Character Leadership Conference:
Cultivating Hope for a Flourishing World

Wednesday 6 November 2024, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm EST
Format: Virtual
Keynotes | Workshops | Fireside Chat
COST: $399 CAD + HST; Early Bird rate until 30 September - $349 CAD + HST

In today’s polarized world, many of us feel the growing strain of being unable to engage in meaningful conversations with those who think differently. The increasing divide has led to frustration, isolation, and stress within individuals, organizations, and societies. Character Leadership: Cultivating Hope for a Flourishing World is designed to equip leaders and practitioners with the tools to navigate this challenging landscape. Through the lens of character, we will explore how to cultivate hope, foster mutual respect, and build connections that enable flourishing and excellence. Join us for a transformative experience that empowers you to lead with character, create meaningful dialogue, and help shape a world where all can thrive, even amid differences.

This virtual event will include two keynote addresses by globally-renowned thought leaders, a fireside chat with a prominent educator and scholar in the character education space, and three interactive workshops led by Ihnatowycz Leadership’s character academics and practitioners.

• Opening keynote: Adam Kahane, a conflict facilitator, scenario planner, and author, with exceptional experiences with the Mandela and Colombian governments.
• Fireside chat: Dusya Vera in a conversation with Michael Lamb, Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, USA.
• Three interactive workshops led by Mary Crossan and Corey Crossan; Lucas Monzani, Seemantini Pathak and Sonja Bruschetto; and Travis Lethbridge and Michael Bain.
• Closing keynote: Wendy K. Smith, management thought leader, author, and organizational psychologist who specializes in Both/And Thinking, and helps individuals and teams turn problems into possibilities.

 

Distinguished Guests

Adam Kahane

Adam Kahane is a Director of Reos Partners, an international social enterprise that helps people move forward together on their most important and intractable issues. Adam is a leading organizer, designer and facilitator of processes through which business, government, and civil society leaders can work together to address such challenges. He has worked in more than fifty countries, in every part of the world, with executives and politicians, generals and guerrillas, civil servants and trade unionists, community activists and United Nations officials, clergy and artists.

Adam is the author of Solving Tough Problems, about which 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.” He is also the author of Power and Love, Transformative Scenario Planning, Collaborating with the Enemy, and Facilitating Breakthrough. His forthcoming book Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems: The Catalytic Power of Radical Engagement will be released in May 2025.

Adam is a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2022 he was named a Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Michael Lamb

Michael Lamb is the F. M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character, Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character, and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Oxford Character Project. He holds a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University, a B.A. in political science from Rhodes College, and a second B.A. in philosophy and theology from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

Michael’s research focuses on the ethics of citizenship and the role of virtues in public life. His book, A Commonwealth of Hope: Augustine’s Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2022), offers a novel interpretation of Augustine’s political thought and recovers his virtue of hope to inform contemporary politics. He is also a co-editor of Cultivating Virtue in the University (Oxford University Press, 2022) and Everyday Ethics: Moral Theology and the Practices of Ordinary Life (Georgetown University Press, 2019). His work has been published in a number of edited volumes and academic journals, including the American Political Science Review, Review of Politics, Journal of Religious Ethics, Journal of Moral Education, and Journal of Character Education.

Wendy K. Smith

Management thought leader and award-winning organizational psychologist Wendy K. Smith is on a mission to help individuals and organizations turn our problems into possibilities.

Smith currently holds the prestigious title of Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management and serves as the faculty director of the Women's Leadership Initiative at the Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware. Wendy is also one of the youngest people named as an Academy of Management Fellow. As an organizational psychologist, she is a leading expert on the power of paradox - applying both/and thinking to help us innovate, change and generate more creative, sustainable solutions to our toughest challenges. In her talks, Wendy brings science-based research to life with real world stories to both captivate and motivate her audiences.

Smith is the co-author of Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems, along with Marianne Lewis, named a Top 10 Management Book by Thinkers50, a finalist for the Next Big Idea Award, and a #1 Amazon New Release. Smith and Lewis were awarded the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award for these groundbreaking ideas.

Wendy is also an award-winning scholar. She has been named the Web of Science Highly Cited Researchers for being among the top 1% most cited researchers for 5 years in a row. She has published her research in influential journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, and Management Science, while also reaching beyond academia to publish in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, Newsweek, and others. As a compelling and engaging teacher, she won the MBA Excellence in Teaching Award 5 times.

Beyond accolades and awards, Wendy's passion lies in helping leaders worldwide tackle the complex challenges of interpersonal dynamics, team performance, organizational change, and innovation to transform their organizations and the world. Approachable, insightful, and globally revered, she continues to shape the future of management thinking.

Event Schedule

8:30 - 8:45 am	Welcome
8:45 - 9:45 am	Opening Keynote - Collaborating with the Enemy, Reconsidered By Adam Kahane, author and Director of Reos Partners, a social impact organization focused on bringing change to complex challenges How, faced with our worsening polycrisis and polarisation, can we work together effectively with diverse others? How can we collaborate against and with our “enemies”? What individual and collective stretches are required of us?
9:45 - 10:45 am	Fireside Chat - Beyond Pessimism: Exploring the Character of Hope With Michael Lamb, Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character, Wake Forest University and author
10:45 - 11:45 am	Workshop - Becoming a Character Champion Facilitated by Mary Crossan, Distinguished University Professor, Ivey Business School, and Corey Crossan, Research and Teaching Fellow, University of Oxford There is no shortage of research and practical tools to develop character and embed it in organizations.  However, the gap between what we know needs to be done and what we can do is significant. One of the scarcest resources is cultivating character champions that can lead the way.  In this workshop, we will engage what it takes to be a character champion by expanding a sense of possibility and exploring how to inspire others.
11:45 am - 12:45 pm	Lunch break
12:45 - 1:45 pm	Workshop - How Do We Begin? Developing the Influence Network and Mapping it Out Facilitated by Travis Lethbridge and Michael Bain, Royal Canadian Armed Forces How to start your Character Evolution, how to identify the right people to include, and use a Community of Practice to set Character Contagion in motion.
1:45 - 2:45 pm	Workshop - Curiosity and Perspective-Taking Approach to Managing Conflict in Individuals, Teams, and Organizations: A Character-Based Perspective Facilitated by Lucas Monzani, Assistant Professor and Troost Professorship in Leadership, Ivey Business School, Seemantini Pathak, Associate Professor and Ihnatowycz Family Foundation Chair in Leadership, Ivey Business School, and Sonja Bruschetto, Research Assistant, Ivey Business School Both scholars and practitioners have identified perspective taking as a fundamental process to reduce internal conflict in teams and organizations. In this workshop, we propose that the character element of curiosity can complement the positive impact of perspective taking when dealing with psychological, group, and organizational conflict. In this workshop, we will not only summarize the evidence connecting these two constructs with other factors known to facilitate individual wellbeing (inner peace), team effectiveness (psychological safety and interpersonal trust) and community wellbeing, but will also engage participants through interactive mindfulness activities and character development exercises. We well draw on insights from both Western and Eastern philosophical traditions to provide a comprehensive understanding and practical tools for application.
2:45 - 3:45 pm	Closing Keynote - The Power of AND By Wendy K. Smith, management thought leader and award-winning organizational psychologist Wendy Smith will introduce participants to the core ideas of both/and thinking to address our greatest challenges. She will explore the nature of either/or thinking and why this approach can be "limited at best and detrimental at worst.” She will introduce the idea of paradox, how paradox invites us to engage in both/and thinking and some strategies for doing so. This talk will include multiple examples of individuals and leaders grappling with tensions and competing demands.
3:45 - 4:00 pm	Wrap-up