In 2017, the Mainland Chinese newspaper, People’s Daily, warned that China faced a variety of systemic financial risks, including the “Gray Rhinos.” China’s business community immediately took notice of the term, and it is now used in Chinese media without explanation.
Why China loves the Gray Rhino concept? Michele Wucker, the author of the “Gray Rhinos,” shared her insight in a recent interview.
An award-winning global thought leader with experience in strategy, immigration policy, finance, globalization, turnarounds, and crisis management, Michele Wucker draws on three decades in media and non-profit management and policy development. Her third book is THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore, which grew out of a presentation at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland in which she coined the term “gray rhino” for highly probable, high impact crisis events. The book has received praise from business, policy, and thought leaders around the world and influenced policy debates at the highest levels. Michele founded Gray Rhino & Company in 2015 to help leaders and organizations to identify and strategize responses to gray rhino risks that are neglected despite -and all too often because of- their size.
Michele has been recognized as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and a Guggenheim Fellow, among other honors. Her previous leadership positions include Vice President for Studies at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs; President of the World Policy Institute, which she re-launched in 2007 in a dramatic turnaround; and Latin America Bureau Chief at International Financing Review. She also has taught master’s students at the School for International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, of which she is an alumna. An engaging keynote speaker, moderator, panelist, and facilitator, she has delivered presentations in 16 countries on five continents. She lives in Chicago.
Michele‘s speaking topics are:
- Gray Rhino-Proofing Your Future: A New Way To Think About Risk And Response
- Demographic Gray Rhinos: Robots Meet Aging And Migration
- Beyond Kicking The Can: How To Stop Muddling And Innovate
Contact us to engage Michele Wucker to speak at your next conference.