Plenary Session Leaders

Peter Senge is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also Founding Chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL), a global community of corporations, researchers, and consultants committed "to increase our capacity to collectively realize our highest aspirations and productively resolve our differences" through the mutual development of people and institutions. The Journal of Business Strategy named him a "Strategist of the Century," one of twenty-four men and women who have "had the greatest impact on the way we conduct business today" (September/October 1999). His special interest is on decentralizing the role of leadership in organizations so as to enhance the capacity of all people to work productively toward common goals.

Senge is the author of several books, including the widely acclaimed The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990). This book, which provides the knowledge for organizations to transform rigid hierarchies into more fluid and responsive systems, is widely credited with creating a revolution in the business world. Since its publication, more than a million copies have been sold, and in 1997, Harvard Business Review identified it as one of the seminal management books of the past 75 years. His most recent book, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future (SoL 2004), co-authored with C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers, documents the authors' development of a new theory about change and learning.

Dr. Senge will give a keynote presentation on Monday, May 5, tentatively titled "Accelerated Complexity, Accelerated Challenge in the Global Context."

C. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at MIT and the founding chair of ELIAS (Emerging Leaders Innovate Across Sectors), a program linking twenty leading global institutions from business, government, and civil society in order to prototype profound system innovations for a more sustainable world. He also is the founding chair of the Presencing Institute and a visiting professor at the Center for Innovation and Knowledge Research, Helsinki School of Economics. Otto has consulted with global companies, international institutions, and cross-sector change initiatives in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has co-designed and delivered award-winning leadership programs for client organizations including DaimlerChrysler, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Fujitsu. He holds a Ph.D. in economics and management from Witten-Herdecke University, Germany. He introduced the theoretical framework and practice called "presencing" in 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, Otto has used presencing to facilitate profound innovation and change processes both within companies and across societal systems. See also www.ottoscharmer.com and www.presencing.net.

Dr. Scharmer will lead a plenary session on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 6, entitled "Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges."

Michael Jones is an inspired speaker and facilitator, an accomplished pianist/composer, an evocative storyteller, and a thoughtful coach, mentor, writer and communicator. An Ontario native, he has served across diverse sectors representing corporate, healthcare, religious, consulting, voluntary, education, municipal, and more. He is a Leadership Fellow and Associate Leadership Faculty with the Executive MBA and business programs at The Center for Professional Excellence (CPE), College of Business, University of Texas; a Charter-Consulting Member with The Society for Organizational Learning (SoL); and a Senior Fellow with The James McGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, where he is also the chair of a knowledge circle on arts, leadership and community. He has had more than thirty years of experience as a leadership educator and consultant, including many years as a Senior Associate with William Isaacs, founder of The MIT Dialogue Project and Dialogos. His work has received mention in Fast Company, Personal Excellence, Business Spirit, Across the Board, The Washington Post, The Dutch Financial Times and many other publications. He is the author of Creating an Imaginative Life (1995) and Artful Leadership, Awakening the Commons of the Imagination (2006). Michael has been nominated for a 2007 Juno award in the category of Best Instrumental Artist. See also www.pianoscapes.com.

Michael Jones will lead a reflective dialogue on leadership on the evening of Tuesday, May 6.