the seminar ranged from short-term deadlines as a form of chrono-politics (how power is exercised through the control); how expectations of the future limit the time spent on reimagining a better one; and the importance of spending leadership time where it is most valuable – with one’s teams and stakeholders.
For more information, visit the dedicated Executive Education website.
