Stop Managing.
Start Leading.

October 29-30, 2026

National Harbor, MD & Virtual

The Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium is two days of real skills, honest conversations, and access to the people who’ve already made the leap — built for professionals who are ready for what’s next.

The MLMS Difference

Most leadership conferences give you inspiration and a tote bag. MLMS gives you something to actually use.

For two days, over 1,000 mid-level and senior professionals come together for sessions built around the real challenges of leading from the middle: navigating up, managing across, developing your team, and positioning yourself for what’s next.

The difference is who’s in the room. The ELC’s members are some of the most accomplished executives in business today, and they show up at MLMS not to speak at you, but to work with you. The guidance is direct, the advice is specific, and the conversations don’t happen anywhere else.

Featured Speakers

This is where the full group comes together — for conversations that challenge how you think, sharpen how you lead, and send you back to your team with something real. Every Inspire Stage speaker comes with hard-won perspective and no interest in giving you anything generic. You won’t just leave inspired. You’ll leave feeling reenergized.

Roy Wood Jr.

Author, Comedian, & Cultural Commentator Life Lessons Disguised as a Fireside Chat

Amira Barger

Author, The Price of Nice

Carla Harris

Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley, The ELC Member Lessons from 40 Years: Leadership Then, Now, and Next

L. Michelle Smith

Leadership Strategist, Executive Coach, Bestselling Author, The Power of Presence: Leading from the Inside Out

Real-World Guidance

Content drawn from direct experiences of ELC members and top executives, reflecting thousands of career discussions on advancement and equity.

Validate Your Plan

Interact with dozens of seasoned experts providing tailored recommendations to overcome workplace challenges and build executive strength.

Expand Your Network

Form lasting relationships within a vibrant community of more than 1,500 accomplished peers, unlocking mentorship, partnerships, and ongoing support.

The Case for Being Here

Why YOU Should Be Here

You’ve built real expertise. You deliver results. Now you’re ready to lead differently, with more influence, more visibility, and a clearer path to what’s next. MLMS is where that shift happens.

Every session is designed to give you something concrete: a framework to use, a conversation to have, a blind spot to address. You’ll leave with more than notes. You’ll leave with a clearer picture of what’s possible and what to do about it.

How to influence decisions when you don't have the authority to make them
What senior leaders actually look for when they're deciding who's ready
How to manage up effectively without losing yourself in the process
The financial and business fluency that gets you taken seriously at the table

Why YOU Should Send Your Team

Mid-level managers are where your organizational strategy either holds or breaks down. They translate leadership decisions into team behavior, manage performance, retain talent, and absorb pressure from every direction.

MLMS is a direct investment in that layer of your organization. Attendees come back with sharper skills and a shared framework for leadership that doesn’t disappear when the conference ends. And when you send a team, those conversations continue back at the office.

Stronger retention: people stay where they feel invested in
Better readiness: attendees return with clearer executive instincts and stronger business acumen
Shared language: teams who attend together lead together more effectively
Network access: The ELC's community is one of the most powerful professional networks in corporate America. Your managers tap into that permanently.

WHAT YOU'LL WORK ON

Every session at MLMS is built around The ELC Edge — five competencies that separate good managers from executives who last.

Financial & Business Acumen

How to read a room that’s talking P&L, make the financial case for your ideas, and start thinking like the executive you’re becoming.

Make the Financial Case for your Ideas

Start Thinking like the Executive you're Becoming

Financial Strategy Alignment for Mid-Level Leaders

Leveraging Data for Competitive Advantage

Emotional Intelligence & Empathy

How to regulate under pressure, manage up without losing credibility, read what’s really happening in a team, and recognize the unconscious patterns that quietly undermine your leadership.

manage up without losing credibility

read what's really happening in a team

recognize the unconscious patterns that quietly undermine your leadership

Leveraging Data for Competitive Advantage

Change Leadership

How to lead people through uncertainty when you don’t have all the answers and still be the person your team looks to for direction.

manage up without losing credibility

read what's really happening in a team

recognize the unconscious patterns that quietly undermine your leadership

Leveraging Data for Competitive Advantage

Communication & Influence

How to get your ideas heard, navigate high-stakes conversations, build sponsorship, and communicate with the kind of clarity and presence that gets you noticed for the right reasons.

Navigate high-stakes conversations

Build sponsorship

Communicate with the kind of clarity and presence that gets you noticed for the right reasons

Leveraging Data for Competitive Advantage

Cultural Competence

How to lead across difference, build psychologically safe teams, interrupt bias in everyday decisions, and make inclusion something your team actually feels.

Navigate high-stakes conversations

Build sponsorship

Communicate with the kind of clarity and presence that gets you noticed for the right reasons

Leveraging Data for Competitive Advantage

Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium 2026 is your premier opportunity to connect with a powerful community of Leaders and gain exclusive access to expert insights. Build and strengthen your professional network by engaging with high-potential mid-level managers, senior executives, and influential The ELC members from Fortune 500 organizations.

Build Your Network

Mid-Level and Senior Professionals

Learn From The Best

Expert Speakers & The ELC Leaders

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Choose Your Path

Breakout Sessions

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Thank you ELC for such an amazing experience and role modeling for 950+ up and coming leaders how to lift as you climb.

Attendee reflection on the 24th Annual Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium

Discover what it’s like to experience the Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium

Start Your Symposium Experience. Register Today.

Maximize your Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium experience by knowing what to expect at every stage.

Pre-Symposium

Once registered, the event platform serves as your central hub to prepare and personalize your participation.

During the Symposium

Dive into a dynamic program featuring inspirational keynotes, targeted breakout sessions, leadership labs, and robust networking in a supportive community environment.

Post-Symposium

Extend the value long after the event ends by revisiting materials and sustaining your momentum.

THE MLMS EXPERIENCE

2 powerful networking opportunities. 5 key focus areas. 15 breakout sessions. 10+ speakers. 1,500 peers. 1 career-changing experience.

Inspire Stage

Where the full group comes together. No filler, no panels for the sake of panels — just honest, direct conversations with people who have something real to say about leading at a high level.

REAL TALK. REAL CONNECTIONS

The networking at MLMS is built around 1,000+ professionals who are navigating the same challenges you are. Leave with relationships that actually go somewhere.

15+ BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Smaller rooms, sharper focus. Each session is led by a member of The ELC or a senior corporate leader and built around one of five competencies that move mid-level leaders forward.

conference venue

Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center

Please note: MLMS starts with networking brunch at 10:30 AM, Thursday, October 29 and concludes after 3:50 PM, Friday, October 30

Experience MLMS Your Way

Choose the experience that fits your needs:

• In-Person: $2,000 Immerse yourself in the full symposium environment with face-to-face networking and direct engagement.

• Virtual: $1,000 Access the same transformative content and connection opportunities from anywhere in the world through our interactive online platform.