The World's Best Top 30 Great Innovative Thinkers Who Have Inspired Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Jennifer Aaker

Dr. Jennifer Aaker is the General Atlantic Professor and the Coulter Family Faculty Fellow at Stanford Graduate School of Business. A behavioral scientist and author, Dr. Aaker is a leading expert on how meaning and purpose shape the choices individuals make, how time can be spent in meaningful and unconventional ways, and how technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Mixed Reality (XR) are redefining human interaction. She is widely published in leading scientific journals and her work has been featured in The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, BusinessWeek, Forbes, NPR, CBS MoneyWatch, Inc., and Science.

Dr. Aaker is the co-author of several books including the award-winning book, The Dragonfly Effect, which has been translated into over 10 languages, and more recently, the national bestseller, Humor, Seriously, focused on why and how humor can be used as a secret weapon in business and life.

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“Jennifer is a Professor at Stanford who has done some incredibly important work on what is really meaningful in life, how that differs from happiness in life – and when and why we get it wrong. She is a rare Professor who combines serious research, practical advice, and fun.  Her spirit toward life and her great work are an inspiration and joy for me. “ -Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Safi Bahcall

Safi is a second-generation physicist (the son of two astrophysicists), a biotech entrepreneur, and former public-company CEO.

He received his BA summa cum laude from Harvard and his PhD in physics from Stanford, where he worked with Lenny Susskind in particle physics (the science of the small) and the Nobel laureate Bob Laughlin in condensed matter physics (the science of the many). He was a Miller Fellow in physics at UC Berkeley (the school of the many).
After working for three years as a consultant for McKinsey, Safi co-founded a biotechnology company developing new drugs for cancer. He led its IPO and served as its CEO for 13 years.

In 2008, he was named E&Y New England Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2011, he worked with President Obama’s council of science advisors (PCAST) on the future of national research.

Loonshots, Safi’s first book, has been translated into 18 languages; recommended by Bill Gates, three Nobel laureates, Adam Grant, Malcolm Gladwell, and Tim Ferriss; and selected as a best business book of the year by Amazon, BloombergFinancial TimesForbesInc., NewsweekStrategy + BusinessTech Crunch, and the Washington Post. It was the #1 most recommended book of the year in Bloomberg’s annual survey of CEOs and entrepreneurs.

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“Safi has a Ph.D. in Physics from Stanford.  He has worked with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. His book, Loonshots, combines scientific knowledge, business advice and a great perspective on life.  He has now become a gifted teacher, consultant, and coach.  Safi also has a wonderful sense of humor and never takes himself too seriously. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Ayse Birsel

Ayse (pronounced Eye-Shay) Birsel is one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People 2017. She is the author of Design the Life You Love, A Step-By-Step Guide to Building A Meaningful Future. On the Thinkers50 shortlist for talent, she gives lectures on Design the Organization You Love to corporations. Ayse writes a weekly post on innovation for Inc.com.

Ayse designs award-winning products and systems with Fortune 100 and 500 companies, including Amazon, Colgate-Palmolive, Herman Miller, GE, IKEA, The Scan Foundation, Staples and Toyota.

She is the recipient of numerous awards including Interior Design Best of Year Award in 2018 for Overlay, a new Herman Miller system, multiple IDEA (Industrial Design Excellence Awards) and Best of NeoCon Gold Awards, Young Designers Award from the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Athena Award for Excellence in Furniture Design from Rhode Island School of Design. Ayse is one of only 100 people worldwide to be named as one of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches—a program Goldsmith conceived during Ayse’s Design the Life You Love program—along with the President of the World Bank, the head of the Rockefeller Foundation and the President of Singularity University. She is a TEDx speaker. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the MoMA, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Born in Izmir, Turkey, Ayse came to the US on a Fulbright Scholarship and got her masters degree at Pratt Institute, New York.

