Wednesday, March 24, 2027
Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square
2:30 pm - 8:30 pm
What to Make of a Life
Jim Collins
Jim Collins is a student and teacher of exceptional human endeavor and a Socratic advisor to leaders across all sectors of society.
Having invested more than three decades in rigorous research, he has authored or coauthored a series of books that have sold in total more than 11 million copies worldwide, including the #1 bestseller Good to Great, the enduring classic Built to Last, and other highly-influential writings such as Great by Choice, How the Mighty Fall, Beyond Entrepreneurship, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, and Turning the Flywheel.
In recent years, Jim has broadened the scope of his work, extending out from the question of what makes great companies tick to the study of remarkable people and their lives. His newest book (available April 2026) tackles the big question implicit in its title: What to Make of a Life. Grounded in a ten-year research project, it offers transformative lessons on constructing—and reconstructing—a life through the cliff moments and transitions we all will face repeatedly in our lives.
Through his research, Jim seeks to uncover timeless principles on which people can reliably depend. Concepts that emerged from Jim’s earlier work have become part of the leadership lexicon, such as: Level 5 leadership, First Who (the right people on the bus), the Hedgehog Concept, the Flywheel, 20 Mile March, Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress, and BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). His writings and teachings have had a lasting impact and proved integral to the building of many great organizations.
Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he conducts research and engages with CEOs and senior-leadership teams.
Jim has a passion for learning and teaching in the social sectors, including education, healthcare, government, faith-based organizations, social ventures, and cause-driven nonprofits. In 2012 and 2013, he had the honor to serve a two-year appointment as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematical sciences and an MBA from Stanford University, and honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. In 2017, Forbes selected Jim as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.
Sponsorships open: Early September
Member & Partner Registrations available: Thursday October 1st
Public ticket sales: Sunday November 1st
If you have any questions, please email highcenterinfo@etown.edu.
Registration closes Friday March 5th. All registrations received by Friday March 5th will have their badges mailed unless requested otherwise. All others will be waiting at the Information Table in the hotel lobby the day of the event.
High Center Members and Partners should use links that will be emailed to them BEGINNING IN OCTOBER 2026 or reach out to HighCenterInfo@etown.edu
Jim Collins, AFTERNOON KEYNOTE SPEAKER
What to Make of a Life
What to make of a life?
It is a question we all wrestle with more than once: How do we find our way in the world? How do we make it past the cliffs, significant events that can radically change a life? How do we keep the inner fire burning bright, long and late? Inspired by relentless curiosity, Jim Collins devoted a decade to studying these questions and to minutely analyzing those moments when life flips from clarity to confusion and casts us into a befuddling fog.
His exploration follows various lives side-by-side, paired together at cliffs, and analyzes the different choices made and divergent paths taken. Two rock musicians confronting a future without the group that had brought them success. Two public figures tainted by scandal having to make decisions about how to rebuild their lives. Two suffragists achieving their epic goal and so left with the puzzle of what to do next. Two figure skaters seeking new purpose when their Olympic careers come to an end. What emerges from Collins’s extensive studies – of writers, actors, scientists, leaders and many others – is a framework for understanding how individual lives can be built, sustained and constantly renewed.
By examining the long arc of these remarkable lives, Collins tackles life’s questions. What does it take to:
- Discover a deeply fulfilling role in life – one that you are naturally ‘encoded’ for—and then to find a second one, if the first one ends?
- Overcome a major cliff—a fracture point that forces choices about what’s next and calls for you to re-envision the years to come?
- Make your personal economics work so that you can focus on one big thing that feeds your inner fire?
- Navigate the fog, when you feel uncertain or even outright lost, and build confidence step by step?
- Build personal momentum decade upon decade, so that your most creative and energetic years are spread across an entire lifetime?
- Achieve the imperative to “Know Thyself” and apply self-knowledge to each phase of life?
And for the first time, Collins movingly chronicles his own story to reveal how undertaking this project transformed him, changing his thinking and reshaping his emotions in fundamental ways. Surprising, story-driven, deeply researched, and uplifting, What to Make of a Life is a book like no other, convincingly showing how a richly fulfilled life is within reach of us all.
Table Sponsorship Opportunities will be available September 2026. Check back for Sponsorship Packet.
EVENT DETAILS:
TENTATIVE INFORMATION (times, locations and menus may change)
Agenda:
2:00 – 2:45pm Arrivals – Afternoon session begins at 2:45pm
2:45 – 4:30pm Afternoon session – Jim Collins presentation (members only event)
4:30 – 5:30pm Cocktail Reception(s)
5:30 – 6:00pm Proceed to Freedom Hall for dinner seating
6:00 – 7:00pm Dinner
7:00 – 7:30pm Program
7:30 – 8:30pm Keynote Speaker – Jim Collins
8:30 – 8:45pm End of Program
Keynote Dinner Menu (menu TBD):
Assorted Rolls and Butter
Spinach Leaves and Romaine, Bacon, Red Onion, Blue Cheese, Tomatoes, Egg, Ranch and Balsamic Dressing
Sun Dried Tomato Cream Chicken Dinner
Broccolini
Herb Roasted Baby Potatoes
Gluten Free Flourless Chocolate Torte & Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis
Freshly Brewed Regular Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee of Hot Herbal Tea
Iced Tea Available Upon Request
Red and White wine
TABLE GRID FOR KEYNOTE DINNER (coming February 2027):