The Leadership Forum at Silver Bay A Legacy Of Leadership North America’s Longest Running Management Conference

Our Story...so far

     During the 2007 annual Leadership Forum, Dr. Jim Loehr renowned expert in the field of human performance engaged the Forum’s delegates with his belief that the single most predicative factor in a person becoming extraordinary in their own field of endeavor is the belief in the story they tell themselves about their own purpose and mission. Here is our story… so far. Our story begins in 1914 when, concerned about the social and political impact of economic change on the spirit of the industrial workforce, the lay leadership of the YMCA, including William E. Dodge, Jr., J. Pierpont Morgan, John Wanamaker and Cornelius Vanderbilt influenced the YMCA to serve as a catalyst for defining and supporting positive employee practices in the emerging industrial workplace.

     In 1918, the YMCA created a unique opportunity for industrial leaders to meet on the shores of Lake George to discuss the most pressing human issues in business. Early conference agendas addressed then controversial issues such as class struggle, collective bargaining, guaranteed minimum wage, experimentation in profit sharing, equal pay for women and the abolition of child labor. Today, we live in an age of disruption where confidence in our leaders is deteriorating and Wicked Problems including workforce engagement, inclusion, globalization, environmental sustainability, poverty, hopelessness and curable disease demand new types of Purpose-Driven Leaders who bring innovative new ways of combining purpose, passion and profit to improve the state of the workplace and the world.

     For 91 years the Leadership Forum’s has thrived based on a fundamental belief that LEADERSHIP MATTERS. Today, our purpose is to serve as a network of allies who recognize, develop and support Purpose-Driven Leaders who combine purpose, passion and even profit to improve organizational effectiveness, sustain economic growth and improve the state of the workplace and the world. We are deeply proud of the legacy of leadership we steward and welcome all who share a passion and choose become part of the oldest network of allies committed to recognizing, developing and supporting Purpose-Driven Leaders who drive positive change.