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“Ayse is one of the World’s Top Designers. Her Design the Life You Love program created the framework for the 100 Coaches community and changed my life. She is helping thousands of other people in the same way that she helped me. Her new work is aimed at helping people in their later stages of life. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Ken Blanchard

ken

Ken Blanchard has always been the top leadership speaker, trainer, guru with a heart as seen in his works throughout his career which encourages in bringing out the best in people. And as an internationally renowned leadership author, speaker and consultant, he has made a huge impact to the world of leadership and as well as the lives of those people who have never even read his books. In our opinion, Ken Blanchard is one of the few people who simplify unique concepts in leadership and makes it easy to apply. Aside from having bestselling books which includes The One Minute Manager, coauthored with Spencer Johnson with sales of more than 18 million copies in more than 25 languages, Ken co-created the Situational Leadership® II model and is out to make a difference in the lives of other people. Everything about his leadership books, training and speaking reflects one commonality, he believes in the natural goodness of people and that bringing that goodness out creates greater relationships and emotions which in turn create better organizations. As a speaker, he is warm and steady. Ken Blanchard is well known internationally and is also listed as a Top Management Expert on www.managementgurus.net

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“Ken is an icon in the world of leadership development. I have known Ken for 45 years. As a young man – and an old man – he has provided kindness, wisdom, and inspiration to me. His work is incredibly practical and useful for leaders at all levels. He has sold over 23 million books. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Peter Bregman

Recognized as the #1 executive coach in the world by Leading Global Coaches, Peter Bregman coaches CEOs and senior leaders in many of the world’s premier organizations. Having started his career teaching leadership on wilderness and mountaineering expeditions, Peter is CEO of Bregman Partners, an executive coaching company that helps successful people become exceptional leaders and stellar human beings.

Peter is ranked as a Top 30 thought leader by Thinkers 50 Radar and selected as one of the Top 8 thought leaders in leadership. He is ranked by Global Guru’s as one of the top 30 best Coaches in the world and one of the top 30 best leadership speakers/trainers in the world.  He is the award-winning, best selling author and contributor of 18 books, including most recently, Leading with Emotional Courage: How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability, and Inspire Action on Your Most Important Work. His book, 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, winner of the Gold medal from the Axiom Business Book awards, named the best business book of the year by NPR, and selected by Publishers Weekly and the New York Post as a top ten business book. He is also the author of Four Seconds: All the Time You Need to Replace Counter-Productive Habits with Ones That Really Work, a New York Post “Top Pick for Your Career” in 2015, and Point B: A Short Guide to Leading a Big Change.

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“Peter, along with being a noted author and coach, is a lifelong learner. I have been coaching in partnership with him and never cease to be amazed by his inquisitive mind. He can teach others, learn from them, and help them learn from themselves at the same time.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Michael Bungay Stanier

Michael Bungay Stanier is the author of five books, including *The Coaching Habit*, the best-selling coaching book of the last two years with half a million copies sold and 1,000+ 5-star reviews on Amazon. Other books include *Do More Great Work* (100,000 copies sold), and *End Malaria*, a collection of articles about Great Work from thought leaders that’s raised about $400,000 for Malaria No More and reached #2 on Amazon.com. Michael is the founder of Box of Crayons, a company that is the best-known champion for coaching as a force for leadership development and culture change. More than 80,000 managers have taken their programs, and their clients include Microsoft, TD Bank, Salesforce and USA. Michael was a Rhodes Scholar, one of the first nominees in the Marshall Goldsmith 100, and the first Canadian Coach of the Year.

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“Michael is a top selling author, and champions making the skills of coaching accessible to all. He has an engaging, refreshing, and irreverent personality. He combines wisdom, with great humility and humor. He has even coached me! Michael is a top selling author of many books including “The Coaching Habit.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Dorie Clark

Dorie Clark has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and was recognized as the #1 Communication Coach in the world by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards. Clark, a consultant and keynote speaker, teaches executive education at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School.

Recognized as a “branding expert” by the Associated Press, Fortune, and Inc. magazine, she is the author of Entrepreneurial You (Harvard Business Review Press,), Reinventing You, and Stand Outwhich was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine and one of the Top 10 Business Books of the Year by Forbes. It was also a Washington Post bestseller. Her books have been translated into Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French, Polish, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese, and Thai.

Clark, whom the New York Times described as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives,” is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review. She consults and speaks for a diverse range of clients, including Google, the World Bank, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Yale University.

At age 14, Clark entered Mary Baldwin College’s Program for the Exceptionally Gifted. At 18, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College, and two years later received a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. You can download her Entrepreneurial You self-assessment at dorieclark.com/entrepreneur.

