Featured Sessions
Don't miss the opportunity to engage directly with leading voices shaping the study and practice of leadership as well as special topics related to leadership in our host location.
Our carefully curated featured sessions bring together the most innovative thinkers and practitioners whose research and insights you follow online and in publications. These intimate presentations, panels, and workshops, given during the concurrent session blocks, offer something you can’t get from following their work alone—the chance to ask questions, clarify ideas, and forge connections that could transform your own projects and work.
Additional featured sessions coming soon!
A Fireside Chat With Barbara Kellerman on Why We Follow Leaders — and Why We Don't
Thursday, 29 October, 7:45 – 8:45 p.m.
Scott Allen from ILA’s official Podcast, Practical Wisdom for Leaders, interviews Past Lifetime Achievement Awardee, Barbara Kellerman in this special Fireside Chat / Podcast event. They’ll cover a lot of ground but will focus on Barbara’s new book, Why We Follow Leaders – and Why We Don’t (University of Toronto Press, September 2026), along with questions from the audience. A sneak peek at some of the questions to which the book provides answers: First, what are our rewards for following? Second, what are our punishments for not following? Third, what are our rewards for not followiing? Fourth, what are our punishments for following?
Barbara Kellerman
Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University
Barbara Kellerman was Founding Executive Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she taught for over twenty years. A cofounder of the International Leadership Association, Kellerman is author and editor of many books, including, among others, Bad Leadership, Followership, Professionalizing Leadership, and her latest, Why We Follow Leaders – and Why We Don’t. She has appeared on CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Reuters, and BBC, and has contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review. She is the recipient of three Fulbright fellowships and has spoken to audiences worldwide, from Berlin and London to Kyoto, Mumbai, and Sydney.
Barbara Kellerman was Founding Executive Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, a member of the Harvard faculty for over twenty years, and a Fellow at the Center for five years. Kellerman has held professorships at Fordham, Tufts, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Washington, Uppsala, and Christopher Newport Universities, as well as at Dartmouth, and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She also served as Director of Graduate Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson, and as Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership at the University of Maryland.
Kellerman received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, and her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. (in Political Science) degrees from Yale University. She was awarded a Danforth Fellowship and three Fulbright fellowships. At Uppsala University she held the Fulbright Chair in American Studies. Kellerman was cofounder of the International Leadership Association (ILA) and is author and editor of many books including Bad Leadership; Followership; The End of Leadership; Professionalizing Leadership, and Leadership from Bad to Worse. Kellerman has appeared on media outlets such as CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Reuters, and BBC, and has contributed articles and reviews to the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Harvard Business Review.
She has spoken to audiences all over the world including Berlin, London, Moscow, Melbourne, Sao Paolo, Jerusalem, Mumbai, Toronto, Kyoto, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Sydney, and Seoul. The title of her latest book is Why We Follow Leaders – and Why We Don’t. Kellerman posts regularly at https://barbarakellerman.com/articles/
Scott Allen
Professor | Podcast Host | Author
Scott J. Allen, Ph.D., is an award-winning educator and leadership expert who serves as an instructor in SMU’s Cox School of Business Executive Education, following more than 18 years as a professor of management. His expertise spans leader development, the future of work, and executive communication, reflected in over 60 peer-reviewed publications and books including Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, Discovering Leadership, and Moving the Needle: What We Know (and Don’t Know) About Developing Leaders. He hosts the top-ranked podcast Practical Wisdom for Leaders and writes a weekly newsletter. He is a keynote speaker and consultant for organizations such as Toyota, NASA-Glenn, and the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Dallas. Allen was named an ILA Fellow in 2021.
Scott J. Allen, Ph.D., is an award-winning educator and leadership expert who serves as an instructor in SMU’s Cox School of Business Executive Education following more than 18 years as a professor of management; his expertise spans leader development, the future of work, and executive communication, reflected in over 60 peer-reviewed publications and books including The Little Book of Leadership Development, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, Discovering Leadership, and Moving the Needle: What We Know (and Don’t Know) About Developing Leaders. He hosts the top-ranked podcast Practical Wisdom for Leaders, writes a weekly newsletter, and is a top LinkedIn creator in Leadership and Management, while also working as a keynote speaker, consultant, and workshop facilitator for organizations such as Toyota, EY, NASA-Glenn, Cleveland Clinic, and the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Dallas. He serves on the board of the Cleveland Leadership Center, previously served on the boards of the International Leadership Association, Association of Leadership Educators, and Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, and was named an ILA Fellow in 2021.
Inside the Front Office: Leadership Lessons Beyond the Box Score
As President & CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays, Mark Shapiro leads at the intersection of baseball and business while under intense public scrutiny where everyone has an opinion. In this Fireside Chat, Mark reflects on how his approach to leadership has evolved over more than 30 years in the game, the role of self-awareness in effective decision-making, and what it takes to scale genuine passion for a mission across an organization. He’ll also share how he navigates the stress of leading in the public eye, where every call is second-guessed.
Mark Shapiro
President & CEO, Toronto Blue Jays
Mark Shapiro is one of the few MLB executives with experience across every facet of the game — baseball, business, and league operations — over a career spanning more than 30 years. Appointed President & CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, he leads the organization’s business and baseball operations while representing ownership at the league level, a role that has taken the team to five postseasons, including their first World Series appearance in 32 years in 2025. His career began in Cleveland in 1992, where he rose over 24 seasons from assistant in baseball operations to Vice President & Assistant General Manager, building the leadership foundation he brings to the Blue Jays today.
Mark Shapiro is one of the few Major League Baseball executives that has experience in all facets of the game – baseball, business, and league operations – over the course of a career that spans more than 30 years.
Mark was appointed President & CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, a role that oversees the organization’s business and baseball operations and represents ownership at the league level.
Mark is responsible for the expansion of the Blue Jays’ systems and capabilities in several areas, including player development, high performance, strategy, and analytics. He has championed two significant capital projects in his tenure: upgrading the team’s Spring Training home in Dunedin, FL with the Player Development Complex, an industry-leading performance facility; and the renovations to Rogers Centre, transforming the stadium to a ballpark with best-in-class fan amenities and player facilities. Under Mark’s leadership, the Blue Jays have reached the postseason five times: 2016, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2025, reaching the World Series for the first time in 32 years during the 2025 campaign.
Mark’s baseball career began in 1992 in Cleveland, where he spent 24 seasons. He joined Cleveland as an assistant in baseball operations and quickly progressed into a senior leadership role as Director of Minor League Operations, before becoming Vice President of Baseball Operations & Assistant General Manager in 1999. Mark was named Executive Vice President & General Manager in 2002 and held that position until he was appointed Team President in 2011.
Following both the 2005 and 2007 seasons, Mark was named the Sporting News “Executive of the Year,” and was the only active General Manager in MLB at that time to win the award twice. In 2005, he was also named “Executive of the Year” by Baseball America.
Beyond his extensive work in the front office, Mark has been involved in key baseball initiatives at Major League Baseball for more than a decade and currently sits on the league’s Competition Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors for Jays Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Positive Coaching Alliance supporting youth in sports.
A Baltimore native, Mark played four years of football at Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history. He lives in Toronto with his family.