Gerard reflects on leadership and social impact at Leaders Live 2026

The event brought together leaders from business, social enterprise, charities and the creative sector. Speakers included Social Club founder Craig Dearden-Phillips, Yeshua Carter and Louise Warman from EY, film director and Channel Changers founder Sam Wilkinson, author Matt Stevenson-Dodd, Yuliya Sotska from Children of Heroes and Carl Corbin from In House Records.

The sessions explored a wide range of subjects, including leadership in an AI-enabled world, preparing for different futures, creating purpose-led change and supporting people and communities through extremely challenging circumstances.

Gerard reflects: “What stood out most was the mindset shared by all the speakers. Whatever their personal experience or area of work, they saw change and challenge as opportunities to learn, improve and create a positive impact.”

Using AI as a partner

One of Gerard’s main takeaways was the importance of engaging positively and thoughtfully with artificial intelligence.

The discussion encouraged leaders to explore how AI can support people in their work and help organisations prepare for the future. A memorable phrase from the day reframed AI as an “intelligent assistant”, highlighting its potential to complement human experience, creativity and judgement.

Measuring what matters

The event also explored how organisations measure their impact and learn from the goals they do not achieve.

Gerard reflected on the importance of using evidence and insight to understand what happened, make better decisions and improve next time. Matt Stevenson-Dodd’s session, drawing on his book The Difference, also reinforced the value of keeping things clear and simple when working towards meaningful change.

These ideas connect closely with our work at Provide Equipment Hub. Listening to colleagues, learning from feedback, using evidence and continually improving our services all help us deliver better outcomes for the people and communities we support.

“For me, the day was a powerful reminder that leadership means being willing to lean into uncertainty, learn from setbacks and use innovation to strengthen our purpose,” Gerard added. “I’m grateful for the conversations, the encouragement to think differently and the opportunity to spend time with a community of leaders committed to making a difference.”