The Global Leadership Summit 2026

Time + Effort = Results. Or does it? Most of us are sold the idea that the harder we work, the better the outcomes. That fuller calendars and longer hours are the signs of good results to come. Many leaders respond to that pressure by saying yes to everything: another meeting, another initiative, another item, even another client, on an already full plate. But what if that isn't the full truth, in life and in leadership? The reality many of us come to experience over time is that energy spent intentionally achieves far greater outcomes than energy simply spent. The leaders whose teams perform best tend to do something different. They're more selective about where their energy goes, and it shows in what their teams produce. One of the talks for GLS26 is from Vanessa Van Edwards, a renowned behavioral researcher, international bestselling author, and instructor at Harvard University. She brings two decades of research studying the behavior of high-performing leaders and the habits that set them, and their output, apart.

For business owners and team leaders, a normal workday gets spent answering everyone else's questions. GLS26 is one full day where you get to sit with your own: where is your energy going, and are these the right places?

How curiosity de-escalates conflict The tension in your team probably isn't about the work itself. Most South African teams are a mix of race, generation, and opinion by default, and those differences show up in every high-stakes or sensitive conversation. This is exactly the terrain Kwame Christian works in. Drawing from his experience as a lawyer, mediator and negotiation expert, he built his Compassionate Curiosity TM Framework, a practical three-step communication strategy engineered to lower emotional tension, de-escalate conflict, and guide difficult conversations to a peaceful resolution. It's tried-and-tested, practical frameworks like this that bring leaders to GLS every year. The South African GLS26 will be filled with talks hand-selected for their relevance to South African leaders. We know the challenges facing educators, business leaders, NPOs, and churches across our nation, and we're curating a summit around exactly that.

Here are the voices you'll be hearing from at GLS26:

Early bird pricing closes 30 September. Don't leave it too late to secure your seats at this price. The GLN SA Team

SA Global Leadership Network South Africa