Transformational Leadership Council was established in July of 2004 by Jack Canfield. We are a group of thought leaders, speakers, authors, coaches, trainers, researchers, consultants, and others who are leaders in the fields of personal and professional development. We meet twice a year to network, connect, and learn from each other in order to enhance our effectiveness and contribution in the world. Carolyn and Rob are members of TLC and are privileged to learn from the remarkable men and women who are masterful teachers in the field of personal growth and transformation.

Stewart Emery brings a lifetime of experience as an entrepreneur, executive coach and leader, and is considered one of the fathers of the Human Potential Movement. A visiting professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Management, Stewart has lead executive teams and organizations to achieve success built to last. Author of several best selling books; Stewart Emery has led workshops, seminars and delivered keynotes all over the world. A wonderful story teller with a
great sense of humor, Stewart has touched the lives of millions of people through leading workshops and seminars, writing books, delivering keynotes, and making radio and television appearances.

Stephen Josephs is a master teacher who helps leaders build their vitality and focus to improve the performance of their companies and make them great places to work. With a doctorate in Aesthetics in Education, Stephen uses art, music, drama, and movement to create greater impact and raise the fun quotient in teams and large groups, He is particularly interested in the intersection between business performance, psychology, and mind/body disciplines. He has had a daily practice of mind-body disciplines for 47+ years (tai chi, qigong, aikido, meditation). His recent book, Dragons at Work is available for
free on www.dragonsatwork.com. You may especially enjoy Rob’s walk-on part as a “fictional character” in the book

Blue Morpho didius butterfly image used with permission from butterflyutopia.com.

The term “Imaginal” has connotations of imagination, the process of creating new ideas and concepts of things that do not yet exist.

But in biology, the term is applied to Imaginal cells – and the startling science behind Imaginal cells is where we get our inspiration for the work we do.

We all grew up knowing a bit about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The truly amazing part of this process, however, is in the scientific detail of how it actually happens in nature.

After a period of ravenous consumption, a caterpillar finds an appropriate perch and forms a chrysalis – so far so good. The end result, we know, is a butterfly, but the truly astonishing thing is that there is no structural similarity at all between a caterpillar and a butterfly.

Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar, unable to move, actually dissolves into organic goop. Cells, which had been dormant in the caterpillar and which biologists have the poetic genius to call “Imaginal cells,” begin a process of creating a new form and structure.

At first these Imaginal cells – the seeds of future potential, which contain the blueprint of a flying creature—operate independently as single-cell organisms. They are regarded as threats and are attacked by the caterpillar’s immune system. But they persist, multiply, and connect with each other. The Imaginal cells form clusters and clumps, begin resonating at the same frequency and passing information back and forth until they hit a tipping point. They begin acting not as discrete individual cells but as a multi-cell organism – and a butterfly is born.

We believe that courageous leaders are the Imaginal cells within their organizations to help them transform to meet the challenges of our times.

Our life’s work is to find new and more effective ways to help courageous leaders imagine a better future and work with others to make their dreams a reality.

Imagine the impact you could have if you were able to become all that you hoped to be in this lifetime.

Imagine if you could align and mobilize others to work with you to achieve the dreams you have for yourself, your work, your family, and your world.

That is the mission of Imaginal Labs.

We are committed to helping courageous leaders dream BIG, to open your hearts and minds to your greatest possibilities – and then to help you mobilize others to achieve those dreams.

Courage, of course, comes from the word “coeur” or “heart” and means to move forward with your heart in your mouth during times of fear, uncertainty and doubt.

The world needs your courage now more than it ever has. Today’s businesses and institutions of all kinds are straining (and often failing) to meet the needs and realities of a rapidly transforming world.

The world needs courageous leaders to take the hero’s journey and imagine a different future with possibilities that don’t exist today.  Leaders who have the wisdom, energy, creativity, practical skills – yes, and the courage – to energize others to join them in accomplishing remarkable things.

We work with leaders to design and facilitate the strategic conversations, collaborations, and convenings that make their dreams for the future a reality.

Welcome to Imaginal Labs.

We have work to do.

How we can work with you: Thought Leadership

Carolyn Buck Luce and Rob Evans have developed a wealth of thought leadership over the course of their career that span the areas of the Transformation of the Health Care Industry globally, Design Thinking applied to Business Model and Ecosystem Architecture, Global Talent Management and Leadership.

Rob is known for the practical wisdom that he imparts in his DesignShops® and other executive workshops. He has personally influenced more than 25,000 executives from the world’s leading companies and other organizations with what Fred Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx described as his unique brand of “energy, wit, and creativity.”

In particular, Carolyn has published articles widely on Global Talent in the Harvard Business Review and on the future of HC in Pharmaceutical Executive and EY’s Progressions annual reports on the HC industry. In her capacity as Executive in Residence at the Center for Talent Innovation she is currently leading a new research report “The Power of the Purse: The implications of the SHEconomy on the Transformation of the HC system” which will be published in Fall 2014. She is a gifted public and motivational speaker.

Speaking engagements in 2013 include Telehealthcare Leaders Forum, Generation W Conference, HBA Woman of the Year Awards, Arianna Huffington’s The Third Metric Summit, Amgen’s Women’s Leadership Conference, Auburn Seminary’s Lives of Commitment, NYC City Hall’s Women’s Network, The Association of Women CPAs, and JPMC’s Salute to Women Veterans.

Strategic Facilitation

Nothing in a DesignShop^® is accidental. Everything has a purpose. We have learned from highly creative and collaborative teams and built their habits into our process. You don’t see many PowerPoint presentations in a DesignShop^®. We have the conversations here that people will be making PowerPoint slides about in the future!

A DesignShop^® is held in an equalizing environment. We don’t want participants to forget what they know and make compromises. We want them to understand the logic behind everyone’s positions. Scan, Focus, Act are the three phases of a DesignShop^®.

During Scan, participants share their wisdom and insight to create a collective foundation for success. Everyone’s ideas come into play, as well as ideas from conventional, as well as unconventional, external sources. Focus is about testing new ideas. As teams work in parallel on these ideas, the best ones resurface again and  again until the group begins to align behind the critical ideas that can be resourced and carried forward.

During Act, the group self-organizes into teams to work on pieces of an integrated solution. The energy is big, and  you can feel it like a James Bond movie. We are working mostly in small teams to work on a piece to a whole. Even though participants work exceedingly hard during a DesignShop^®, they are amazed at how swiftly the hours fly by and at how far the results exceed their expectations.