In-Person Schedule

In-Person Schedule

Sponsorship 101: Communicating for Career Growth presented by Target

Do you want a sponsor, but aren’t sure how to get one? Sponsorship isn’t accidental—it’s earned through trust, clarity, and consistent communication. This session explores how to communicate your value, aspirations, and impact in ways that invite advocacy from senior leaders. Learn how to position yourself for sponsorship without self-promotion fatigue.

Operational Savvy: Leading with Efficiency and Impact presented by Capital One

Operations are where strategy meets reality. This session focuses on understanding processes, constraints, and levers that drive performance. Learn how operational awareness enables leaders to improve outcomes, manage complexity, and lead more effectively across functions.

Decision-Making in Volatile Environments presented by Cisco

Change demands faster, smarter decisions. This session explores how leaders make effective choices amid uncertainty and limited information. Learn frameworks to balance risk, speed, and impact while maintaining alignment with organizational goals.

Building a Network that Works for You presented by Nestle

Networking is more than collecting contacts—it is a strategic leadership skill that requires purposeful relationship building. Learn how to cultivate authentic connections, activate your network with intention, and build relationships that support growth, visibility, and opportunity over time.

The Leader You Are vs. The Leader They Experience presented by The ELC

This session focuses on the gap between executive self-perception and team experience. You will examine how leadership styles, behavioral patterns, and unspoken assumptions impact how teams engage, perform, and follow. Leave with tools to close that gap and lead teams with greater awareness, alignment, and impact.

Dress for the Job You Want: Style Strategy for Ambitious Executives presented by The ELC

Talented executives are too often underestimated, simply because their appearance hasn’t caught up to their expertise. This session breaks down how personal style functions as a career accelerator, using wardrobe and personal branding strategy to help executives build a visual presence that takes them to the next level. Attendees will leave with clear, practical steps to elevate their professional wardrobe so their image reinforces credibility and commands authority.

Become a Change Catalyst presented by Amgen

The most effective leaders are able to both manage change and drive it. This session challenges participants to step into their role as change catalysts. Learn how to model adaptability, influence others, and create momentum in the face of disruption.

AI Integration and Organizational Culture Change presented by Pfizer

Culture determines whether AI adoption succeeds or stalls. This session helps leaders understand how norms, values, and leadership behaviors influence trust, adoption, and responsible use. Leaders learn how to shape a culture that supports learning, transparency, and shared accountability.

Resilience as a Leadership Skill presented by PWC

This fireside chat explores how leaders build resilience in themselves and others during periods of sustained change. Learn strategies to manage energy, avoid burnout, and lead with steadiness under pressure.

Leading through Change: Adaptive Leadership in Action presented by Amazon

Rigid leadership fails in fast-moving environments. This session focuses on adaptability as a core executive capability. Learn how to assess changing conditions, shift strategies, and lead teams through evolving priorities without losing momentum.

Leading Through Disruption: What Doesn’t Change When Everything Else Does presented by Novartis

TBD

Dress for the Job You Want: Style Strategy for Ambitious Executives presented by The ELC

Talented executives are too often underestimated, simply because their appearance hasn’t caught up to their expertise. This session breaks down how personal style functions as a career accelerator, using wardrobe and personal branding strategy to help executives build a visual presence that takes them to the next level. Attendees will leave with clear, practical steps to elevate their professional wardrobe so their image reinforces credibility and commands authority.

Change Never Comes with a Roadmap: Leading through Uncertainty presented by Ecolab

This session helps leaders navigate ambiguity with confidence and calm. Learn how to provide direction, make decisions, and support teams — even when the path forward is unclear.

Leading Smarter: How AI Is Reshaping Leadership Strategy and Performance presented by HSBC

As AI reshapes how organizations operate, leaders are being asked to lead through both opportunity and uncertainty. In this immersive session, HSBC executives will demonstrate how they are using AI to sharpen strategy, accelerate team performance, and create value for clients- and how you can too. Participants will explore how AI might support stronger decision-making and productivity, the risks and watchouts leaders should understand, and the capabilities managers will need to navigate the next stage of their leadership journey.

Navigating Organizational Change presented by The ELC

Leaders are often the bridge between strategy and frontline execution during change. This session explores how individuals experience change and how leaders can reduce uncertainty, resistance, and disruption. Learn practical strategies to maintain momentum, accountability, and morale.

Navigating High-Stakes Conversations presented by Synchrony

Whether presenting to senior leaders or negotiating across teams, high-stakes conversations require precision and emotional intelligence. This session equips you with tools to prepare, frame, and deliver messages with confidence—so your voice is heard and your message lands.

Beyond Sponsorship: The Relationship Every Leader Needs Now

Sponsorship matters, but it’s not enough. Today’s leaders need a broader network of people who challenge their thinking, share perspective, create access, advocate for them, and help them grow.
Go Beyond Sponsorship and discover the four relationships that can help you navigate your career, expand your influence, and increase your impact.

Two Lanes: How to Win with AI at Work and in Life presented by The ELC

There are two versions of AI happening right now. The one your company allows, and the one wide open in your personal life. The people pulling ahead are running in both lanes. In this session, AI keynote speaker and trainer Cliff Worley, who has trained teams at Amazon, Marriott, Unilever, and Capital One, breaks down the trends quietly reshaping how work gets done, the tools he actually uses every day, and what’s really happening inside corporate America’s AI adoption. You’ll leave knowing how to put AI to work for yourself and your team, and every attendee gets his 10-prompt playbook for managers, ready to use that afternoon.

