I started doing street theater in 1979, and spent 10 years creating improvisational performance art with musicians, actors, dancers, and poets.In the early 90s I was drawn to rites of passage - especially the social infrastructure that helps children transit from a dependent relationship to one of adult co-creation. I participated in talking stick ceremonies, sweatlodges, peace pipe ceremonies, and a vision quest, which was a major turning point in my understanding of leadership.1995-98 I was amember of the small team at the World Bank that pioneered Knowledge Management. With the support of my boss, Steve Denning, I experimented with introducing elements of improv performance art and ritual to our change program. We received international recognition for the success of our initiative. In 2001 Iintroduced “institutional community building” through large-scale events, beginning with an all-staff gathering as a response to September 11. In '02 I left the WBank to work with executives and senior managers in other organizations. Since that time I have had over 50 clients. Among them, the World Bank, Royal Dutch Shell, Peace Corps, NASA, the American Public Transportation Association, Project Management Institute, the American Nurses Credentialing Center, US Geological Survey, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and Congressman Christopher Shays. In my mind there are three basic tools of change leadership:1. Storytelling & storylistening, to share and understand points of view.2. Cultivating communities, the heart and soul of knowledge generation3. Staging events to surge change forwardI speak to about 25,000 people every year as a conference keynoter. Most popular topics are storytelling, community building, and visionary leadership.My publications include (all available on my website): · The Power of Storytelling to JumpStart Collaboration, Journal for Quality andParticipation· Sharing Knowledge at the AIDS Competence Programme, Johns Hopkins University· Creating a Poverty Grading System at the Marie Stopes Clinic Society in Bangladesh, Johns Hopkins University· Building Beehives: A Handbook for Creating Communities that Generate Returns· Encouraging Community, Executive Update· Engagement, Identity& Innovation: Interview with Etienne Wenger, Journal for Association Leadership· Communicating Change, Executive Update· Visionary Leadership, Executive Update· Building Community at Work, Executive Update· The Extraordinary Potential of Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management· Bringing Us Back to Life: Storytelling and the Modern Organization, Information Outlook
http://www.fastcompany.com/user/seth-kahan-0
Owner / Partner, Performance Development Group
Private, Sole Proprietor employees, Consulting industryI help executives get traction, engagement, and buy-in for major change.
Indiana University , Indiana, United States
Bachelor’s degree, 1979.
Areas of study: Mathematics
