CEO, Marriot International
Chairman of the Board, Marriot International
Marriott International is home to one of the largest and most admired workforces in the world. In this opening keynote, CEO Anthony Capuano will share how Marriott sustains a purpose-driven culture—one that unites 400,000+ associates across continents, functions, and generations.
As workforce expectations shift and technology transforms how we work, Capuano will explore what it takes to lead with consistency, clarity, and care at scale. Whether you’re managing a dispersed team, navigating generational divides, or sustaining culture through change, this is a rare opportunity to learn from a CEO doing it on a global stage.
Author, The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups
We’ve all heard the buzzwords and sat through the offsites—but what actually builds a great team? In this myth-busting session, Dr. Colin Fisher, author of The Collective Edge, reveals what the data actually shows about long-term team performance—and it’s not about forced fun or artificial bonding.
Drawing from research on high-stakes teams—from corporate boardrooms to emergency response units—Fisher shows how structure, clarity, and thoughtful team “launches” can predict success far better than personality tests or pizza parties. You’ll learn what most CEOs get wrong when forming or evolving teams—and how to harness the hidden dynamics that unlock collective intelligence, trust, and sustained collaboration.
Whether you’re assembling a new executive team, integrating an acquisition, or just trying to get more out of the group you’ve got, this session will help you build teams that perform—without the gimmicks.
Founder, CultureWise
Culture is often what makes a company successful in the first place—but it’s also what gets stretched and strained as you scale. How do you preserve the passion, values, and customer focus that fueled your early success while expanding your workforce, opening new locations, or integrating acquisitions?
In this session, David Friedman will share how CEOs intentionally scale culture alongside business growth—codifying what matters and embedding it into everything from hiring to frontline decisions. Whether you’re doubling in size or entering a new market, this conversation will help you protect your company’s soul while evolving for what’s next.
Founder, CultureWise
Every CEO faces a moment when the old strategies stop working. The market shifts. The culture slips. The team loses clarity. Whether driven by market shifts, scaling pains, new technologies or evolving customer expectations, these moments call for more than tweaks—they demand transformation.
This session will explores how to lead through those moments—not with top-down mandates, but through vision, trust, and transformation. You’ll leave with practical tools to help your organization let go of old ways of thinking, re-align around new priorities and reignite momentum.
Join fellow attendees for two sets of 25-minute table-top discussions on relevant topics like having difficult conversations, managing different personality types, building cross-functional teams following an acquisition, and more.
Topics Areas: The Longevity Blueprint: 3 Steps to a Longer, Healthier Life | Difficult Conversations | Cross-Functional Teams | Acquisition Integration | Managing Different Personalities
CEO, IgniteTech and Khoros
From co-pilots to co-workers, AI is moving from tool to teammate—and that shift is reshaping what teams look like, how they operate, and what leadership requires.
As capabilities accelerate, CEOs are being forced to reimagine everything from org charts to onboarding, talent pipelines to trust. What work will humans own? Where will AI plug in? And what does collaboration look like when some of your “team members” don’t sleep, ask for raises, or make emotional decisions?
In this session, we’ll explore how leading companies are preparing their teams for an augmented future where trust, collaboration, and accountability must be redefined. The goal isn’t just automation. It’s amplification—and leaders who design for that will build teams that thrive.
Andy Harris, STS Capital
When preparing for an exit—or simply building long-term enterprise value—financial performance is only part of the equation. The most sophisticated buyers are placing increasing emphasis on the human side of the business: leadership strength, cultural durability, talent retention, and the ability of the organization to scale independently of the founder or CEO. In this CEO-to-CEO discussion, we’ll explore how culture and team dynamics directly impact valuation multiples. We’ll look at what premium buyers look for, how to structure your leadership team and systems for transferability, and practical steps you can take now to turn your organization’s people into a true value accelerator.
Donovan Pyle, Health Compass
Data shows that most commercial health plans waste approximately $4,000 per employee, per year. But today, that waste isn’t just a financial leak—it is a legal liability. With a new wave of class-action lawsuits targeting employers for fiduciary mismanagement, buying “products” is no longer enough. In this roundtable, Donovan Pyle (Lead SME for Bloomberg Law’s analysis on fiduciary litigation) will detail the specific fiduciary process needed to eliminate this waste. He will answer all your healthcare insurance questions and provide you with a playbook for mitigating corporate risk while simultaneously capturing millions in lost EBITDA.
Performance Execution Expert; Contributor to The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Even the best strategies stall without alignment and follow-through—and in most organizations, the biggest barrier to execution isn’t effort, it’s alignment.
In this energizing session, performance expert Scott Thele will share the practical habits and systems that help teams cut through noise of the day-to-day whirlwind, stay focused and deliver on what matters. Drawing from The 4 Disciplines of Execution, you’ll learn how to create visible momentum, team-level clarity and a performance culture that sticks.
Author, Work Life Well-Lived
What if the key to unlocking performance isn’t about managing people better—but understanding what truly drives them? Drawing on research into 28 psychological, emotional, and social motives that determine how people thrive at work, Kelly Mackin will challenge traditional leadership models and introduce a practical framework for meeting the diverse needs that fuel engagement, retention and excellence.
You’ll learn why a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership fails—and how a motive-based strategy can create stronger teams, better decisions, and a culture people choose to stay in and contribute to at their highest level.
Former Director, U.S. Naval Academy’s Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership
The demands on today’s executive leaders are relentless, and the pressure rarely lets up. Over time, even the most capable leaders can find themselves running on empty—physically, mentally, and emotionally. When leaders begin to operate with an “empty tank,” decision-making, presence and effectiveness inevitably suffer. The risk isn’t burnout—it’s leading at less than full strength when the organization needs you most.
Drawing from his experience leading under sustained, high-stakes conditions, Col. Arthur Athens will outline the underlying causes of leadership fatigue and how it quietly erodes judgment, presence, and resilience—and why willpower alone is not enough to counter it. He’ll help you recognize the early warning signs of depletion and offer practical strategies to restore energy and clarity. He’ll teach you practical, field-tested strategies to refuel without stepping away from responsibility. You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how to lead with endurance—not just intensity—and how to build the personal operating capacity required to sustain performance, decisiveness, and trust over the long run.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