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“Dorie is a great thinker, teacher, and coach. I love how she goes out of her way to help younger coaches and consultants get started in our field. Her latest book, The Long Game, provides sage advice for both business and life.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Alisa Cohn

Alisa Cohn is an Executive Coach who has worked with C-suite executives at prominent startups (such as Venmo, Etsy, Draft Kings, The Wirecutter, Mack Weldon, and Tory Burch) and Fortune 500 companies (including Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Google, Pfizer, Calvin Klein and Hitachi.) She is the author of the 2022 Independent Press Award-winning book From Start-up to Grown-up and podcast host of the same name, which provides insights and tools for the journey founders (and all leaders) must go through as they scale their leadership.

She was named the Top Startup Coach in the World at the Thinkers50/Marshall Goldsmith Global Coaches Awards and the #1 Global Guru for Startups in 2021 and 2022, A sought-after speaker, Inc. named Alisa one of the top 100 leadership speakers, and she has keynoted events for IBM, PwC, Dell, and Citi. She is the executive coach for Runway, the incubator at Cornell’s New York City campus. She is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Inc, and she’s been featured as an expert on BBC World News and in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She is an angel investor and a Broadway investor.

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“Alisa is the World’s #1 Start-Up Coach. Years ago, she flew to California to learn from me. Since then, I have been mostly learning from her. She is making a great difference in helping the lives of the entrepreneurs who fuel our economy. Her latest book, From Start Up to Grown Up is a wonderful guide for the organizations of the future, and in her new podcast “From Start-up to Grown-up” she discusses with entrepreneurs what it really takes to grow their leadership as they build their companies.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Erica Dhawan

Erica Dhawan is the world’s leading authority on 21st century Collaboration and Connectional Intelligence.

She challenges audiences and organizations to innovate further and faster, together.

Her newest book – Digital Body Language – decodes the new signals and cues of effective collaboration and teamwork in a digital-first human workplace.

Erica Dhawan is the Founder & CEO of Cotential, a global organization that helps companies, leaders, and managers leverage 21st century collaboration skills and behaviors to improve game changing performance.

She is the co-author of the bestselling book Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence, named #1 on What Corporate America is Reading. Dhawan was named by Thinkers50 as “The Oprah of Management Ideas.”

Erica was rated the #1 Woman Keynote Speaker of 2020 by RealLeaders. Erica speaks on global stages ranging from the World Economic Forum at Davos and TED to companies such as Coca-Cola, Fedex, Goldman Sachs, Walmart, SAP, and Cisco.

Erica has been featured in WSJ and Harvard Business Review and FastCompany. She has degrees from Harvard University, MIT Sloan, and The Wharton School.

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“Erica is the World Expert in Digital Body Language. She combines state of the art thinking, fantastic presentation skills, and advice that leaders can immediately put to work. She is also a role model for having fun while helping others. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Amy Edmondson

Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society.

She is the author of 7 books and over 60 scholarly papers, published in academic and management outlets, such as  Administrative Science Quarterly,  Academy of Management Journal,  and Harvard Business Review.  She is a sought-after keynote speaker with a worldwide following.

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“Along with being the 2021 Thinkers50 #1 Management Thinker in the World and a Professor at Harvard, Amy is remarkably down-to-earth and can communicate with people at any level. Her work on psychological safety is not only helping organizations become more effective but is also helping them to become more human.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Chester Elton / Adrian Gostick

#1 Bestselling Business Author, Organizational Culture, Employee Engagement and Leadership Expert

One of today’s most influential voices in workplace trends, Chester Elton has spent two decades helping clients engage their employees to execute on strategy, vision, and values. In his provocative, inspiring and always entertaining talks, #1 bestselling leadership author Chester Elton provides real solutions to leaders looking to manage change, drive innovation, and lead a multi-generational workforce. Elton’s work is supported by research with more than 850,000 working adults, revealing the proven secrets behind high-performance cultures and teams. He has been called the “apostle of appreciation” by Canada’sGlobe and Mail, “creative and refreshing‚” by the New York Times, and a “must read for modern managers” by CNN   Elton is co-author of the New York Timesand #1 USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling leadership books, All In, The Carrot Principle and The Best Team Wins.His books have been translated in more than 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide. Eltonis often quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fast Company and theNew York Times.He has appeared on NBC’s Today, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, National Public Radio and CBS’s 60 Minutes. In 2017 Global Gurus research organization ranked him as #15 in the world’s top leadership experts and #10 in the world’s top organizational culture experts. Eltonis the co-founder of The Culture Works, a global training company and is a board member of Camp Corral, a non-profit for the children of wounded and fallen military heroes.He serves as aleadership consultant to firms such as American Express, AT&T, Avis Budget Group andProcter & Gamble. He is most proud, however, to be the father of four exceptional children-more exceptional now they’ve grown up and left home.

