Business Travel, Leadership and Technology

The marriage between leadership, including business leadership, and technology has become such an important subject that the topic has been incorporated in master’s degree programs at a growing number of colleges and universities around the United States. Perdue University leads the way in this type of degree program that weds leadership with technological advances.
Two primary elements of business leadership are meaningful connections and effective communication. In many ways, this is nowhere better illustrated than when a business leader is called upon to participate in a conference, convention, or other gathering as part of his or her business travels.
There are a number of ways in which business leaders are able to advance their agendas while traveling by enhancing their connections and broadening their communications through the use of ever-advancing technology.

Business Presentations Away from Home Base

With great frequency, business executives and leaders of different types are called upon to make presentations while on the road, away from their home bases of operation. Thanks to advancements made in regard to associated technology, this process has become easier to undertake than historically has been the case.
One of the most significant ways in which technology is playing a role in advancing business leadership is found in a very simple, and yet vital, reality. One of the primary avenues through which more than a few business leaders are called upon to expound on their valuable ideas is through presentations at conferences, conventions, and other types of gatherings.

In order to make these presentations more compelling, in most instances there is both an audio and visual element attached to these speeches, lectures, and keynotes. At least that is the case when onsite technology is compatible with the tech resources a leader has in tow while traveling for businesses purposes.
Historically, and with alarming regularity, when a business executive or leader arrived at a presentation destination, he or she discovered that a technology issue existed. For example, the manner in which a PowerPoint presentation has been stowed proves to be inaccessible to the equipment on site at a conference or convention. In the alternative, a malfunction of some sort occurred at the site.
Thanks to technological advances, the connection and communication elements associated with business leadership are less likely to be jeopardized in this manner in today’s world. In the past, hauling equipment around for presentations by business leaders on business trips proved cumbersome at best and completely impossible in many instances.
There is now technology available to traveling business leaders that includes truly small projectors that are compatible with a business leader’s stored data and can be readily hooked up at a convention, conference or other site. Indeed, this equipment is so small it can be stored in a person’s pocket.

As an aside, despite their small size, these powerful tools are able to match the quality of output that is found in standard equipment of this nature. There is really is something to be said about having power in the palm of your hand when it comes to this type of more advanced leadership technology.

Business Leaders, Technology, and Maintaining Connections

A major objective of business travel in many instances is making connections with other key individuals. These connections may include fellow business leaders as well a prospective clients of customers. Indeed, the array of individuals that may prove to be valuable connections for a business leader is long.
Collecting business cards still exists. This is a great way to garner essential contact information. Nonetheless, during the course of a business trip, a traveler may end up with dozens upon dozens of pieces of contact information, all in a fairly jumbled mess.
Thanks to modern technology, there exist applications that are capable of collecting this type of raw data, together with notations that a business leader may have made about an individual. This information can then be organized and safely stored for retrieval and later use. In other words, customer relations management software and applications, or CRM, has taken on a whole new look and provides a comprehensive approach to organizational and connective technology for business leaders and others.
Cost Effective Technology
Another important development when it comes to leadership, business travel and technology: a decade ago, there were some notable technological advances that demonstrated the potential for being of use to business leaders. The drawback was that this technology was costly. For example, a good deal of it was priced beyond the reach of leaders in the small business community.
The pricing issue has changed to a large degree. In more recent times, even some highly advanced technologies that aid in the arenas of connection and communication are relatively affordable for a business leader.

Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Documents International LLC, a leading apostille service for individuals and businesses.