This TEDxSantaCruz talk is one of 16 surrounding our theme of "Open" at the second full-day TEDxSantaCruz event held September 15, 2012 at the Cabrillo College Crocker Theater in Aptos, CA (Santa Cruz County). http://www.tedxsantacruz.org/

Mark Nicolson has been consulting and teaching for the last two decades on transformative leadership in organizations. His clients include corporations, partnerships, VCs, and social change visionaries. He is a principal consultant of Ventana Group, and he has recently worked with IDEO, BALLE, Humanity United, and the Ella Baker Center, as well as with Desmond Tutu and his family foundation. Early in his career, he worked in investment banking in the UK and Hong Kong before becoming a partner in Alexander, the UK pioneer in executive coaching. His style is warm, insightful, and humorous. In his work with groups and individuals, he creates a foundation of trust that allows people to explore their desire to transform. He has taught in executive education at Harvard and teaches teaches regularly at Stanford and Esalen. He has an MBA from Stanford, and MA in Classical Literature from Oxford, and an MA in Psychology from Meridian University.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)