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2022

Adrian Gostick

Bestselling Leadership Author | Organizational Culture Expert 

How do today’s best leaders accelerate business results? By engaging their employees to execute on strategy, vision, and values. In his challenging, information-packed talks, #1 bestselling leadership author Adrian Gostick provides real solutions on managing change, driving innovation, and leading a multi-generational workforce. Gostick is a global workplace expert and thought leader in the fields of corporate culture, leadership, and engagement. He is founder of the training and consulting company The Culture Works and author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestsellers All In and The Carrot Principle. His books have been translated into 30 languages and have sold 1.5 million copies around the world. As a leadership expert, he has been called “fascinating,” by Fortune magazine and “creative and refreshing” by the New York Times. Gostick has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and CNN, and is often quoted in The Economist, Newsweek, and Wall Street Journal. If you Google the 30 Top Leadership Gurus, he is on the list along side Jack Welch and Jim Collins. His consulting clients include Danaher, Bank of America, Rolls Royce, JELD-WEN and California Pizza Kitchen.

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“Chester and Adrian are not only inspirations, but they are also two of my favorite human beings. They ‘walk the talk’ in terms of the way they treat everyone. They have published 6 New York Times bestsellers on subjects such as culture, leadership and employee engagement, and their latest work in 2021 was the first to tackle the very serious subject of “Anxiety at Work.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Tasha Eurich

Dr. Tasha Eurich is an organizational psychologist, researcher, and New York Times best-selling author. She uses science to help leaders—from early stage entrepreneurs to public company CEOs—achieve dramatic and measurable change. Her primary areas of expertise are executive coaching, executive team development, and leadership and high potential development.

Having worked directly with over 20,000 leaders and spoken live to hundreds of thousands more—on every continent but Antarctica—Dr. Eurich’s clients include Salesforce, the NBA, Walmart, KPMG, and the White House Leadership Development Program. Her TEDxMileHigh talks have been viewed more than six million times.

In 2019, she was named one of the top 30 emerging management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, as well as the #1 self-awareness coach in the world by Marshall Goldsmith.

Tasha contributes to Harvard Business Review, and her thought leadership has been featured in outlets like NPRForbesThe New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Eurich’s first book, Bankable Leadership, debuted at #8 on The New York Times best-seller list. Her latest book, Insight, delves into the connection between self-awareness and success. It has been hailed as a “bold, exhilarating take on self-improvement” by Success Magazine,  a “fascinating read” by The Guardian, and famed Wharton Business school professor Adam Grant calls one of the three books he recommends most often.

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“Tasha is a brilliant young thinker who is a world authority in the science of self-awareness (her book on the subject, Insight, is one of my favorites). She is also a great C-suite coach and dedicates a large part of her time to doing good for others. She is now in the process of helping ten leaders – from all around the world – achieve positive change in their lives and communities.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Frances Frei

Frances Frei is a Professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School. Her research investigates how leaders create the conditions for organizations and individuals to thrive by designing for excellence in strategy, operations and culture. She regularly advises senior executives embarking on large-scale change initiatives and organizational transformation, including embracing diversity and inclusion as a lever for significantly improving performance.

A global thought leader on leadership and strategy, Frances is widely recognized for her dynamic teaching style and breakthrough courses optimized for rapid, lasting impact. She developed one of the most popular classes at HBS, which explores business models that reliably delight customers. She also led the design and launch of HBS’s innovative FIELD curriculum built around learning experiences that are experiential and immersive.

While at HBS, Frances has held extensive leadership roles including Senior Associate Dean for faculty development and recruiting, for executive education, and faculty chair for the MBA required curriculum. Within each of these roles, Frances led significant change efforts. Highlights including addressing the gender gap in satisfaction and performance for students and faculty and broadening the reach of executive education to incorporate the evolving needs of executives and their organizations.  This includes enhancing our off-campus program as well as using our state-of-the art HBX studio on campus.

