Purpose and Presencing: Rethinking Leadership, Wealth, and Systemic Transformation

On Wednesday, 3 December at 6 pm, at the Navigli Campus (Ripa di Porta Ticinese 77, Milan), a meeting will be held dedicated to the topic of transformative leadership and systemic change, featuring Otto Scharmer, professor at MIT and author of Theory U, who will lead an interactive session.

In a global context marked by profound economic, technological, and environmental transitions, organisations are being called upon to rethink how purpose drives choices and shapes relationships with society. Otto Scharmer's Theory U provides a powerful interpretation: only by connecting the individual and collective purpose to a deeper awareness of the system can lasting change be generated. The practice of presencing thus becomes the threshold through which leadership evolves from an exercise of control to a process of co-creation and regeneration.

The debate, moderated by Mario Calderini, Professor of Management for Sustainability and Impact at POLIMI Graduate School of Management, will see discussion between Josip Kotlar, Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Family Business at POLIMI Graduate School of Management, Otto Scharmer, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and Founder of the Presencing Institute, Katrin Kaufer, Co-Director of the Presencing Institute and Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and Urszula Swierczynska, Impact & Philanthropy Director PFC Family Office. The discussion will focus on the role of wealth and asset management as levers for activating purpose, awareness, and systemic impact.

This is an opportunity to explore how purpose, presencing, and leadership can intertwine to inspire new models of shared value and institutional transformation.

Agenda:

• 5:30–6:00 PM: Accreditation and Welcome
• 6:00–6:15 PM: Institutional Welcome
• 6:15–7:05 PM: Keynote Speech and interactive session by Otto Scharmer, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management
• 7:05–7:55 PM: Roundtable discussion and Q&A moderated by Mario Calderini, Professor of Management for Sustainability and Impact at Politecnico di Milano, with Josip Kotlar, Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Family Business at POLIMI GSoM, Otto Scharmer, MIT Sloan School of Management, Presencing Institute, Katrin Kaufer, Co-Director of the Presencing Institute and Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, Presencing Institute and Urszula Swierczynska, Impact & Philanthropy Director PFC Family Office.
• 7:55–8:00 PM: Presentation of the "Purpose" Alumni Club
• 8:00 PM: Networking Aperitif

Participation is free of charge with prior registration; the event will be held in English.

For further information, please write to events@gsom.polimi.it.