Leadership Conversations

 

Leadership Conversations 2024-2025

Below we set out the dates and themes for our Conversations through to December 2025. Some Conversations are marked “Fellows only” because attendance is restricted to Leadership Fellows. Others are marked “Fellows+” because we are very happy to welcome Fellows’ nominees, such as a member of their top team or a key business partner.

Participants from September to December 2024

Here is an up-to-date list of participants joining us for Leadership Conversations from September to December 2024.

Details are also are available on the Agenda page for each Conversation.

 

Leadership Themes:

Our programme is organised around 2 core themes:

Wisdom and Personal Growth

Providing a space for a deeper authentic enquiry into the character, purpose and ambition of our leadership.

Practical Wisdom For These Times

Providing an opportunity to share practical experience, expertise and learning around key contemporary issues.

To read more about these themes please click here.

 

Leadership Conversation

Leader to Leader Exchanges via Zoom
October 2024 to March 2025

18th Oct, 15th Nov, 13th Dec, 17th Jan, 14th Feb, 21st Mar – From 12.00pm – 2pm

This is a unique opportunity to be in a longitudinal learning conversation with fellow leaders over a period of 6 months. It is a forum in which we will openly share and honestly examine our own responses as leaders to events and experiences as they unfold over time.

In this next series, we will explore the topic of ‘Navigating in a turbulent world’. We will focus on three themes in particular: Pace, Space and Grace.

Fellows only/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn

Fee: £320 for the 6 session series

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
108

Staying Human with AI – *Limited Availability*

From 6.00pm on Tuesday 24th September 2024 until 4.00pm on Wednesday 25th

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in all its forms has been with us for some time now in the cloud based systems and services we use everyday. The change today is that it is now central to the workplace. Our organisations will start to use AI as assistance in the first place and then, as its “intelligence” increases in function, to replace many jobs – hopefully releasing human creativity and ingenuity for higher value activity…..

How will we as leaders work personally and professionally with this tidal change? What will we as humans do when the bulk of the current world’s information work is completed by AI?

It is here now so let’s have a conversation about how we can bring about positive change and wisdom utilising AI. In particular to:

  • Discuss AI’s emerging role in the workplace with fellow leaders
  • Explore how we harness AI for good change and wisdom in leadership
  • Consider the risks and fears relating to AI (whether founded or not)
  • Explore our roles when AI takes on a significant portion of information work
  • Ponder ‘What does it mean to be human?’ in the AI era
  • Collaborate on strategies for adapting professionally to AI’s tidal change
  • Discuss what controls might be needed in our organisations

**LIMITED AVAILABILITY**
Fellows+/ Facilitators: Tony Wood & Chris Blakeley

One-night Leadership Conversation fee: £810

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
109

Wisdom and Courage in Generative Leadership

From 6.00pm on Sunday 13th October 2024 until 12 noon on Wednesday 16th

The four big words in this title represent a powerful constellation. Take any one away and something ‘less-than’ starts to happen in the world. In this Conversation we will explore the growth, balance and flow of these qualities in our own leadership and in the culture we engender around us.

Progress is all about breakthrough, the way a shoot breaks through the soil. That is what we mean by generative, or regenerative, leadership. What it takes to release the latent potential or solution that lies below the ‘crust’ of old patterns, assumptions and behaviours that are no longer serving us.

Courage is about the honest determination to do what it takes and not to settle for the ‘less-than’.
Leadership is the call we all share to make a difference in the world.
Wisdom is the mysterious, hard-won quality that has us able to know:

  • When, how where, breakthrough is needed and how to spot the signs
  • When to be bold, strong, fearless and when to be calm, patient, nurturing
  • When to break the soil or prune the tree and when to tend or train
  • When to stay the course, when to flex with the flow

**PLACES STILL AVAILABLE**
Fellows only/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn

Three-night Leadership Conversation fee: £1440

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
110

Regenerative Leadership

From 6.00pm on Wednesday 27th November 2024 until 12 noon on Friday 29th

What does it really take to lead in the 21st century?

This Conversation seeks to open up a new thread for the Fellowship, which we will follow through in subsequent events. In this first one, we will explore what it takes to release a different quality of thinking in the way we lead today. We can view it as a movement from an ‘acquisitive’, to a ‘sustainable’ and into a ‘regenerative’ mindset.

We will consider:

  • How we stay mentally alert to the possibility of regenerative breakthrough
  • How we work with ‘stuckness’ and the ‘frustration energy’ this contains
  • How true breakthrough emerges – in robust dialogue of apparently conflicting ‘truths’
  • How we bring ‘living system’ wisdom into our organisational routines
  • The bigger picture: our role as stewards, leading with future generations in mind

Fellows+/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn

Two-night Leadership Conversation fee: £1080

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
111

Leadership in a Regulated Environment

From 9.45am until 4.30pm on Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Are you a CEO or leader working in a rigorously controlled environment such as public service, health or tightly regulated industries? Do you find yourself grappling with power dynamics and feeling powerless at times, despite a title that would suggest otherwise.

