Speakers at the recent Value Creation Summit, presented in June by iGlobal Forum, agreed that getting the talent piece right is the number one key to driving value creation; and that digital technology holds enormous potential for realizing internal efficiencies and driving higher profits in portcos.

The event kicked off with morning Executive Exchange discussions, where attendees participated in intimate conversations led by industry leaders from ECA Partners, Beckway, Sage, Insperity, Ramp and Acustrategy on topics including:

• Pricing excellence
• Accelerating returns
• Culture, human capital, and change management
• Cost containment and margin expansion
• Finance transformation

Tracey Abbott, Senior Operating Partner, Mubadala was the event's morning keynote speaker. She was interviewed by Pat Pettiti, CEO & Co-Founder, Catalant, during a session that explored how operating partners can optimize their c-suite as a key lever for growth. Takeaways included:

• It's the people in a company that makes the value creation plan succeed - and the private equity industry doesn't currently spend enough time up front on talent.
• Every CEO has a different definition of 'culture'. Tracey defined 'communication and language' as the key element that leadership teams need to understand and master, to drive forward their company vision.
• When it comes to culture, the buck stops with the CEO - a CEO needs to know in each moment what their company culture is and what is / isn't working.
• Leadership teams need to use the language that connects deeply with, and motivates, the people on the front lines of the business.
• In the pre-deal period, the best clues to knowing if a company has a good culture come from: a) the management team, and b) the data. Tracey looks for chemistry and collaboration - how do people disagree and fight fair? how do they talk about their teams? how do they measure culture?
• CEOs need to be in the market and on the front lines, so they can connect the work done by middle management with the company's broader vision. Tracey highlighted Ken Hicks (former President and CEO at Foot Locker) as a leader who drove his values, vision and financial goals throughout the company in a way that every employee understood and aligned with.
• Tracey also highlighted the importance of recognizing who the stars are that can be raised up as leaders, and when and where people need to be replaced.