BEN WALDEN

Ben is the founder and Artistic Director of Contender Charlie. Having run many masterclasses for the Shakespeare`s Globe Education Centre he has worked in close collaboration with Mark Rylance and Richard Olivier in the development of an experiential theatre learning technique called Mythodrama. As a Senior Associate at Olivier Mythodrama, Ben is now running sessions bringing this work at Leadership level into a broad range of organisations across the world. He has also run projects at a number of leading business schools including Columbia, OSBS, the London Business School and Insead. "Contender Charlie" is the company he has formed to take this, and other theatre techniques, into education.

As well as his leadership and creativity courses for teaching staff, Ben runs sessions for students of many different abilities and backgrounds looking at themes of leadership and calling in their own lives.

Session Title: Skilful Influence: Lessons from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Using power and influence effectively is a key attribute of skilful communication. Some people avoid organisational politics on principle, others use it unhelpfully to further selfish ambition. Wise school leaders and teachers balance unavoidable organisational dilemmas with integrity.

Drawing lessons from four diverse leaders in Shakespeare’s political masterpiece – Caesar, Brutus, Cassius and Mark Antony – we explore the nature of the politics that can be a spoken or unspoken reality in all organisations, including schools.

At the heart of this keynote lies the question: “How can I influence others to do what I believe is right and needs to be done?”

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