Michael J. Gelb

Walking Well

How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci

Thinking creatively, learning faster and leading change, these abilities are at a premium in a highly competitive global business environment. What if you could call on history’s greatest genius, Leonardo da Vinci, to be your personal mentor in cultivating these highly prized elements of human capital? Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) helped bring the Western world out of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.

The da Vinci principles 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
    • Connessione – Systems thinking

This dynamic, highly-interactive program brings da Vinci’s genius to life through fascinating biographical and historical information, setting the stage for an introduction to seven principles for thinking “a la Leonardo.” Participants are then guided to apply the principles, through a proven series of practical exercises, to your organization’s greatest challenges.

Creativity on Demand: How to ignite & sustain the fire of genius

This program guides participants to generate and express creative energy using simple, elegant, evidence-based methods.  These techniques, based on ancient wisdom and validated by contemporary science, are combined with an understanding of how to adopt a creative mindset and apply the most potent methods of the creative process. The result is a unique, energizing and transformational program.

• Topics include: Creativity Self-Assessment, Cultivating a Creative Mindset, The 5 Phases of the Creative Process, Understanding Creative Energy, 3 Practical Methods to Raise Creative Energy, Application to Participant’s Greatest Creative Challenge.

Executive presence and high performance presentations

Based on a synthesis of The Alexander Technique (the method for developing stage presence taught at The Julliard School), centering and movement exercises drawn from the martial arts, and thirty years of world-class professional presentation experience, this program offers a unique opportunity to cultivate powerful influence skills.

Mastering strategic thinking

This unique and unforgettable program is based on the best selling book Samurai Chess: Mastering Strategic Thinking Through the Martial Art of the Mind by speaker Michael J. Gelb and Grandmaster Raymond Keene,O.B.E., 14 times British Champion and Chess columnist of the London Times and International Herald Tribune.

The program begins with an overview of the history of chess and the development of the Samurai tradition. Drawing from this historical context, participants will be introduced to the seven Samurai principles of strategy and their relationship to chess, business, and life.

• The program highlight is a simultaneous chess display (against up to 100 participants) by Grandmaster Keene. Grandmaster Keene will then review, by memory, any participant’s game, and offer an analysis in terms of the Samurai principles. The program concludes with an in-depth discussion of the implications of these strategic principles for the development of intellectual capital in your organization.