An afternoon of rare calibre awaits on November 5th, the day preceding this year’s Global Peter Drucker Forum. At the Urban Innovation Vienna Forum, a series of executive workshops will bring together some of the most distinguished minds in global management. With participation fees set at a modest level, seats are expected to fill quickly. As a media partner of the Global Peter Drucker Forum, xBN Executive Business News is pleased to share this announcement on the day of its release.
Professor Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School, currently ranked as the world’s number one management thinker, will explore the power of psychological safety and the value of intelligent failure. In her masterclass, she calls on leaders to “think like scientists” — to cultivate a culture of learning, experimentation, and trust, where missteps are not setbacks but vital steps in the discovery process.
Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile will speak on The Progress Principle, the result of her landmark research into the drivers of workplace motivation and success. Her message is deceptively simple: consistent, small wins form the foundation of creative engagement and sustained high performance. Amabile will show how leaders can make progress visible — and, in doing so, foster vibrant, forward-moving teams.
Next comes Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, global executive search guru and leadership expert. Also affiliated with Harvard Business School, Fernández-Aráoz will focus on how to develop high-potential leaders—through stretch assignments, early identification of talent, and the cultivation of resilience. In a volatile world, he argues, these capabilities are not optional—they are essential.
The afternoon continues with Dave Ulrich, Professor at the Ross School of Business and the “Father of modern HR”. Ulrich challenges the traditional scope of Human Resources, urging organizations to think in terms of human capability—the convergence of talent, culture, leadership, and structure. True value creation, he asserts, does not come from processes but from investing in people.
Later, Gary Hamel—Professor at both Oxford University and London Business School—will deliver a rousing call for a management revolution. Today’s institutions, he contends, are fatigued, their capacity for innovation waning. Incremental change will not suffice. What is required is a wholesale reinvention of how we organise and lead. Hamel’s compelling case for radical renewal will no doubt serve as a fitting crescendo to a day designed to provoke and inspire.
Concluding the afternoon, former German MP and corporate transformer Thomas Sattelberger will introduce the concept of Founders Mode—a leadership style that combines deep operational engagement with strategic trust. Sattelberger draws on both Silicon Valley and German industrial heritage to argue that this mindset is not only viable beyond start-ups, but vital for large organisations undergoing transformation.
Participation Fees
The full afternoon of workshops is available at €595 (excl. VAT). For registered attendees of the Global Peter Drucker Forum, the fee is reduced to €295 (excl. VAT).
What is the Drucker Forum – and why attend?
Held annually in Vienna’s historic Hofburg, the Global Peter Drucker Forum is widely recognised as the world’s premier conference on leadership, management, and innovation in the digital age. The Financial Times has aptly dubbed it the World Management Forum, reflecting its stature and global relevance.
Each year, the Forum convenes leading voices from business, academia, policy, and civil society to explore the future of organisations. For those seeking serious insight into how work, leadership, and value creation are being redefined, the Drucker Forum is an unmissable fixture. And while the programme itself is of the highest calibre, seasoned participants know that the true value lies in the depth of interaction and the calibre of networking it enables.
Longstanding media partners include the Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, The Economist, Les Echos, Bloomberg, among many others.
Program Masterclasses: https://www.druckerforum.org/2025/masterclasses/
The full program of the Global Peter Drucker Forum is under development (still to be published).
Speaker (liste under development): https://www.druckerforum.org/2025/speakersmoderators/