Join us for a deep dive into the subtleties of leadership in such a context where wisdom and collaboration are key, and where power and regulatory dynamics can often leave us feeling frustrated or powerless, or both! We will share experiences, insights and practical tips for navigating the complex landscape of regulations, policies, and stakeholders.

We will share the unique space of St George’s House to:

  • Explore with fellow CEO’s the nuances of leading in regulated environments
  • Discuss balancing competing needs, effective collaboration, and power dynamics
  • Share practical tips to navigate complex regulatory landscapes
  • Delve into specific challenges and opportunities that arise in controlled sectors
  • Learn and develop strategies from each other for driving innovation, building effective partnerships, and achieving success.

Fellows only/ Facilitators: Tony Wood & Karen Stefanyszyn

One-day Leadership Conversation fee: £490

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
112

Grit and Flair

From 6.00pm on Thursday 23rd January 2025 until 4.00pm on Friday 24th

This will be a Conversation about performance – we hope and trust a lively and creative shared enquiry into something very gritty!

The impetus has come from conversations with a number of Fellows who have been finding themselves having to ‘dig deep and keep on going’, with the inevitable question of ‘when is enough, enough’? The answer to that seems to lie not so much in the outcomes but in the energy – digging deep for something that is ‘worth it’ and something which, however tough, draws something new, creative and exciting from us – ‘flair’!

The analogy that immediately springs to mind is that of a racing driver – when to hit the accelerator, when the brake. Or a writer finding their flow in the wrestle with words and ‘truth’. In leadership it may be as simple, and radical, as being in all it takes to lead and still enjoy it!

Fellows+/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn
Core Theme: Practical Wisdom For These Times

One-night Leadership Conversation fee: £810

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
113

Charisma and Presence

From 6.00pm on Tuesday 18th February 2025 until 4.00pm on Wednesday 19th

When are you most in need of charisma and presence as a leader? How do you find it? How do you lose it? And what happens when you do?

This will be a genuine wisdom enquiry in which we draw on our lived experience as leaders to explore some or all of the following:

  • What is charisma, when and how is it essential in our leadership?
  • What are its risks and limits?
  • How do you cultivate it, if indeed you can? How does this sit with authenticity and vulnerability in leadership
  • What is ‘presence’ and how and why is this powerful?
  • How do we sustain it and what happens when we lose it or lack it?
  • How do we channel this energy wisely in our leadership relationships to strengthen trust and release potential?
  • How do we cultivate these qualities in the leaders around us?

Fellows+/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Tony Wood
Core Theme: Practical Wisdom For These Times

One-night Leadership Conversation fee: £810

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
114

Space to be… Leadership Retreat

From 6.00pm on Wednesday 12th March 2025 until 12 noon on Friday 14th

“To Advance, retreat!” – paradoxical though it may seem! There are times when we just know we need to get away – to breathe, get fresh perspective, renew our strength and purpose. Often of course these are the very times when we least feel like it! So can we invite you to challenge yourself as you read this?

The title of this Conversation came from our Fellows Dinners. The summary of the discussion around one of the tables was about what was most needed from us as leaders in this day and age.

The French writer Roland Barthes said pretty much the same thing,

“There is only one way left to address the challenges of present day society: to retreat ahead of it”.

So, we decided to offer it as a Conversation.

Fellows only/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn
Core Theme: Wisdom and Personal Growth

Two-night Leadership Conversation fee: £1080

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
115

Promote or Fire: Navigating Challenging Relationships in Leadership

From 9.45am until 4.30pm on Wednesday 9th April 2025

Promote or fire? Strange but both these apparently polar choices may be right. The starkness of the decisions invites us to look more closely: something isn’t working out, what do we do about it? Promote …? Fire..? or, how often, do we just do nothing and soldier on. The key issue is how consciously we make these decisions – the quality of awareness we bring to them.

This Conversation invites us to get real and share our hard won wisdom about the dynamics of leading leadership teams, where so many of our hopes and ambitions rest on the shoulders of key appointments and their capacity to bring their full potential to work generatively and purposefully together.

Our aim will be to open up challenging questions, share practical tools and access deeper reflective insights from our experience of navigating the complexities of leadership team dynamics – and how to make informed decisions about promotions and terminations while fostering a supportive and productive work environment.

