Franklin University is hosting a Change Leadership Symposium on Thursday October 15, 2009 from 11:30-5:00 on the 2nd Floor of Philips Hall (Main & Grant) in downtown Columbus Ohio.
I’m working with the organizers now to determine if there is a good fit for me to lead one of the discussions. I’ll keep you posted in regards to that. Either way I am registered and excited for this important event to happen. I hope to see you there!
[Full information available here and LinkedIn page here]
Change Leadership on the path to Democratic Governance
Initially, the focus for this symposium started as individual topics at the frontier of change leadership. These topics included complexity science as a framework for understanding change, interconnection of change at different scale (personal, organizational, and societal), building community, and managing a portfolio of change. However, as the topics were evaluated it became clear there was a common theme involving the continuing movement into a knowledge era and how individuals choose to structure their relationships as they organize with others.
Within this shift, “Democratic Governance” is starting to surface as an approach to community governance. This approach seeks to involve more stakeholders in the decision-making process and works to overcome conflicts by addressing root causes. Yet, while Democratic Governance normally involves local governing bodies, the same issues are involved in empowering teams and collaboration among organizational stakeholders with different goals.
Therefore, this symposium will examine a number of issues within the framework of the greater change processes underway today. It will seek to build a holistic understanding that incorporates leading edge thinking about change processes. Attendees are expected to come from a range of backgrounds with expertise in different aspects of organizational change and thereby share their knowledge within the framework of building a sustainable model of Democratic Governance.
Adopting new approaches for organizing diverse groups of people, the symposium is designed to be different from traditional conferences and workshops. Collectively, attendees will experience techniques for building a sense of community around common interests and move to deeper levels of learning. Attendees will be encouraged to be active participants by investigating the numerous issues that arise as you scale from small groups with single focus into larger groups bringing conflicting agendas to the table. It is these larger issues that are expected to dominate the symposium dialogue.
Registration fee: $20 includes lunch, afternoon refreshments, and symposium supplies. Contact Dr. Ross Wirth at wirthr@franklin.edu or 614-947-6128 for more information. Profiles of those attending are being organized at http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/1865279/
