Article

Top Leadership Conferences for 2017

by Norwich University Online

July 3rd, 2017

When every member of a team works to develop skillful leadership competencies on an individual basis, they strengthen their entire organization and encourage ongoing success. One means for doing so is attending conferences that are geared towards developing a flexible range of leadership skill sets. There is an abundance of these events occurring in the United States every month, and each one represents a unique opportunity for leaders to interact with other business leaders who work in a variety of industries. Here are some top leadership conferences to consider.

The Global Leadership Summit

The Global Leadership Summit, a world-class business leadership event that took place in August 2017, offered a unique blend of vision, inspiration, and practical skills. Attendees of past summits have noted that they were able to leverage the knowledge gained during the event in a number of unique ways. For instance, a survey tracking workplace results of the event’s attendees from more than 20 annual conferences discovered that:

83 percent of attendees are able to display enhanced teamwork skills, higher job satisfaction, and increased productivity.
61 percent of attendees describe their own organizations as having a clearer vision that has allowed them to be more effective.
87 percent have discovered a stronger sense of personal significance and satisfaction in their private and professional lives.
81 percent conclude that their direct supervisor has improved their leadership ability since attending the Global Leadership Summit.

While the conference took place at the Willow Creek Campus in South Burlington, Illinois, leaders all across North America had a chance to participate through live telecasts in more than 550 locations around the country. This offered business leaders the chance to hear and learn from important leaders like the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg and serial entrepreneur, Marcus Lemonis.

Annual Women’s Leadership Conference

While it is true that diversity in business is on the rise, many still feel that there is more room for the advancement of women within their organization. With that in mind, the 13th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference took place in May 2017 in New York City. As with each annual Women’s Leadership Conference, leaders were invited to this year’s event to discuss the positive impact that improving women’s leadership positions can have on a business. Through participating in this conference, women were able to obtain actionable knowledge about business leadership, including how women can be effective mentors, how they could support their peers, and how to best secure meaningful progress in an organization by embracing and encouraging systemic change to company culture and policy.

Furthermore, this annual event improved the audience’s general understanding of how to strengthen women’s leadership roles by drawing upon information discovered through recently conducted research and case studies. This same information was used by speakers to convey the newest strategies for building beneficial business relationships and advancing the careers of women leaders of all ages. Women who are inclined towards rising to the top of the leadership spectrum could benefit from attending one of the Annual Women’s Leadership Conferences, as it provides an opportunity to network, learn, and examine the pressing matter of diversity in business management.

World Business Forum

The World Business Forum focuses on presentations packed with valuable insight into leadership techniques and strategies. The 2017 World Business Forum was a two-day event that took place in New York City on November 16, 2017. Leaders within a number of fields, ranging from the sports industry to government, who enjoy being exposed to diverse perspectives found this forum beneficial. The event coupled the inherently valuable opportunity of strengthening professional networks with speeches and presentations on practical leadership concepts that have been derived from a variety of experiential backgrounds. This list of speakers included:

Michael Phelps – As the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, Phelps has set a new precedent for high performance. His presentation focused on his personal methods for delivering results while working under immense pressure, including how to effectively set goals and handle criticism while working towards them.
Michael Porter – A renowned economist and professor at Harvard Business School, Porter’s presentation featured relevant insight into developing strategies for obtaining a competitive advantage, creating value, and reimagining capitalism.
Anthony Bourdain – As a highly acclaimed food critic and TV personality, Bourdain has developed many notable leadership skills, and in his presentation, he focused on the exploration of the unknown, innovation, and being a disruptor who challenges what is currently deemed conventional.
Jonah Berger – Berger is a professor of marketing at the Wharton School of Business. His presentation discussed several aspects of consumer behavior and the basic principles of creating contagious products or ideas.
Stew Friedman – Recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s top 50 business thinkers, Friedman focused his presentation on “Total Leadership”–in other words, what it means to be real, whole, and innovative.
Rachel Botsman – Botsman is a renowned author who has gained recognition for her vision and ability to convey the value of collaboration and trust between business leaders. Her presentation discussed the finer points of deploying trust in business, establishing, maintaining, and demolishing confidence, and developing transformative mindsets that can reshape how individuals think about certain brands, experiences, and behaviors.
Abigail Posner – Posner is a thought leader in the areas of digital culture and creativity and serves as the Head of Strategic Planning at the ZOO, Google’s think tank for brands and agencies. Through her presentation, attendees learned more about the different creative utilities that the digital space offers.
Stephen M.R. Covey – As a best-selling author and co-founder of CoveyLink and the FranklinCovey Global Speed of Trust Practice, Covey has developed a reputation as an expert on trust, leadership practices, and ethics. His presentation included insight into effective means of reevaluating trust, understanding trust, and establishing trust from a leadership perspective.

Leadercast

Leadercast 2017 was a two-day event that took place on May 4th-5th, 2017 in Georgia. The event was dedicated to providing students, educators, and business leaders with a chance to develop their understanding of what potent leadership entails. Individuals who attended the first day of the conference learned more about self-awareness in business leadership, the collaboration between business leaders, a leader’s role in building company culture, and how business leaders can produce their vision in reality. The second day allowed attendees to be inspired by compelling speakers who offered empowering ideas for purpose-driven leadership, to gain clarity on the most up-to-date leadership strategies, and to network with thousands of other industry leaders in attendance. While the first day was focused mostly on theory and discovery, the second emphasized the development of the next generation of top leaders.

CAMP

CAMP is a leadership event that exists as an alternative to traditional leadership conferences and seminars. This four-day event hosted in Big Bear, California in mid-May provided attendees with the opportunity to learn new leadership-related techniques, skills, and inspirational ideas in the entirely unique setting of a summer camp in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The event’s experience combined the challenge of participating in outdoor activities with the mental stimulation of keynote presentations and close-quarters networking with other leadership professionals. It also offered recreational activities like yoga and trail running, as well as curated workshops that allowed attendees to polish their leadership skills through collaboration, creativity, and innovation. This distinct leadership event is one-of-a-kind and takes a noteworthy approach to sharpen the foundational skills of aspiring leadership professionals.

Everyone has the ability to lead, but those who put effort into continually developing the skills needed to be an effective leader will prove to be the most capable. Every leadership conference has a unique set of benefits to offer, including the opportunity to extend your professional network, gain new skills and knowledge and learn from today’s most influential leaders. Young business leaders are encouraged to review all of their leadership conference options to plan which events cater most specifically to their personal and professional goals.

Learn More

As the nation’s oldest private military college, Norwich University has been a leader in innovative education since 1819. Through its online programs, Norwich delivers relevant and applicable curricula that allow its students to make a positive impact on their places of work and their communities.

Norwich University’s online Master of Science in Leadership program is designed to help you demonstrate the skills and knowledge needed to lead teams and inspire progress, while also growing your career. The program is practical and pertinent, allowing students to apply leadership concepts immediately to their careers.

Sources

The Global Leadership Summit, Global Leadership Network

The Leadership Journey: Advancing Your Organization; Advancing Those Around You; Advancing Yourself, The Conference Board Inc.

World Business Forum, World Of Business Ideas

Attend Leadercast, EH Media

The CAMP Experience, The Unique Camp