The programme

Next-generation executive leadership.

Built for senior technical professionals in rubber and polymer who are being asked to lead the business as well as the material. Practical, peer-led and grounded in real industry experience.

Small room. Peer learning throughout. Every framework tested in real rubber businesses under pressure.

Michael Clayton presenting

Format

Working session. Not a lecture. Tables of four to five. Trusted. Peer learning.

Duration

One day

In person, full day

Room

Capped

Small enough to hear everyone

Format

Working session

Peer learning throughout

Workshop themes

What we work through.

Pitched at the priorities sitting on your desk today and the ones coming next.

Sustainability and commercial edge

Led by Dr Matthew Thornton

EU and US regulation decoded for people who run P&L, not compliance. We reframe sustainability as an edge your competitors have not earned yet, and map the specific shifts most likely to reshape your market over the next five years. Where it fits the room, we run a three horizon positioning exercise against peer companies.

Leadership at the commercial layer

Led by Michael Clayton

The shift from doer to enabler is harder than it looks. We work through the practical moves senior technical people make when they start leading other leaders. How you spend your week changes. What the team asks of you changes. We also work through where AI augments leadership in practice. Meeting prep. Team feedback. Customer briefings. The long Friday review compressed. Tools for making the shift on purpose, with leverage.

Innovation and R&D portfolio

Led by Dr Matthew Thornton

Innovation pipelines that actually commercialise. Participants look at their own pipeline honestly and decide what to keep, what to kill and what to accelerate. We work through what gets funded, what stalls and how to allocate R&D resource by stage and risk. Drawn from real materials science commercialisation experience.

Strategy into weekly rhythm

Led by Michael Clayton

Most strategies stall in execution. This theme converts direction into a weekly operating rhythm. Participants take their strategy through a practical check, then work on the scorecard and accountability loop the team can still run when you are not in the room. The test is whether the team feels the strategy in how the week runs.

AI for senior leaders

Led by Michael Clayton

AI as an extension of judgement, not a replacement for it. We work through where AI earns its keep inside an operating business, where it does not, and how senior leaders should think about piloting, measuring and embedding it. No hype, no showpieces. The focus is the quiet wins that change how the team already works.

What you walk out with

Take-homes for Monday morning.

The specific tools vary with the themes selected for the room. The outcomes below hold across deliveries.

Clearer thinking on a decision you have been sitting on

Thought through with peers and written down for yourself.

Working tools tuned to your context

Populated with your own numbers, not a blank template.

A small peer group facing the same shift

People you can pick up the phone to after the day if it helps.

A ninety day view of what you will do next

Yours to keep. Optional check-in with us if you want it.

Who should attend

Built for the people running rubber businesses.

The day works best for operators already running something who are being asked to run more. Those stepping into broader executive responsibility tend to get the most from it.

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    General managers and senior executives

    In rubber manufacturing, compounding and testing.

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    Technical directors with broader business scope

    Carrying P&L, people or strategy alongside the technical brief.

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    R&D leaders managing innovation portfolios

    Responsible for pipeline, commercialisation and spend.

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    Operations managers with strategic roles

    Running plants and shaping the direction of the business.

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    Future leaders in succession programmes

    Identified for the next step and preparing for it now.

Upcoming deliveries

Where the workshop runs next.

Each delivery is hosted with an industry partner. Registration and invoicing run through the host in each region.

Louisville

North American delivery

Louisville, USA

30 September 2026

Hosted at The Global Polymer Summit with ACS Rubber Division (28-30 September 2026). Registration opens on the ACS site closer to the date.

Register interest mail
India rubber tapping

Asia Pacific delivery

India

2027 · dates to be confirmed

Delivered with regional partners. Expression of interest opens through the contact form.

Register interest mail

Bringing a team or running the workshop in house? We deliver privately as well.

Talk to us about a private delivery
Common questions

Workshop FAQ.

How much does the workshop cost?

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Pricing sits with the host partner in each region. Registration and invoicing run through TechnoBiz for Vienna and ACS Rubber Division for Louisville. For private in-house delivery, pricing is quoted by scope.

Do you deliver the workshop in house?

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Yes. The agenda is tuned to your commercial priorities and delivered on site. Use the contact form with subject set to private delivery.

Who else will be in the room?

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Operators from across the industry. General managers, technical directors carrying broader commercial scope, R&D leaders, plant managers with strategic responsibility. Rooms are capped so the discussion stays real.

What do I leave with?

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Working tools populated with your own data. A ninety-day view of what you will do next. A small peer group you can pick up the phone to. No homework, no lecture notes.

The day is built around what you and your team will do next.