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“Along with Amy Edmondson, Frances has done breakthrough work –– in psychological safety. She has gone far beyond research and is actually helping companies change the way work is done. She is a leading thinker on diversity and inclusion, and she is also a joy to be with. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Vijay Govindarajan

Vijay Govindarajan (VG) is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and innovation. VG is the Coxe Distinguished Professor (a Dartmouth-wide faculty chair) at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a former Marvin Bower Fellow at Harvard Business School. VG is a Faculty Partner at Mach49, a Silicon Valley incubator. He was the first Professor in Residence and Chief Innovation Consultant at General Electric. He worked with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt to write, “How GE is Disrupting Itself”, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) article that pioneered the concept of reverse innovation – any innovation that is adopted first in the developing world. HBR picked reverse innovation as one of the Great Moments in Management in the Last Century. VG is a NYT and WSJ Best Selling author and a two-time winner of the prestigious McKinsey Award for the best article published in HBR. VG was named by Thinkers 50 as a Top 3 Management Thinker in the world and received the Breakthrough Innovation Award in 2011. VG was inducted into Thinkers 50 Management Thinkers Hall of Fame and was given the Distinguished Achievement Award for most contributions to the understanding of innovation in 2019. VG has been a select few who have received Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards in two different categories.

Govindarajan has been identified as a leading management thinker by influential publications including: Outstanding Faculty, named by Business Week in its Guide to Best B-Schools; Top Ten Business School Professor in Corporate Executive Education, named by Business Week; Top Five Most Respected Executive Coach on Strategy, rated by Forbes; Rising Super Star, cited by The Economist; Outstanding Teacher of the Year, voted by MBA students.

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“VG is a long-time mentor and friend. He is a top-rated Professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School. His work on innovation and his ‘three box’ model have changed the way that I coach clients. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Adam Grant

Adam Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 straight years. As an organizational psychologist, he is a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, rethink assumptions, and live more generous and creative lives. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40.

​He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 5 books that have sold millions of copies and been translated into 45 languages: Think AgainGive and TakeOriginalsOption B, and Power Moves. His books have been named among the year’s best by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. His viral piece on languishing was the most-read New York Times article of 2021 and the most-saved article across all platforms.

Adam hosts WorkLife, a chart-topping TED original podcast. His TED talks on languishing, original thinkers, and givers and takers have been viewed more than 30 million times. He has received a standing ovation at TED and was voted the audience’s favorite speaker at The Nantucket Project. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, Bridgewater, and the Gates Foundation. He writes on work and psychology for the New York Times, has served on the Defense Innovation Board at the Pentagon, and has been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has more than 5 million followers on social media and features new insights in his free monthly newsletter, GRANTED.

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“Adam is an unbelievably productive person. I don’t know how he does it. He is a top academic researcher, popular author and creative thinker. I love his latest book, Think Again.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Sally Helgesen

Sally Helgesen is a best-selling author, speaker and leadership coach, cited in Forbes as the world’s premier expert on women’s leadership. For the last thirty years, her mission has been to help women leaders around the world recognize, articulate and act on their greatest strengths. She also works with senior teams seeking to build more inclusive cultures.

Sally’s most recent book, How Women Rise, co-authored with coaching legend Marshall Goldsmith, became the top-selling title in its field within a week of publication. It explores the specific habits most likely to get in women’s way as they seek advancement. And it offers powerful practices to help women realize their full potential.

Sally’s previous books include The Female Advantage: Women’s Ways of Leadership, hailed as a classic and continuously in print since 1990, and The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work, which explores how women’s strategic insights can strengthen their careers and their organizations. The Web of Inclusion: A New Architecture for Building Great Organizations, published in 1995, was cited in The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books on leadership of all time and credited with bringing the language of inclusion into business.

 

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“Sally is the World’s #1 Thinker and Coach for Women Leaders. I am so proud to be her second author on How Women Rise. I have learned so much from her in our many decades of friendship – not only about leadership, but about life” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Whitney Johnson

Recognized as one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world. Whitney Johnson is an expert on disruptive innovation and personal disruption; specifically, a framework which she codifies in the critically acclaimed book Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work and in her latest book Build an “A” Team: Play To Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve. (Harvard Business Press, 2018). She is also the author of Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream

She developed her proprietary framework and diagnostics after having cofounded the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen. This framework is complemented by a deep understanding of how executives create and destroy value, having spent nearly a decade as an Institutional Investor ranked equity analyst on Wall Street.