Fellows only/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Tony Wood
Core Theme: Practical Wisdom For These Times

One-day Leadership Conversation fee: £490

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
116

Leadership Focus and Attention

From 6.00pm on Tuesday 6th May 2025 until 12 noon on Friday 9th

We all know that what we focus on as leaders gets done. It is therefore probably the single most important aspect of our leadership. There are always too many things to do. So we have to choose what we focus on. There’s the nub of the challenge.

The core quality that underpins this is our attention. But our attention needs attending to! Why? Because it is often reactive and ‘caught’ by the wrong things. We often talk about ‘paying attention’ which is an interesting metaphor. What do we ‘pay’ with? All too often it is with a life not lived, opportunities lost – all the things we could have done or made happen (or just enjoyed!) if we had not been distracted, or focused on the wrong things.

We will explore and enquire into:

  • Things that seem to be ‘crowding out your attention’ or sucking up all your time – and why?
  • Things you are not getting to that you really want to?
  • Things you can see developing in your context that are starting to ‘catch your eye’ and, whilst smaller now, may be of huge significance soon?
  • Any sense in your gut that something just doesn’t ‘feel quite right’ but you either don’t know what it is or can’t put your finger on why?
  • How you might relax and start enjoying your life more as a leader rather than over-worrying, or over-striving.

Fellows only/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn
Core Theme: Wisdom and Personal Growth

Three-night Leadership Conversation fee: £1440

See the Agenda
Leadership Conversation
117

Power and Responsibility: Navigating Leadership Dynamics

From 6.00pm on Tuesday 3rd June 2025 until 4pm on Wednesday 4th

In this Conversation we will make the most of the special, high trust culture of the Fellowship to hold a full, frank exploration of our relationship with power as leaders. In particular we will explore the subtle dynamic between power and responsibility – ‘With great power comes great responsibility’, as the Spiderman adage has it. But this is true the other way round too, when we step up and take responsibility we need to ensure we are wise to the power dynamics of this – otherwise we may succumb to weariness and disillusionment.

We will be enquiring into:

  • Personal and Historical Contexts of Power: how individual experiences from childhood to adulthood shape perceptions of power and responsibility.
  • Organisational Dynamics of Power: how it works overtly and covertly within complex systems, its impact on institutional structures and how to work wisely with this.
  • Power and Its Consequences: the true responsibilities and false projections that come with power, the potential for misuse, and the ethical dilemmas leaders face.
  • Power in Action: Strategies for harnessing power effectively to achieve desired outcomes while maintaining integrity and respect for others.
  • ‘Power-plays’: both positive and negative. How to bring our true power into play and help others do the same; how to challenge power games and the abuse of power.
  • Personal reflection: understanding our own power, its impact and limits; exploring our own questions on how to use and grow it – confidently, wisely and responsibly.

Fellows +/ Facilitators: Karen Stefanyszyn & Tony Wood
Core Theme: Wisdom and Personal Growth

One-night Leadership Conversation fee: £810

Leadership Conversation
118

Leading in a Polarised World

From 6.00pm on Wednesday 18th June 2025 until 4pm on Thursday 19th

This is a topic that seems to be emerging as one of the most important amongst our Fellows. Whether it is people ‘entrenching’ around diversity issues, or the hardening of political positions, or a tendency to resort to legalistic process instead of dialogue. More and more we are encountering situations with people entrenched deeply in polarities and/or a experiencing a climate where there is an inherent tendency for people to spin off rapidly into polarised positions.

Our purpose in this Conversation is both to seek to understand this more fully – what is driving this polarisation – as well as to share wisdom as leaders about how to handle this tendency to polarise and harness it as a productive force.

We will cover:

  • “Us v them” : Understanding the dynamics of polarisation in order to mitigate and channel the energy of conflict.
  • The ‘Ladder of Inference’: Exploring personal biases and their role in escalating conflicts.
  • The Impact of Polarisation: The challenges of facilitating dialogue among divided groups.
  • Balancing Conformity and Conflict: Navigating the tension between fitting in and asserting diversity.
  • Perspective: Enriching inner awareness to better understand our own and others’ viewpoints.
  • Adaptability and Flexibility: being versatile and resilient in our leadership, inspired by the philosophy of ‘being like water’.
  • Polarity Management: Using a polarity management tool applied to our own contexts to unlock the power and wisdom of ‘harnessing opposites’
  • Intervention: Focusing on strategic, high leverage, interventions – minimum effort, maximum effect – and the importance of timing.
  • Growth Through Extremes: how embracing the extremes can catalyse personal and professional growth, if we can bear it.

