PARTNER SEMINARS
Society in 2024 is experiencing acute polarisation across a range of issues including identity, geopolitics, fairness and equity, and domestic political topics like immigration and post-Brexit Britain. These schisms manifest themselves across all pillars and platforms of society including in the workplace.
The Aspen Institute was founded after a period of immense disruption and the devastation of the Second World War, when society needed to reflect and to heal. The subsequent methodology Aspen created 70 years ago to help rebuild society and equip leaders to walk in the shoes of others and when necessary, disagree with civility and productively, is just as relevant today as it was then.
What can Aspen UK offer your organisation?
Leadership Seminars
Aspen UK develop and deliver tailored leadership seminars. We will work closely with your company to convene the right attendees, allowing for cross-cohort collaboration and understanding. We will then develop the content, and our Faculty members will moderate all sessions, creating an environment where all attendees actively participate, interact and learn from and with each other.
We can run these as a one-off seminar for each group or build deeper connections for a team by offering a series of retreats. Aspen UK leadership seminars are tailored to fit the needs of each organisation. They can run from four hours to a few days. We recommend that they take place in person, but they can be hosted virtually if needed.
The time spent discussing and debating ideas with peers and colleagues will help your team to expand their networks across the organisation, build trust, and create opportunities for collaboration.
The Aspen UK team will work with your organisation to determine the theme and focus for the sessions. Aspen UK seminars are designed around carefully selected readings which can range from classical political thought to contemporary literature with global origins. These readings provide an insightful starting point for a productive exchange of ideas. This rigorous intellectual approach ensures the seminars stimulate debate and discussion on the most pressing leadership challenges of our time.
The readings selected can be chosen from the Aspen UK library of seminar texts or works selected by the organisation or a combination of both. Readings are selected from a broad range of eras, authors, styles and origin to provide a diversity of perspectives and viewpoints. The theme for the texts can be broad or centred around a particular topic or issue.
BESPOKE SUPPORT FOR ORGANISATIONS
The Aspen Institute in the UK has built on this foundation to develop a learning and development programme, tailored for companies to advance the leadership capabilities of executives to effectively lead through this volatile period of polarisation. Compelling new data highlights the crucial role of executives in addressing polarisation and shows that their ability to do so restores trust in society at large. The data also tells us that because of the recent decline of trust in government and media, business leaders have emerged as those who provide the most reliable information on societal issues.
How can you better understand those with opposing views? How can you escape the ideological bubble you may inhabit? What skills are required not just to resolve conflicts but to work towards a more positive future? These are some of the questions asked in our Leadership Seminars, which challenge individuals to think about their abilities and approaches to leadership in an increasingly complex world, and within often complex organisations.
Our programme is designed to help organisations invest in their people, encouraging them to think about their values and ethics, and listen more attentively to others. It provides space for participants to learn with and from other influential leaders from their organisation, and help the chosen participants build new internal networks.
The Aspen UK team works closely with organisations to offer tailored-made transformational experiences for their teams. We help to develop stronger organisational cultures and create considered spaces for colleagues to engage and exchange ideas. Aspen UK’s dynamic method of seminar delivery results in more collaborative, effective, and human-centred teams.
This can, in turn, help increase an organisation’s understanding of the challenges they face in a fractured and polarised world. Teams will develop a strong understanding of how to place ethical, values-based leadership at the centre of their work. Our seminars equip participants with skills and tools to navigate conversations on some of the most challenging topics of our era.
We use the globally renowned Aspen Institute method of text-based, professionally guided conversations to help participants reflect on their leadership skills, evaluate their own ideas and values, and explore effective solutions to social challenges. The Aspen UK moderation team works with organisations to select readings which can range from classical political thought to contemporary literature of global origin. These readings provide a starting point for a productive exchange of ideas, which in turn helps guide conversations.
The discussions will be guided by expert moderators who will not lecture nor provide answers to problems or issues but will ask questions about the texts and the participants’ responses and ensure that everyone has the chance to be heard. Considering the issues and challenges raised as a group creates and strengthens bonds and encourages creativity and problem-solving as well as new ways of thinking about a topic or a challenge.
An example outline of a two day partner seminar
First evening
5.00pm Session 1 Introductions & scene setting
7.00pm Welcome drinks
8.00pm Dinner with cultural interlude or speaker
Overnight stay
Day two
9.00am Session 2 Challenges of the day
12.30pm Lunch and outside activity
2.30pm Session 3 What lies behind
6.00pm Cultural activity
8.00pm Dinner
Overnight stay
Day three
9.00am Session 4 Leadership in practice
12.30pm Lunch
2.30pm Closing session Looking forward
5.00pm Departures
For more information contact Olivier Chapman, Aspen UK Director.