Program Information

Program Faculty

Highlights

Bringing Authentic Leadership into Action

with Michael Chender
Monday, June 7, 8:00 a.m.

“We're all working with hope and fear. We're all working with the yearning to see and act more clearly. We're working with the questions of when to let go and when to push further, and of how to make the next authentic move. Authentic is a process — a path — rather than any kind of ideal.

And if we look at our experience in the moment one thing we can usually be confident of is that there is a sense somewhere of uncertainty. So in this particular journey of authentic leadership we see the reliable fuel for moving along the road as being the willingness to acknowledge that uncertainty, the willingness to not know, and the willingness to follow our questions however awkward and embarrasing they may seem. And of course — as all of us have probably learned — the more awkward and embarrasing, the more generous and real the possibilities in those questions. So this kind of nakedness to our own experience is the ground for the practice of authentic leadership.”

Michael Chender is the founding chair of the ALIA Institute, and the founder and chair of Metals Economics Group, a leading strategic consultancy in the worldwide mining business since 1980. He recently stepped down as CEO of Coemergence, an award-winning knowledge management software company. He has managed to maintain his sense of humour (he thinks) by also studying and teaching meditation in the Buddhist and Shambhala traditions since 1970. His animating passion is exploring how the wisdom and compassion pointed to in these traditions can be developed in the life of the larger society.

From Ego-system to Eco-system: Embracing the Larger Forces of Change

with Otto Scharmer
Monday, June 7, 9:45 a.m.

“For leadership teams in global companies, international institutions, and local communities, change work is all about shifting the state of awareness from an ego-system to an extended stakeholder situation or, in some cases, to the larger ecosystem. That work is leaders' and change-makers' job number one: to help people let go of their narrow ego-system awareness and embrace the larger forces of change.”

Dr. C. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at MIT, the founding chair of the Presencing Institute, and a founding member of the MIT Green Hub. Dr. Scharmer has consulted with global companies, international institutions, and governments in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has co-designed and delivered award-winning business leadership programs for client firms including Daimler, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Fujitsu, and Google. He also facilitates cross-sector programs for leaders in business, government, and civil society that focus on building people's collective capacity to achieve profound innovation and change.

Scharmer holds a Ph.D. in economics and management from Witten-Herdecke University in Germany. He introduced the theoretical framework and practice called "presencing" in his book Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges (2007), and in Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society (2005), co-authored with Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers. With his colleagues, Dr. Scharmer has used presencing to facilitate profound innovation and change processes both within companies and across societal systems. More information about Dr. Scharmer and his work can be found at: www.presencing.com

In times when the status quo is often no longer an option, Dr. Scharmer's work has been hailed as an important breakthrough in the fields of leadership, innovation, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and organizational transformation.

A Contemplation on the Powers of Place

with Michael Jones
Tuesday, June 8, 8:00 p.m.

“My dad could name a hundred miles of coastline by the taste of the air” &ndash from The Shipping News, Annie Proulx

From our earliest days, being deeply connected to a place in our physical environment or the imagination has instructed us in how we engage our world. Through the symbols, stories, metaphors and images with which we hold and describe the power of place, the future touches us, awakens our heart, enlivens our senses and attracts us ever more fully into life.

This evening will be a contemplation on the power and significance of place and its relationship to learning and transformative change. Although much has been discovered and shared about the style, issues and processes of leadership, the significance of place as a source of inspiration and the container in which we bring people together to do their work has rarely been appreciated. This will be an opportunity to come together to explore how our surroundings – place, space, and environment – work with us as leaders to inspire and revitalize our leadership practice as well as our organizations and communities.

Michael Jones is a leadership educator, writer and pianist/composer. He is a Thinking Partner with the Power of Place Initiative and Steward with the Fetzer funded Leadership for Transformation Dialogues. Michael has written two books on creative leadership: Creating an Imaginative Life and Artful Leadership: Awakening the Commons of the Imagination. His many recordings of original solo piano compositions have served as benchmarks for the popular genre of contemporary instrumental music. Michael is on the leadership development faculties at The Banff Centre and the University of Texas, San Antonio. He is currently engaged in several large organizational change projects and integrates his music as a speaker and facilitator at conferences and leadership forums across North America. His web site is www.pianoscapes.com.

Fostering Social Innovation

with Cheryl Rose
Wednesday, June 9, 9:30 a.m.

Cheryl Rose is a director for Partnerships and Programs at Social Innovation Generation (SiG) at the University of Waterloo. SiG is a collaborative initiative seeking to address Canada's social and ecological challenges by creating a culture of continuous social innovation. SiG focuses on fostering social innovation to achieve impact, durability and scale by engaging the creativity and resources of all sectors. The ultimate goal is to support whole system change by effecting the broader economic, cultural and policy context in Canada to allow social innovations to emerge and flourish. Ms. Rose holds a Masters of Science degree in Capacity Development and Extension Studies, and she presents widely on Leadership for Social Innovation, Enhancing Individual and Organizational Resilience, and Creating Effective Networks. Her writing focuses on building partnerships in complex environments and the role of individuals and organizations in strengthening social systems. She also contributes to Social Innovation Generation publications, and is currently involved in developing a case study on organizational collaborations in Waterloo Region.

Power and Love Conversation

with Adam Kahane
Wednesday, June 9, 1:30 p.m.

Adam Kahane is a leading organizer, designer and facilitator of processes through which business, government, and civil society leaders can work together to solve their toughest, most complex problems. He has worked in more than fifty countries, in every part of the world, with executives and politicians, generals and guerillas, civil servants and trade unionists, community activists and United Nations officials, clergy and artists. Adam is the author of Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities (Berrett-Koehler, 2004). Nelson Mandela said: "This breakthrough book addresses the central challenge of our time: finding a way to work together to solve the problems we have created." Adam's proposition set forth in his most recent work, Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change (Berrett-Koehler, 2010) serves as a point of departure for this session.

Social Presencing Theatre

led by Barbara Bash, Jerry Granelli and Arawana Hayashi
Thursday, June 10, 2:00 p.m.

The Social Presencing Theater team will be gathering stories of change work in which the ALIA community members are engaged – what is working well and what is not. From that material we will create a trigger event that can seed a conversation about what we are learning about systems transformation in our lives and work. We can look at how our collective experiences might show us where and how to move forward into the future. If you would like to tell your story, please send an email to Arawana Hayashi. For more information go to the Creative Process page.

The Necessary Revolution

with Peter Senge
Thursday, June 10, 7:00 p.m.

Peter Senge has lectured extensively throughout the world, translating the abstract ideas of systems theory into tools for better understanding of economic and organizational change. Senge's work articulates a cornerstone position of human values in the workplace: namely, that vision, purpose, reflectiveness, and systems thinking are essential if organizations are to realize their potential. He has authored a number of books, including The Fifth Discipline, Presence, and The Necessary Revolution. He works with leaders in business, education, civil society, health care, and government.

“As the challenges facing leaders grow more complex, the ALIA Institute provides one of the very few places where leaders can develop sufficient clarity and courage in their work.”

—Margaret Wheatley, author, Leadership and the New Science & others
2001-2010 program faculty

Sustain and integrate the learning, deepen the impact. Pathways for Authentic Leadership is a nine-month course that begins with the Summer Institute and continues in your home organization.