Life Lessons Disguised as a Fireside Chat

Drawing on the humor, storytelling, and layered life lessons from his book Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir, Roy Wood Jr. explores how diverse influences shape our leadership lens. Through the metaphor of “many fathers”—mentors, critics, culture, and lived experience—this session challenges MLMS leaders to expand their definition of guidance, embrace unconventional wisdom, and lead with greater empathy and accountability. You will leave with a sharper awareness of how identity, upbringing, and perspective influence decision-making—and how to intentionally curate the voices that shape your leadership journey going forward.

Speaker:
Roy Wood Jr., Author, Comedian, & Cultural Commentator

The Price of Nice

Inspired by her best-selling book The Price of Nice, Amira Barger shares the hidden trade-offs of prioritizing likability over leadership. This session explores the cultural and professional conditioning that drives “niceness” and offers a reframed approach rooted in clarity and conviction. You’ll learn how to communicate with directness without losing trust, navigate conflict productively, and shift from being agreeable to being impactful.

Speaker:
Amira Barger, Author, The Price of Nice

The Code Breaker Mindset presented by The ELC

Break free from conventional thinking and discover how to challenge limiting assumptions, navigate obstacles, and create new opportunities for growth. Inspired by her book The CodeBreaker Mindset™, Chitra Newbatt facilitates this interactive workshop where you will learn practical frameworks to help think boldly, make courageous decisions, and redefine what’s possible for your leadership career.

Speaker:
Chitra Newbatt, Author, Host, Creator, Producer

Think Like an Executive: Shift from Functional Expertise to Enterprise Impact presented by PepsiCo

C-suite leaders see the whole system. This session helps mid-level managers shift from functional thinking to enterprise-level decision-making. Learn how to connect your work to organizational strategy, anticipate trade-offs, and demonstrate the kind of thinking senior leaders expect.

Adaptive Leadership Amid Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity presented by The ELC

The foundation of the workshop is based on the Adaptive Leadership model developed by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, Harvard Kennedy School. The workshop will equip you with the skills required to navigate and thrive in today’s rapidly changing professional environment. This interactive session will focus on developing the ability to anticipate and respond to challenges with flexibility, creativity, and resilience. You will explore the core principles of adaptive leadership and learn how to diagnose and respond to complex situations.

Every Interaction Is a Negotiation: Building Trust, Influence, and Accountability Through The Negotiator’s Mindset presented by The ELC

Leaders must build trust, drive results, and influence others — even without formal authority through everyday interactions where each conversation is a negotiation. In this session, Ranieka Weston introduces The Negotiator’s Mindset™, a practical framework for bringing clarity, confidence, and intention to those moments. Through reflection, real-world examples, and actionable tools, participants will learn to recognize hidden negotiations, strengthen influence, communicate with credibility, and lead through change, enhancing their impact in the conversations that define leadership success.

The Happiness Reboot: The Path to Reclaiming Your Joy presented by The ELC

Drawing on insights from his book, The Happiness Reboot: The Path to Reclaiming Your Joy, Craig Robinson explores how leaders can reconnect with purpose, reclaim joy, and build greater resilience amid the demands of work and life. This session offers practical perspectives for breaking patterns that drain energy, redefining what fulfillment looks like, and leading from a place of greater intention and authenticity.

Speaker:
Craig Robinson, Corporate Board Director, Former CEO & Author

Two Lanes: How to Win with AI at Work and in Life presented by The ELC

There are two versions of AI happening right now. The one your company allows, and the one wide open in your personal life. The people pulling ahead are running in both lanes. In this session, AI keynote speaker and trainer Cliff Worley, who has trained teams at Amazon, Marriott, Unilever, and Capital One, breaks down the trends quietly reshaping how work gets done, the tools he actually uses every day, and what’s really happening inside corporate America’s AI adoption. You’ll leave knowing how to put AI to work for yourself and your team, and every attendee gets his 10-prompt playbook for managers, ready to use that afternoon.

Betting on Yourself: Building Influence, Opportunity, and Wealth in Uncertain Times

In today’s rapidly changing workplace, career growth belongs to leaders who can recognize opportunity before others do, take calculated risks, and create value in unexpected ways. As an entrepreneur, investor, and founder of one of the nation’s leading fintech platforms, Rodney Williams has built a career by challenging conventional thinking and turning bold ideas into transformative businesses. In this candid conversation, Rodney will share lessons from his journey—from launching groundbreaking ventures to leading through disruption and scaling innovation.

Speaker:
Rodney Williams, Co-Founder, SoLo Funds

Lessons from 40 Years: Leadership Then, Now, and Next

As we celebrate the Executive Leadership Council’s 40th anniversary, join Carla Harris for a fireside chat exploring how the workplace has evolved— and what leadership may require in the future.

Designed for mid-level managers navigating today’s rapidly changing workplace, this conversation will examine how the role of the manager has shifted, and will continue to. Carla Harris will share lessons learned from leading through change and building impact across generations.

Speaker:
Carla Harris, Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley

Discover more about the 2026 Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium

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