In addition to her work as a speaker and advisor, Whitney is one of Marshall Goldsmith’s original cohort of 25 for the #100 Coaches Project, is a coach for Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program, frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, is a Linkedin influencer, and hosts the weekly Disrupt Yourself Podcast.

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“A former venture investor alongside Harvard’s late Clayton Christensen, Whitney is now one of the top ten business thinkers in the world and CEO of Disruption Advisors. She has a gift for operationalizing management theory by applying it to the individual. Her S Curve of Learning which maps individual growth is brilliant. Whitney has helped me disrupt myself––to change how I think about change. She is wonderful! ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Daniel Kahneman

Daniel Kahneman is Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs Emeritus at the Woodrow Wilson School, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Princeton University, and a fellow of the Center for Rationality at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Dr. Kahneman has held the position of professor of psychology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1970-1978), the University of British Columbia (1978-1986), and the University of California, Berkeley (1986-1994). Dr. Kahneman is a member of the National Academy of Science, the Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Society of Experimental Psychologists, and the Econometric Society. He has been the recipient of many awards, among them the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association (1982) and the Grawemeyer Prize (2002), both jointly with Amos Tversky, the Warren Medal of the Society of Experimental Psychologists (1995), the Hilgard Award for Career Contributions to General Psychology (1995), the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2002), and the Lifetime Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association (2007). Dr. Kahneman holds honorary degrees from numerous Universities.

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“Daniel is a role model for the scientific mind. He not only has a Nobel Prize, but also is the author of two of my favorite books, Thinking Fast and Slow and Noise. What inspired me most about Daniel was his humility and frank discussion of his own errors in judgment on our M&M interview. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Nankhonde Kasonde van den Broek

Nankhonde Kasonde-van den Broek is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC/ICF), development activist and entrepreneur.
She is the Founder and Lead Consultant at Nankhonde Kasonde Consultancy, Founder and Creative Director at KHONDE (www.khondezambia.com), Founder and CEO at ZANGA African Metrics (www.zangametrics.com).
Following a decade working in international development and international finance globally with the United Nations and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB & Malaria, she returned to Zambia to pursue her purpose and desire to contribute to her country’s economy and the wider African development agenda.
Nankhonde is an internationally certified Executive Coach & Organizational change architect. She has over 20 years of experience supporting multinationals, international organizations and Governments. She is an accomplished professional with a wealth of African, international and multicultural experience in designing and leading large-scale change across multiple sectors. She has lived and worked in New York, Geneva, Dakar and Lilongwe. She has travelled extensively and supported programmes across Africa and South East Asia.
Nankhonde is a member of the Africa List; an invitation only, group of future African Leaders in emerging markets. Nankhonde is a Marshall Goldsmith 50 Global Leading Coach and a member of the MG100. She is a Board Member at the Lusaka Apex Medical University in Lusaka, Zambia and a Board Member at Sanlam Life Insurance Zambia Ltd (Part of the Sanlam Group, South Africa). She is a founding board member of the Africa Executive Coaching Council (Kenya) and a Founding Board member of the Africa Board for Coaching, Consulting and Coaching Psychology (South Africa).
Nankhonde is a graduate of the renowned HEC Paris Business School (France) & Oxford University (U.K) joint Executive Specialized Masters Degree in Consulting & Coaching for Change. In addition, she holds an MBA specializing in Project Management from the African Institute of Management (Dakar, Senegal), an MSc in Management from the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (Quebec, Canada), and a BA in Management from Webster University (Geneva, Switzerland). She is an Organization and Relationship Systems Certified Coach (CRR/Global) and a Stakeholder Certified Coach (Marshall Godlsmith) She is fluent in English and French. She is married with 2 children.

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“Nankhonde is the 2021 Thinkers50 #1 Coach. Her work in developing high-potential leaders in Africa is a true inspiration to me. I have seen her help many of the world’s top leaders understand the importance of navigating disruption using a metaphor of ‘seeing the tornado’ without being in it.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Carol Kaufmann

Carol is known globally as one of the top leaders in the field of coaching. She has been named the #1 Leadership coach in the world by the Marshall Goldsmith group. Thinkers 50 shortlisted her as one of the top 8 coaches for her contribution as a thought leader and coach.

She is on the faculty at Harvard where she is the Founder of the Institute of Coaching. In addition, she supervises an international fleet of leadership coaches and has created a Coach Approach training program with a global footprint.

