Dr C. Otto Scharmer

Senior Lecturer, MIT Management Sloan School, Co-Founder and Chair, Presencing Institute

Dr. C. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School and the Founding Chair of the Presencing Institute, where for over 20 years he has championed cross-sector systems transformation. His groundbreaking work on “presencing”—the practice of learning from the emerging future—has redefined leadership thinking, a vision first shared in his bestselling books Theory U and Presence (co-authored with Peter Senge and others) and later expanded in Leading from the Emerging Future.

Otto’s initiatives have catalyzed global change, notably through the MITx u-lab, which mobilizes a vibrant community of over 260,000 participants from 194 countries. In collaboration with international organizations, he has co-created Action Learning Labs for UN agencies and SDG Leadership Labs for UN Country Teams, driving innovative solutions to urgent humanitarian challenges.

Central to Otto’s philosophy is the idea that sustainable change begins by nurturing the “social soil”—the foundational conditions that enable a regenerative society. This insight, drawn from his early experiences growing up on his family farm near Hamburg, Germany, serves as a powerful metaphor in his work. Just as fertile soil nurtures healthy crops, cultivating a rich social field is essential for fostering transformative leadership and resilient communities.

In his latest book, Presencing: 7 Practices for Transforming Self, Society and Business, co-authored with Katrin Kaufer, Otto deepens this metaphor—exploring how shifting “from social systems to social soil” can empower leaders to cultivate the underlying conditions for enduring change. Drawing upon his personal heritage and professional insights, the book offers a roadmap for transforming both individual and collective approaches to leadership.

An alumnus of Witten/Herdecke University with a diploma and PhD in economics, Otto has been recognized with honors including the Jamieson Prize for Teaching Excellence at MIT, the European Leonardo Corporate Learning Award, and the Elevating Humanity Award from the Organizational Development Network. As a member of the Club of Rome, the UN Learning Advisory Council for the 2030 Agenda, and a Councillor of the World Future Council since 2019.