Fellows +/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Tony Wood
Core Theme: Practical Wisdom For These Times

One-night Leadership Conversation fee: £810

Leadership Conversation
119

AI Systems and the Workscape: Navigating Change and Innovation

From 6.00pm on Monday 8th September 2025 until 4pm on Tuesday 9th

This Conversation will provide a unique opportunity for members of this community to exchange wisdom and insight on our lived experience as leaders of how AI is starting to become systemically embedded in our ‘workscape’. We will enquire into the nature of the disruption it is bringing in, with all its possibilities and concerns. In keeping with our ethos, we will do this from the grounded wisdom that comes from intelligent observation from the living edge of our experience – personal and organisational.

We will be careful not to slip into the froth of cliché and speculation. Equally, we will not be constrained from the vital work of imagining, from a wisdom perspective, the future work landscape now unfolding before us.

As ever, we will combine depth with practicality and real-time learning. We will equip each other with insights and strategies to harness AI’s potential responsibly while addressing the challenges and opportunities it presents in transforming the workplace.

Fellows +/ Facilitators: Karen Stefanyszyn & Tony Wood
Core Theme: Practical Wisdom For These Times

One-night Leadership Conversation fee: £810

Leadership Conversation
120

Keeping the Business Human in a Tech World

From 6.00pm on Wednesday 24th September 2025 until 4pm on Thursday 25th

Our aim in this Conversation is to create a space where we can get granular about this, to turn concern into concerted care, wisdom and action. The Conversation will also follow naturally on from previous Conversations on the impact of AI and some of the other ‘gamechangers’ that are making themselves felt in our leadership contexts right now.

Our focus will be on maintaining ‘humanity’ in a technology-driven world, with its increasingly pervasive ‘machine’ underpinning of human (inter)activity. We are all experiencing this in various ways and will find it unconsciously driving our behaviour and responses. This Conversation will keep us conscious and awake to what must be remembered as well as re-formed.

An interesting historical parallel is how Taylorism and Fordism shaped leadership in the early days of mass production, which then led to a counter- response that became known as the ‘Human Relations’ movement.

Fellows +/ Facilitators: Karen Stefanyszyn & Tony Wood
Core Theme: Practical Wisdom For These Times

One-night Leadership Conversation fee: £810

Leadership Conversation
121

Strength in Leadership: ‘Don’t be Afraid of the Dark’

From 6.00pm on Sunday 19th October until 12 noon on Wednesday 22nd

“The wise man in the storm prays not for deliverance from danger but deliverance from fear. It is the storm within that endangers not the storm without”

These words from Ralph Waldo Emerson will set us on our way in this Conversation. If the storm is coming, and we can’t, or choose not to, avoid it, then how do we respond?

It is a Conversation for those of you who want to face into some of the tougher stuff in your leadership – and to seek the wisdom, perspective and companionship of the Fellowship to help you do so.

It will be an enlivening exploration into where and how true strength flows and – what happens when it does – including our role in inspiring this in those around us. We will explore diverse aspects of strength and courage, how we cultivate these and keep them online for when they are most needed – maybe even right now, however subtly or boldly?

Fellows only/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn
Core Theme: Wisdom and Personal Growth

Three-night Leadership Conversation fee: £1440

Leadership Conversation
122

Never Underestimate the Power of Your Voice

From 6.00pm on Wednesday 12th November until 12 noon on Friday 14th

The central enquiry of this Conversation is – how we use our ‘voice’ as leaders. Voice reveals us, it sets tone, climate and mood. Our voice has power, both by virtue of our role and authority and also our capacity to discern and speak truth. Voice carries responsibility, to speak truth ‘to power’ and ‘from power’ – the responsibility to speak our truth into the world and the responsibility for the effect our words have on others.

‘Voice’ today of course has so much more dimensionality with the reach of social media and the massive increase in social sensitivity to the words we choose to use. Yet the sheer volume of words and ‘positions’ that now circulate are equally desensitising and numbing of true discourse. How do we navigate our way through all this as leaders?

Fellows +/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Karen Stefanyszyn
Core Theme: Wisdom and Personal Growth

Two-night Leadership Conversation fee: £1080

Leadership Conversation
123

Getting Beyond the Tropes of our Times

From 9.45am until 4.30pm on Wednesday 10th December 2025

The noun ‘trope’ is defined as an idea or expression that has been used by many people.

One of the risks of hosting leadership Conversations is we become a forum for the perpetuation of ‘tropes’ –  socialised, ‘sound-bite’ narratives that are substitutes for original and critical thinking. It is interesting to notice how the same narratives and even language can surface in people from very different backgrounds and contexts – a clue that powerful socialisation, even indoctrination, may be at work.

This Conversation will focus on our role as leaders in breaking though the surface of cliché, labelling and lazy thinking into robust dialogue that makes a real difference to real issues.

Fellows only/ Facilitators: Chris Blakeley & Tony Wood
Core Theme: Practical Wisdom For These Times

One-day Leadership Conversation fee: £490

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