Leadership Impact Festival 2025, C-Level Leadership at Sea Level: Realities, Learning, Action

We invite professionals at all levels - C-suite executives, senior and junior managers, seasoned leaders and emerging talent - to explore the realities of leadership at the highest levels of organisations.

At C-Level, attendees will gain exclusive insights into the often-inaccessible behind the scenes 'flight recorder' of executive leadership from our C-level speakers.

At Sea Level, the day provides the opportunity to take a step back to reflect, reset and realign. This is where Festival participants assess their current impact and envision the future of their leadership.

This is a Festival, designed for all day engagement by the attendees who we call festival goers. You will co-create fresh perspectives and actionable insights. Together, we will chart a path forward - translating leadership learning into meaningful action and impact.

The third Leadership Impact Festival is about continuing to celebrate together as a growing community and hearing diverse voices of resourceful and eye-opening insights from practitioners, alumni, business leaders and our own research at the Henley Centre for Leadership. With this, we help shape sustainable positive relationships in our community.

This Festival is about deeply deliberating and co-creating tangible insights and outputs for leadership and leadership development practice in business and society. We look forward to welcoming you!

Places are limited, so book now through our online store. The ticket options are listed below:

- Early bird tickets, £300 per person (available up to 16 August 2025)

- Henley Business School alumni tickets, £335 per person (available from 17 August 2025)

- General tickets, £370 per person (available from 17 August 2025)

The Festival will begin with an optional pre-event evening reception at 7:30pm on 15 October 2025 for those arriving in the evening. The full schedule for the Leadership Impact Festival 2025 on 16 October 2025 will be released in the near future, with a series of talks and panels featuring audience interactions, co-creation, participant work and enlightenment.

Speakers

Tommy Olofsen, Chief Marine Services Officer at OSM Thome

Tommy is a global maritime executive with over 30 years of leadership experience across the shipping, offshore, and energy industries. Rising from early leadership roles at sea to senior C-suite positions, Tommy has built a career navigating complex global challenges, including sustainability, decarbonisation and human capital transformation. Today, as Chief Marine Services Officer at OSM Thome, he leads the development of customer-focused Marine Services worldwide. A Henley Business School MBA graduate, Tommy brings a people-centered, future-facing approach to leadership.

Additional speakers to be announced in the near future.

Organisers and facilitators

Professor Bernd Vogel, Professor in Leadership, Founding Director of Henley Centre for Leadership and Founding Director of Henley Centre for Leadership Africa

In his work, Bernd bridges practice and research at Henley Business School and with global companies, business schools and universities. He is passionate about strategic leadership for healthy organisational energy and performance, senior management teams, leadership development, the future of leadership and work and global societal leadership challenges, organisation-wide leadership capability, leadership and followership repertoire, transformation, change and culture.

Dr Chris Dalton, Associate Professor of Management Learning and module convenor for Personal Development

Chris focuses on self-awareness and reflection in post-experience management education, facilitating growth among executives, MBAs, and DBAs. A University Teaching Fellow, he authors books on personal development, leadership and management and is the host of the Henley Business School Personal Development podcast, Unfinished Business.

Dr Obiageli Heidelberger-Nkenke, Lecturer in Personal Development and Organisational Behaviour

Obiageli is passionate about exploring and shedding light on leadership as a multifaceted and multicontextual phenomenon, offering valuable insights for theory and practice. Her special interested lies in the future of leadership, leadership development, leadership resilience, emergent and collective leadership and sustainability in leadership. Her work includes shedding light on the leadership experience of individuals whose perspective is not usually heard in strategic leadership, by looking through the lens of individuals with intersecting marginalised gender and racial identities, giving voice to their experience.

Dr Can Ererdi, Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and Research Methods

Can's work bridges research and practice across the domains of the dark side of leadership, sustainable leadership and healthy performance, organisational behaviour, the future of work and strategic human resource management. Drawing on an international academic perspective, he works closely with universities and research institutions to shape the future of leadership education and sustainable performance.

Lindsay Allen, HR and Organisational Development Director and Henley Business School alumna

With multi-sector experience gained through a range of senior HR and operational roles, Lindsay brings expertise in strategic change, employee engagement and organisation development. Lindsay is particularly interested in leadership team cohesion, culture, the future of work and leadership development, governance and ethics, neurodiversity and organisational behaviour.

Haffsa Rizwani, PhD Scholar and Committee Member Henley Centre for Leadership

Haffsa is a Partner at Inclusive Impact and PhD researcher at Henley Business School in Leadership, Organisation, Behaviour and Reputation. Her research and practice focus on female executives' careers, sustainable leadership, the role of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in organisations and career advancement.

Alex Baker, Senior Department Administration for Leadership, Organisations, Behaviour and Reputation

Alex supports the logistics of Henley Centre for Leadership's initiatives and events.