I love our upcoming Blanchard Leadership Summit for so many reasons—mostly because it’s an opportunity to experience other leadership, learning, and talent development professionals sharing their stories face to face with peers and colleagues from around the world.
With time and resources at a premium these days, a lot of people need to think hard about whether to invest the time and money to attend a conference in person. You might have questions such as What am I going to get out of it? What will I learn? Why do I need to be there in person? How will this conference ease my concerns and address my biggest work issues? Why should I make room in my budget now?
These are really good considerations for deciding whether to attend any live, face-to-face event. Let me share my answers regarding what I believe makes the Summit worthwhile. See how they match up with your decision-making process.
What am I going to get out of it?
If you're sitting on the fence, I want you to know one of the main reasons people come to our Summit is to hear stories that have unfolded over years at organizations of all shapes and sizes. This year we will have presenters from Amazon, Becton Dickinson (BD), BIC, CAL FIRE, Delta Dental, and St. Luke’s Health System. Each speaker will share leadership development solutions their company has used as a strategy to achieve results. You’ll hear it all—not only what worked great but also what they tweaked and refined to maximize impact. If you’re like me, you’ll love hearing these real stories from peers, especially when it’s combined with a chance to have deeper conversations with them afterwards.
What am I going to learn?
I know if I’m going to attend a conference in person, it first must pay off in terms of learning.
Two of the biggest things I expect us all to learn at this event are what's new and what's been evolving. We’ve all been through a tumultuous time these last few years; the world has changed so much. Just imagine how much we are still learning with so many people working in a hybrid or remote capacity to try to achieve results and create value.
To help with that, this year’s Summit is bringing together three keynote speakers to share insight and inspiration for the future of work. Imagine being up close and in person with these people:
Marcus Buckingham is the opening keynoter on Day One. Marcus put the term engagement into play with his book First Break All the Rules. His focus on strengths and so many other facets of organizational life is unparalleled. In recent years Marcus has been focusing on love in the workplace. He’s going to speak specifically about the research and findings from his latest book Love + Work. I think it's going to be fascinating. I can't wait for this session.
Jennifer Brown is our opening speaker on Day Two. Jennifer is an amazing professional and bestselling author who's dedicated the last 25 years of her life to helping people create an organization defined by inclusion. As detailed in her book Courageous Inclusion, her framework is real, inspiring, and applicable. And her experience, passion, and deep knowledge are incredible.
Terrell Fletcher is our closing keynote presenter on Day One. Since his career in the NFL, Terrell has dedicated his life to be in service to others. Terrell will talk about developing the next generation of leaders. He will also share highlights from our Student Self Leadership program, which is designed for middle school and high school students to set themselves up for a life defined by success.
In addition to these fantastic speakers, I’m going to present on the art and science of leadership. I've been working on this session, on and off, for about 25 years. I’ll be sharing research-based behaviors, characteristics, and practices of great leaders that have endured for decades. Together we will explore more recent research specifically in regard to the neuroscience of leadership, motivation, and influence. It should be a fun and interactive session.
One new feature of this year’s Summit is three curated learning tracks under the categories of Strategy, Design, and Delivery.
We’ve recognized it takes a village to create a great leadership development program. The Strategy track starts with the business case—really, the human case—for investing in leaders at all levels.
The Design track speaks to the critical aspects of instructional design, emphasizing leadership development and the strategic use of digital tools. It aims to equip instructional designers with the skills to create more engaging, effective, and impactful learning experiences.
The Delivery track addresses the diverse and evolving challenges faced by today’s classroom facilitators, both in person and virtual. This track looks at how to help people learn effectively in the classroom and how to enable them to learn more in the flow of workspace learning.
Why do I need to be there in person?
I’ve always believed that half of the conference experience is what you learn when you're in session. The other half is about getting the opportunity to share the space with like-minded people—in this case, people who are uniquely focused on leadership development. Sharing this kind of event with others, face to face, is hard to duplicate. It provides a great experience that we haven’t been able to achieve for five years—and we're so excited for people to come back. This year’s Summit will be in Orange County in October, which is a beautiful time to be in southern California. So the face-to-face experience will be wonderful.
How will attending the Blanchard Leadership Summit ease my concerns and address my biggest work issues?
There are two answers here. First, the best way to ease your concerns is to establish a clear vision—a solid strategy for what you're going to do, how are you going to do it, when you're going to do it, and where you're going to do it. Having a vision is really, really important.
Also, you are going to walk away with ideas you can apply immediately—right on the spot and in the moment. You will have something very compelling that you're pushing and driving toward—and something you will be able to work with on a daily basis so that you can plan the day, win the day, plan the week, win the week.
Why should I make room in my budget now?
Time and money are always important considerations. Both must be well spent. I can tell you that past attendees have told us our Summit has helped them shape their agenda for the next several years.
The Blanchard Summit is designed to create incredible value through learning and collaborating with peers and colleagues. And over its 30-year history, this conference has provided so much value that people literally come back year after year—bringing along larger groups in their teams.
What you might spend attending the Summit is only a small portion of what you invest when you create a strong leadership development program. The most important thing is having the right plan—one that's creative and based on principles that work. It’s also about having the inspiration, accountability, and tenacity to stick to your plan. And that comes from knowing the path you're taking is the path other people have taken before you.
Learn more about the Blanchard Leadership Summit
I hope this Q&A session has helped. You probably have a sense by now that I believe this conference is valuable—actually, priceless. What about you? I know the Summit will be better if you are there with us sharing your questions and experiences. I hope to see you in October!
Learn more about the Blanchard Leadership Summit here.
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