The Aspen Executive Seminar
Challenging experienced leaders from every sector to achieve meaningful growth into the executive leadership frame of mind through a critical examination of their core values.
Dialogue, Not Dogma.
Leadership today is harder than ever. Executives must deliver results, guide teams through constant change, and make decisions that shape not just their organizations, but society at large. These are leadership skills that can’t be taught in a lecture hall or in an online module. They are honed at a leadership seminar.
The Aspen Executive Seminar on Leadership, Values, and the Good Society gives leaders the space and the framework to rise to this moment—equipping them with the clarity, courage, and conviction to answer the question:
“How do I lead well and live justly in a good society?”
We cannot lead others through today’s complex professional landscape until we fully understand our values and how they inform the actions we take as a leaders, impacting our teams, organizations, and communities.
Guided by the Aspen Method of text-based dialogue, the Aspen Executive Seminar expands critical leadership capacities by reflecting on and sharpening leadership in a complex world of rapid change. Allowing you to return to your role able to lead from a place of clarity, confidence, and conviction—driving results for your organizations while defining your own enduring impact.
Outcomes & Impact
The Aspen Executive Seminar gives leaders the tools and frameworks to lead in a highly charged world. The ability to parse different values at play in challenging situations, the ability to discern the impact of your decision, and to communicate the chosen course with conviction and consistency even to people who don’t agree with you, both in current roles and across careers.
Outcomes participants walk away from include:
- Greater understanding of your personal leadership values and how they manifest in action
- Increased sense of professional purpose and leadership mission
- Enhanced ability to understand complexity and navigate change
- Improved capacity to listen, critically think, and bridge disagreement on your teams
- Heightened ability recognize, articulate, and navigate moral trade-offs inherent in organizational and civic life
- Greater consciousness of the philosophical underpinnings of modern institutions and systems
- Reconnection with the human side of leadership
Upcoming Seminar Dates
7-day residential seminar hosted at the Aspen Meadows Resort in Aspen, CO.
Register early for a 2026 seminar and receive $1,000 off tuition!
Applications must be received by 12/31/2025 and deposit paid by 1/31/2026. The discount will then be applied to your remaining balance. Terms and conditions apply.
Each seminar cohort is made up of 15-20 experienced leaders from a variety of industries, sectors, and experiences looking to advance to the next stage of their leadership.
Upcoming seminars:
- April 18-24, 2026 in Aspen, CO
- May 30-June 5, 2026 in Aspen, CO
- October 17-23, 2026 in Aspen, CO
Over the week-long seminar, participants spend their time in a series of moderated, text-based dialogues focusing on the ideas and ideals that have shaped our world as prompted by readings and are interspersed with excursions, casual down time for connection, and shared meals.
Seminar Fee: $14,450*
*Inclusive of seminar materials, activities, meals and lodging at the Aspen Meadows Resort. Cancellation/transfer fees apply
Seminar alumni include leaders across sectors and around the world with access to the Aspen Institute’s wealth of resources, including opportunities for continued leadership development and other programing for you, your network, and your team or organization.
The moral challenges of leadership run across all industries, sectors, disciplines, and specialties. From corporate boardrooms to non-profit field workers
Leaders attend from all over the world to explore the ideas and ideals that have created the world we all share and the future we are building together.
About the Aspen Executive Seminar
Where other leadership programs focus on the how or the what of leadership, the Aspen Executive Seminar invites you to zoom out to the “why” and examine leadership in context of the personal values, organizational structures, and historical systems that shape our leadership.
Designed for experienced leaders new to or reaching the executive level of leadership, the Aspen Executive Seminar combines moderated, text-based dialogue with a diverse cohort of peers to expand critical leadership capacities in a complex world of rapid change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions about the Aspen Executive Seminar? We’ve gathered key details about what to expect and how to prepare.
Information for Employers
Resources for the professional development funding or managerial approval process within your organization.
Our Method & Impact
Explore the seminar room—where meaningful texts, diverse perspectives, and focused conversation change how leaders see and show up.
Our Moderators
Meet the skilled moderators who guide Aspen seminars with curiosity, humility, and a gift for drawing insight from every voice.
Awards
Learn how our awards programs brings diverse, dynamic leaders from all sectors and backgrounds to the seminar table.
More questions?
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