Path of Leadership – President’s Conference in Japan

Kim, Ben, and I have returned from the President Conference in Japan—a true culinary delight (yes, there was ramen… lots of ramen 🍜). I’ve attached a few photos for your amusement—and yes, the kimono pic is real… we actually wore that to breakfast! 😂

Pictured with us:

Annie Love, ensuring SLP was always top of mind (as if we’d forget! 😉).
Dan Cougan, our unofficial tour photographer, capturing all the best moments.

Why This Conference Matters – The Path of Leadership

This annual President Conference is a key milestone in the Path of Leadership (POL), playing a critical role in shaping EO Chapters globally by ensuring:

Presidents stay focused on a executing Q4 and ensuring plans are in place for a smooth leadership handover.
President-Elects (Ben) gain orientation and insight into responsibilities, strategy, and planning for the next EO year.
Chapter Managers (Kim) connect with peers across APAC, SE & North Asia. For the first time, there was a dedicated learning track for Chapter Managers, strengthening alignment and best-practice sharing across regions.

Global Alignment – A Truly International Experience

One of the most unique aspects of this event was experiencing real-time regional collaboration. Picture 200+ delegates, half listening via live translators and earpieces, with some sessions conducted entirely in different languages.

It was a surreal experience engaging via real-time translators, reinforcing the commitment of EOers (as volunteers) to the POL and global alignment

Best Practice Sharing – Learning from Each Other

One of the standout sessions was a President-Elect Open Q&A to a room full of APAC Presidents asking raw, unscripted questions.

As we know, EO scales through trust and shared experiences, and this session was a perfect demonstration of that. A real, unfiltered discussion on challenges, key learnings, and strategies for leading a Chapter successfully.

A powerful reminder that while each Chapter has its own identity, the challenges and opportunities we face are often universal.