Keynote Presenters

Keynotes speakers include: Michael Gelb, Sir Ken Robinson, and Steve Farber. 

Michael Gelb (USA)
Genius Thinking Authority

Keynote
8:30 a.m.–10 a.m., Sunday, September 25
CCEU:  1.0 PD 

Michael J. Gelb, known as a leading authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development, will be the opening keynote for the 2011 ICF Annual International Conference in Las Vegas. Michael is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and innovative leadership. A former professional juggler who once performed with musical legends the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, Michael introduced the idea of teaching juggling as a means to promote accelerated learning and team-building.

He is the author of The 5 Keys to High Performance: Juggling Your Way to Success. A fourth-degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido, Michael is co-author with International Grandmaster Raymond Keene, of Samurai Chess: Mastering Strategic Thinking Through the Martial Art of the Mind. Among Michael’s other titles on creativity and innovation is the international bestseller How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day (1998) which has been translated into 25 languages and has appeared on the Washington Post, Amazon. com, and the New York Times bestseller lists.

In addition to Michael’s keynote session, he will also open the conference on Saturday evening, September 24, with a program developed around his latest book, Wine Drinking For Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices. Based on a different philosophy, this program brings people together in a unique and original way, and in a relaxed, fun and enjoyable atmosphere. Participants will get a glimpse of the creative spark in their colleagues and themselves!

"How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci"
8:30 a.m.–10 a.m., Sunday, September 25
Leonardo da Vinci invented the parachute before anyone could fly! Imagine what we could accomplish with that kind of innovative thinking while Playing to the Edge. What if you could call on history's greatest genius, Leonardo da Vinci, to be your personal mentor and coach? Michael Gelb will bring Leonardo's wisdom to life in a way you can apply to your own growth and to better serve your clients.

Leonardo da Vinci played to his edge as an anatomist, architect, botanist, city planner, chef, humorist, engineer, equestrian, inventor, geographer, geologist, military scientist, musician, painter, philosopher and storyteller. Using da Vinci's seven principles, Michael will show us how to cultivate and inspire leadership, creativity, and learning in ourselves and with our clients to optimize human potential. The principles he will highlight are:

• Curiosità: An insatiable quest for knowledge and continuous improvement;
• Dimostrazione: Learning from experience;
• Sensazione: Sharpening the senses;
• Sfumato: Managing ambiguity and change;
• Arte/Scienza: Whole-brain thinking;
• Corporalità: Body-mind fitness; and
• Connessione: Systems thinking.

This dynamic program brings da Vinci's genius to life through fascinating biographical and historical information, setting the stage for an introduction to thinking "a la Leonardo." Participants will be guided to apply the principles, through a proven series of practical exercises that can be used individually or within groups. Attendees will be inspired to:

• Think creatively;
• Cultivate independent thinking;
• Improve learning ability with age;
• Find opportunity in uncertainty;
• Improve memory and problem solving;
• Balance mind and body to reduce stress; and
• Nurture creativity and innovation.

Sir Ken Robinson (United Kingdom)
Internationally Acclaimed Expert on Creativity and Innovation

Keynote
8:00 a.m.–10 a.m., Monday, September 26
CCEU:  1.0 PD 

Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader on creativity and innovation, will deliver Monday morning's (September 26) breakfast keynote address based on his bestselling book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves, most inspired, and can achieve at their highest level.

Sir Ken draws on the personal stories of high achievers in many fields, including Sir Paul McCartney, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons), Meg Ryan, and renowned physicist Richard Feynman. Armed with ideas that unleash the potential of people and organizations, Sir Ken pushes people to rethink outdated models and assumptions about intelligence and ability.

With a wry sense of humor, Sir Ken explores the components of this new paradigm: The diversity of intelligence, the power of imagination and creativity, and the importance of commitment to our own capabilities. He looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the element and those that stifle that possibility. He shows that age and occupation are no barrier, and that once we have found our path we can help others to do so as well. The element shows the vital need to enhance creativity and innovation by thinking differently about human resources and imagination. It is also an essential strategy for transforming education, business, and communities to meet the challenges of living and succeeding in the twenty-first century.  

Sir Ken works with governments, international agencies, global corporations, and some of the world's leading cultural organizations to jump-start innovation by unlocking the creative energy of people and organizations. He leads a national commission on creativity, education, and the economy for the U.K. government called All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education, also known as The Robinson Report. He was one of four international advisors to the Singapore government for its strategy to become the creative hub of Southeast Asia. A former professor of education, Sir Ken knows first-hand how the education system and organizational culture can stifle creativity by not tapping into people's natural talents and passions. The resulting disengagement represents an enormous opportunity lost.

Sir Ken urges leaders, managers, and educators to upend the status quo and launch a creative revolution to reap the rewards. He is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, a New York Times bestseller now translated into 18 languages. His now-famous talk to the 2006 TED conference is the most-watched video in TED history—more than 5 million downloads—and a brilliant example of his extraordinary speaking style; a perfect balance of content, anecdotes and humor.

Steve Farber (USA)

Steve Farber is a subject-matter expert in business leadership. Inspiring extreme leadership at all organizational levels is his passion, and he does so with a style that is part strategist, part social commentator and all energy. Steve is a senior-level Leadership Coach and consultant who has worked with and spoken to a wide variety of public and private organizations in virtually every arena, from the tech sector to financial services, manufacturing, health care, hospitality, entertainment, retail, and even the US government.

Steve has devoted his professional life to the field of leadership development. He was director of service programs at TMI, an international training consultancy, and then served as Vice President and Official Mouthpiece (that's what it said on his business card) of The Tom Peters Company where he met several of his mentors including author/gurus Tom Peters, Jim Kouzes, and Terry Pearce. In 2000, he established his own company, Extreme Leadership, Incorporated, an organization devoted to the cultivation and development of extreme leaders in the business community. Steve is also the co-founding director of The Center for Social Profit Leadership, a non-profit organization formed to serve the leadership development needs of social entrepreneurs, and he sits on the Board of Directors of the world-renown program, Up With People, a global leadership program for students from 18 to 29 years old.

Steve's latest book, Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson In Leadership, is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller and his second book, The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World, is hailed as "a playbook for harnessing the power of the human spirit." And his first book, The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership, is already considered a classic in the leadership field, having received Fast Company magazine's Readers' Choice Award and named one of the "100 Best Business Books of All Time."

Come prepared to let history and ancient wisdom move you to Play to your Edge!