CATÓLICA-LISBON served as the Community and Education Partner of the Management Summit Lisbon 2025, an initiative promoted by Agile Thinkers, a training and consulting company dedicated to advancing new ways of working, thinking and learning within organizations. The international annual event took place in September at the Lisbon Exhibition and Congress Centre (FIL), under the theme “Value Creation”.
The initiative brought together business leaders, academics and industry experts to debate the need to redefine the concept of value creation in an economic and technological context marked by rapid transformation, particularly as innovation, social impact and sustainability gain growing prominence within organizations.
As a partner, CATÓLICA-LISBON helped ensure that the Summit’s discussions aligned with the Lisbon Principles for Value Creation, the School’s core framework that guides research and practice in purpose-driven, ethical and long-term value-oriented management.
This collaboration was further strengthened by the participation of Professor Ekin Ilseven, who contributed to discussions on value creation and reinforced the link between the Lisbon Principles and the School’s teaching and research, as well as by the involvement of four CATÓLICA-LISBON students who joined the event’s volunteer team.
Students Marco Deininger (Graduate), Bugra Kufeci (Master in Business), Henrique Portela (Master in Management) and João Botelho (Bachelor in Management) supported session logistics, welcomed participants and engaged directly with speakers and representatives from national and international companies. The experience gave them direct exposure to current debates on leadership, governance and the future of work, complementing their academic journey and bringing theory and practice closer together.
The testimonials below illustrate how this collaboration translated into tangible learning opportunities and how the Summit is influencing the way our students think about management and their future careers.
Marco Deininger (Graduate):
"Volunteering at the Management Summit gave me valuable insights into how leadership is evolving in modern organizations. One of my key learnings was that leadership today should focus less on directing and more on enabling employees to act with trust and autonomy. When employees are empowered to pursue ideas that come up from their own experiences with day-to-day challenges, they take greater ownership and responsibility. This contrasts with traditional leadership models, where managers make decisions and employees have to execute them. Such top-down approaches often limit motivation and creativity, which reduces productivity. With the rapid development of AI, employee productivity is already increasing, making it easier to initiate and implement ideas independently. This strengthens the notion for giving teams a clear purpose and freedom to innovate, instead of relying on rigid top-down decision-making. In this way, leadership becomes less about control and more about creating the right environment for people to thrive.”
Bugra Kufeci (Master in Business):
"Having volunteered at Management Summit 2025, I left the event feeling motivated. One of the most frequently emphasized points was leaving the traditional, top-down hierarchy
of managers. An impressive session was about transforming leaders into coaches to remove obstacles, create a trustworthy environment with a common goal for the teams. It served as a reminder that creative outcomes and success are fostered by trust rather than rigorous control. Also, it was important to me that small, well-structured teams can accomplish incredible things when they are given a clear goal and the autonomy to make their own decisions. Compared to the common practices of strict systems and micromanagement, this structure is a far more human centered and successful strategy. It appears that creating a future founded on trust and a shared purpose is the key and it sparked many ideas to explore and implement in my studies in Católica-Lisbon and in my future career."
Henrique Portela (Master in Management):
"I recently had the chance to volunteer at the Management Summit, and one of the main highlights for me was learning about different approaches to team management. Andrew Holm shared a really interesting idea about having completely independent one-person teams that manage their own finances and decisions with just a guidebook he himself created for support. While he had success in his own company, which became extremely efficient comparatively to when he had bigger teams, in my opinion, this is not very realistic for medium or larger companies. On the other hand, Professor Luís Lages introduced the Value Creation Wheel, which I though could be very practical for every company. It helps companies and their teams make better decisions, work more efficiently, and avoid communication problems. Hearing about these two different perspectives gave me a lot to think about in terms of how organizations can structure teamwork, and it made me realize how important it is to adapt management strategies to the size and needs of each company."
João Botelho (Bachelor in Management):
"The event was a great opportunity to explore different areas of business and to hear directly from professionals who work in them every day. I learned a lot from their perspectives, gaining insights into management, innovation, and strategy that helped me connect theory with practice in a meaningful way.”