Exciting new Global Polymer Summit Workshop

Akron, OH – The Global Polymer Summit presents The Rubber Initiative®: Next-Generation Executive Leadership, a full-day executive workshop on September 30, 2026.

The rubber and polymer industry excels at developing technical expertise. Yet many organizations promote their strongest technical professionals into leadership roles without preparing them for the very different skills those positions require.

A compounder takes responsibility for a plant. An R&D leader inherits a P&L. A technical expert becomes responsible for strategy, people, and business performance. The work that earned the promotion is no longer the work the role demands.

Designed specifically for the rubber and polymer industry, this workshop equips technical professionals with the frameworks, language, and leadership habits needed to succeed at the executive level. It is taught by two experienced industry operators who have successfully made the transition from technical leadership to business leadership. Every framework presented has been tested in real operating businesses under real-world pressure.

The workshop consists of four interactive 90-minute sessions followed by a closing action-planning session. Participants will work on their own businesses throughout the day, collaborate with industry peers, and leave with practical tools they can apply immediately.

By the end of the workshop, attendees will have developed four business templates and a personalized 90-day action plan ready to implement on Monday morning.

Artificial intelligence is woven throughout the day as a practical business tool—not as a standalone topic. Participants will learn where AI can strengthen R&D, strategy, competitiveness, and leadership, and where human judgment remains essential.

Sustainability has become a competitive advantage for companies that know how to leverage it. Organizations that treat sustainability as a strategic business driver are outperforming those that view it simply as a compliance requirement or cost.

This session examines the regulatory, supply chain, and customer pressures facing rubber and polymer businesses and shows how to turn those pressures into market opportunities. Participants will identify vulnerabilities, uncover growth opportunities, and explore how strategic partnerships—including collaborations with competitors—can create advantages that are difficult to replicate.

Attendees will leave with a sustainability roadmap tailored to their business.

The industry is undergoing a generational transition, and expectations of leadership are evolving along with it.

This session focuses on the mindset shifts technical professionals must make to become effective leaders. The most important transition is moving from being the person with all the answers to becoming the person who builds and develops teams capable of finding them.

Participants will also explore how to lead effectively in an environment where AI is becoming part of everyday decision-making. They will assess their own leadership approach and identify a specific change they can implement immediately.

Attendees will leave with a personal leadership capability framework.

Most organizations have more ideas than they have resources to pursue.

This session provides practical approaches for managing innovation portfolios, prioritizing investment, accelerating commercialization, and stopping projects that consume resources without creating value. Participants will evaluate their current innovation pipelines against strategic priorities and resource allocation.

Attendees will leave with an innovation portfolio and roadmap framework.

Strategy determines where a business can win. Execution determines whether it does.

This session begins by examining the external forces already shaping the industry and then challenges participants to make the strategic choices many organizations avoid: deciding where they will truly differentiate and create value.

Participants will learn how to translate strategic priorities into a practical operating rhythm that drives accountability, alignment, and execution without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

Attendees will leave with a strategy execution scorecard.

The workshop concludes with a structured planning session that brings together the day’s work.

Participants will integrate the four frameworks into a personalized 90-day action plan, prioritizing the initiatives that will have the greatest impact on their business and leadership effectiveness.

This workshop is designed for current and emerging leaders across the rubber and polymer industry. It is particularly relevant for general managers and senior executives, technical directors assuming broader business responsibilities, R&D and innovation leaders managing portfolios and budgets, operations and production managers moving into strategic leadership roles, and high-potential future leaders identified through succession planning.

Whether you are stepping into your first executive position or refining leadership capabilities built over decades, the workshop provides practical tools grounded in real industry experience. Unlike generic leadership programs built around examples from consumer goods, technology, or finance, every case study and discussion is drawn directly from the rubber and polymer industry.

By the end of the day, participants will have developed a sustainability roadmap, a personal leadership capability framework, an innovation portfolio and roadmap framework, a strategy execution scorecard, and a personalized 90-day action plan that integrates all four. They will also leave with a network of industry peers facing similar leadership challenges and opportunities.

Michael Clayton is Co-Founder of The Rubber Initiative® and Executive Chair of the International Rubber Conference Organisation (IRCO). He spent 25 years in manufacturing leadership, including 20 years in the rubber industry, progressing from technical roles to CEO. Today, he serves as a fractional executive, helping business owners translate strategy into measurable results.

Dr. Matthew Thornton is Secretary-General of IRCO and Co-Founder of The Rubber Initiative®. He has spent more than 20 years leading innovation initiatives and securing funding in advanced materials, including director and C-suite positions at Polymateria and Haydale. His work bridges academic research and commercial application, helping organizations turn innovation into business value.

The workshop will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Registration includes breakfast, coffee breaks, lunch, access to the GPS Expo, Expo receptions, and all technical, business, and industry presentations taking place September 28–30.

This workshop is part of the Global Polymer Summit Educational Symposium and is sponsored by Parker Lord.

Visit GlobalPolymerSummit.com to register.

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