So here’s the thing.  If it is at all possible, you should come to the Leading in Complex Times event we’re having in London on 20 September. Take the day off. Hop on a Eurostar. Cancel your meetings. But come. I’m not sure there has ever been an event I’ve been a part of where I was so convinced of the value of your time in going. I never write blogs like this, trying to sell something or claiming that my perspective is one you need to listen to. But I think this event really is important, and I really do think you should go. Here’s my thinking.

If you’re even reading this, you care about leadership, about the way leaders can come to handle complexity and ambiguity in a world that is changing so fast. And this event is going to be such a cool way for us to talk about those ideas. Even more, this event is going to be a way for us to find each other—for a community to begin to form that will explore these ideas and uncover new ways forward to be a part of the healing and growth that I think the world needs right now.

There are these three firms involved, each of us at the cutting edge of our field. Harthill has been working with adult developmental ideas for decades and has probably worked with more leaders around adult development ideas than any other consulting firm in the world. MDV Consulting has combined developmental ideas, complexity ideas, and assessment together to figure out what are the core questions we need to ask to see where a leader is today in terms of capability and capacity, and how we can help those leaders get to where they’ll be tomorrow. And Cultivating Leadership has been innovating at the nexus of leadership, complexity, and adult development since we’ve started, and we are just coming out with our third book on this topic. So we have some real practical and theoretical grunt between us.

And then we have designed this day to push out the edges of all of our thinking and practice. Every session is designed and taught by people from at least two firms, and each of us are designing sessions that we are learning from as well. We are finding that even though we are in the same business, we are in it in fairly different ways. We share the same core assumptions and values but express those through different practices. We are finding that our work is getting more crisp and more helpful even as we are experimenting together. What you will see on the 20^this the edgiest thinking we’ve ever done about these ideas.

So, back to my original plea. We still have about 9 places left on the day. And your voice really needs to be in this mix. You will leave this day with new ways to think about growing more able to lead in complex times, and you’ll leave with more practices to try. Perhaps most importantly to me, though, you’ll leave with connections to other people and to a growing community of leaders and coaches and learning professionals who are pushing out the edges of this field and trying to make a material and lasting difference in organisations.

I believe that these ideas will help us lead organisations of all kinds into a better future—for those organisations, the people within them, and the communities around them. We need you to come and be part of the conversation. Come give it a try.