When considering everything in the world that could impact the promotional products industry, and specifically, your business, have you ever thought about militias in Ethiopia?

Well, you should, according to Dr. Sam Potolicchio, a Georgetown University professor who will be speaking at PPAI’s North American Leadership Conference (NALC) in Salt Lake City in less than two weeks.

Named one of “America’s Best Professors” by The Princeton Review, Potolicchio will deliver a firsthand account of geopolitical trends as an expert on the ground in Europe, sharing key insights about what is happening in the day to day lives of those abroad and what is being discussed by leaders that you don’t hear about in the news.

“Einstein's charge that we should be 'learners rather than knowers' is something I always want to permeate my classroom,” says Potolicchio, who, during his first professorial teaching experience at the collegiate level, invited standout practitioners to share secrets of their craft with his students.  

“I had the former president of Poland talking about acculturating constitutional values in a young democracy, a U.S. presidential adviser talking about pre-speech presidential routines, a former cabinet secretary talking about the power of presidential questions in figuring out how to know what information is actionable and the campaign manager of a president underlining the small differences that separate winning from losing on a campaign.”

“I've always tried to figure out how to get inspiring people to give my students singularly special knowledge,” Potolicchio says.

  • NALC will be held May 5-7 in Salt Lake City, Utah. To register, click here.


Always Teaching

A world-renowned public speaker and educator, Potolicchio has delivered lectures in more than 85 countries.

  • He also teaches at the Mannheim Business School in Germany.
  • He currently serves as president of the Preparing Global Leaders Forum and founding executive director of the American Councils For International Education's Center for Global Leadership.


Potolicchio encourages experienced business leaders who are engaging with the next generation of the workforce to confront the uncertainty, as well as their anxieties, head on.

“There's a famous experiment where people are asked if they would rather experience greater pain but know that it's coming, or less pain and not know when it's coming,” Potolicchio says. “People prefer to know but take more pain. Transparency about what is uncertain and uncontrollable is essential.”

“Also, think of yourself as a coach rather than a supervisor,” he adds. “How do I take my colleague to the next level? Do they know I’m invested in unlocking as much potential as possible? When I walk through the door, are they feeling uplifted?”

  • Potolicchio’s session will be on Monday, May 6.