Laurence Smith

• CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER (CLO) & Senior HR Professional with 24 years experience (14 in Asia).
• Proven track record of driving large-scale organisational transformation, culture change, leadership development & performance improvement.
• Recognised thought leader on Globalising Asian organisations & leaders.
• Strategic business leader with complementary strengths in people development & organisational change as well as technology savvy & business acumen.
• Leading Practioner in applying Social Media to collaboration, innovation & globalization


GOALS
To create world class learning organisations.
To help globalise Asian leaders and organisations.
To be an influencer in leveraging social media to drive collaboration, innovation & globalisation.

Specialties: Global Leadership Development. Globalising Asian Leaders. Shaping strategy & driving vision of global learning organisations. Change Management & Organisational Learning. Enterprise 2.0, Social Network Dynamics & collaborative technologies. Knowledge Management & Communities of Practice.
Global experience, US, Europe, Middle East, and 14 years in Asia.

• Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise Award (MAKE)

  MAKE
  • 2010

  LG Electronics was recognized as one of the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE) in Asia. The L&D Team was responsible for Knowledge Management strategy, tools and implementation within LG Electronics and implemented leading edge ideas leveraging social media to accelerate collaboration, innovation and globalization.

• "How Top Companies in Asia build Leadership Brand"

  • HQ Asia
  • March 2012
  Authors: Laurence Smith, Dave Ulrich, Robert Gandossy

  This articles summarises and considers the implications of the Asia findings from the 'Top Companies for Leaders' research.
  
  Both globally, and in Asia, the Top Companies focus on developing a powerful leadership brand that aligns leaders behaviors with the promises made to customers and other external stakeholders.
  
  Read the article to see how the Top Companies do this and what is different in Asia.

• "Making HR Strategic"

  • HRMatters Magazine
  • April 2, 2012
  Authors: Laurence Smith, Dave Ulrich

  Co-authored with Dave Ulrich, this article answers five key questions on the changing nature of Strategic HR, examines some of RBL's latest Competency Research and examines how to be a more effective 'Credible Activist' - the highest impact Competency for HR Professionals.
  

• "Developing a Leadership Brand in Asia" Video Interview of Smallwood & Smith

  • HRM Asia Magazine
  • November 15, 2011
  Authors: Laurence Smith

  Video interview of Laurence Smith, Managing Director of RBL Asia and Norm Smallwood, Co-Author of both the "Leadership Brand" and the "Leadership Code."
  
  Interview focuses on the critical importance for Asian companies to build a strong Leadership Brand that differentiates them from their competitors and aligns their Corporate and Leadership Brands to sustain growth and their ability to attract and retain the best talent.
  
  Several best practices and examples of what works are discussed.

• "Changing Phases Facing Leaders" (Leading in a VUCA World)

  • Storm Magazine
  • September 2012
  Authors: Laurence Smith, David Ulrich

  Any athlete who transitioned from amateur to professional status (in soccer, basketball, and so forth) notes that the major difference is the pace and speed of play. Likewise, the pace of business change has increased dramatically in recent years. If we were to bring back a business leader from the 1980’s or 1990’s, he would be surprised by the velocity and intensity of change in globalization, technological advances, information ubiquity, customer expectations, employee demographics, and so forth. Businesses that anticipate and respond to these changes thrive, those that do not die. In fact since 1955, 87% of the Fortune 500 have disappeared and the average life expectancy of Fortune 500 firms has decreased from over half a century on average, to less than 14 years – and continues to decrease. Each decade, an increasing percent of the Fortune 500 are being merged, acquired, or bankrupt. These are indeed changing times.
  
  In the last 100 years in business, everyone recognizes the centrality of leaders. Leaders instill confidence to employees, customers, and investors. Leaders make informed choices that help or hinder business success. Leaders matter.
  
  So, what should leaders do in this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business world?
  
  To answer this question, we suggest six fundamental leadership principles that need to be adapted to current VUCA business conditions. These six leadership principles synthesize our studies of leadership and our experience coaching and developing leaders. These six principles are timeless. Leaders from previous decades and centuries would recognize the principles, but the application of these principles in this VUCA setting requires new skills to be an effective leader in today world.

• "Competency Models with Impact: Research Findings from the Top Companies for Leaders"

  • People & Strategy. The Professional Journal of HRPS (HR People & Strategy)
  • November 2012
  Authors: Laurence Smith, Erin Wilson Burns, David Ulrich

  Describes state of the art research in building and defining Leadership Competency models, as well as the practices of Top Companies in driving impact through them. Uses LG Electronics journey to build a Global Leadership Brand as a case study.

• "Developing Leaders in Action" - A Case Study

  • The Change Champions Field Guide, 2nd edition (Jossey Bass)
  Authors: Laurence Smith

  The Change Champions Field Guide, 2nd edition will include a Case Study on my work on Developing Global Leaders at LG Electronics. This Case Study will be published by the Best Practice Institute in the new edition of the Change Champion's Field Guide, by Jossey Bass in Q1 2013. Am honoured to be included in this prestigious publication.

1. Leadership Development
2. Knowledge Management
3. Talent Management
4. Social Media
5. Change Management
6. E-learning
7. HR Transformation
8. Organizational Change
9. Organizational Development
10. E-Learning
11. Organizational Design
12. Performance Management
13. Employee Engagement
14. Executive Coaching
15. Organizational Effectiveness
16. Management Consulting
17. Succession Planning
18. Strategy
19. Coaching
20. Cross-functional Team Leadership
21. Business Strategy
22. Leadership
23. HR Consulting
24. Management
25. Strategic Planning
26. Training
27. Human Resources
28. Performance Improvement
29. Talent Acquisition
30. Process Improvement
31. Team Building
32. Thought Leadership

View All (32) Skills View Fewer Skills

• Sustainability Leadership & Change Management

  • International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP)
  • March 2009

• GE CAP (Change Acceleration Process)

  • GE Crotonville
  • June 2008

• GE WorkOut

  • GE Crotonville
  • April 2007

• Stakeholder Centered Coaching

  • Marshall Goldsmith
  • October 2012

• Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning

  • GE Crotonville
  • November 2008

• Customer Centric Transformation (C-Tran)

  • GE Grotonville
  • 2008

Interests:

Founder of GreenMondays. A monthly networking event in Tokyo featuring leading thinkers and Practioners in CleanTech and Alternative Energy, Climate Change and the Environment, Green Business & Sustainability. http://greenmondays.ning.com/

Honors and Awards:

McKinsey's first Business Method Patent (2000).