Leadership coaching: As a very active practicing coach, her mission is to help leaders raise the bar on themselves, their teams and organizations to maintain peak performance and optimal life satisfaction. She has over 40,000 hours of client contact. Her work focuses primarily on CEO’s and their teams. In order to launch the next generation of leaders, she is now working with millennials, high potentials and some unicorns.

A sampling of clients where she has worked with top leaders, often with their executive committees includes: Ahold, Astra Zeneca, Cisco, ConsenSys (Etherium), Dashlane, Deutche Bank, Egon Zehnder, Genentech, Harvard, Indeed, Informatica, Knowls, Lloyds, Lyft, Mastercard, Oliver Wyman, Owens-Illionis, Rifinitiv, Sonos, Takeda, Telefonica TriNet, Unilever, Vanderbilt and Value Retail and Vertex.

Academic leadership: She is a leader who has profoundly impacted the profession of coaching on a global scale. While on the faculty at Harvard for over 25 years, she received a $2,000,000 gift from the Harnisch Foundation to be the founder of the Institute of Coaching. She also launched the Coaching Conference at Harvard and the IOC Leadership Forum. Our education-based community has 2,000 active members and serves coaches and those who want to use coaching skills to change their worlds.

Dr. Kauffman was also the Founding Editor in Chief of the first academic journal for a major publishing house, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice. Her goal in all these organizations is to bring together evidence-based theory and research and most of all – translate it into practical applications for best practice. Her hope is to be of true service to coaches and leaders.

HBR requested she design their first research project and write “What Coaches Can Do for You,” their most frequently cited article on coaching. She is also published in many venues.

Coach approach training: Dr. Kauffman’s enormously successful Coach Approach training for leaders won the Harvard Medcial Schools Inaugural Program Award for Culture of Excellence in Mentoring. A team of researchers assessed its impact at Massachusetts General Hospital. Due to its national acclaim as the gold standard, the program is now rolled out in 23 of the top teaching hospitals in the US. Dr. Kauffman has trained hundreds of leaders at ConsenSys, Egon Zehnder, Oliver Wyman, Rifinitiv, Unilever and others.

Of all her ventures Carol most enjoys coaching leaders and partnering with them as they navigate their way forward.

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“Carol is one of the world’s top coaches and founder of the Institute for Coaching at Harvard Medical School. I constantly refer to what I have learned from her in my own coaching. After reading about 400 books on Buddhism, she taught me my favorite tool for increasing mindfulness. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Jim Kouzes

Jim Kouzes is the coauthor with Barry Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 2.5 million copies in print. He’s also the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University.

The sixth edition of The Leadership Challenge was released in 2017 and is available in 22 languages. It was selected by FastCompany as one of the 2012 Best Business Books of the Year, was on the 2013 Wall Street Journal bestseller list, an Amazon Editor’s Pick in 2007, and the winner of the 1995-96 Critics’ Choice Award. It has been named one of the 100 best business books of all time by 800-CEO-READ. Jim and Barry have coauthored over thirty other publications including Learning Leadership, The Truth About Leadership, A Leader’s Legacy, Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It, Encouraging the Heart, The Leadership Challenge Workbook, and the Encouraging the Heart Workbook.

Jim and Barry also developed the highly acclaimed Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), a 360-degree leadership assessment questionnaire, and it is the top-selling off-the-shelf leadership assessment instrument in the world.

Jim was again named in 2017 as one of the top 30 Global Gurus in Leadership, is the 2010 recipient of the Thought Leadership Award from the Instructional Systems Association, and for 4 years in a row named to HR Magazines Most Influential International Thinkers. In 2006 he was presented with the Golden Gavel by Toastmasters International. Jim and Barry are the recipients of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) 2009 Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award.

Not only is Jim a highly regarded leadership scholar, The Wall Street Journal cited Jim as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S.

Specialties: Leadership assessment and coaching, leadership skills development, keynote presentations, research and writing

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“Jim is a lifelong friend and one of the great authors and thinkers in the history of leadership thought. His book (with Barry Posner), The Leadership Challenge is possibly the greatest leadership book ever written. More than 25 years since its first publication, it is more relevant than ever. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Hortense Le Gentil

Hortense is an Executive Leadership Coach and the President and Founder of JAY Consulting. She works with decision makers in the business world, including many C-suite executives from Fortune 500 companies, supporting them in their development and leadership by working with them on the alignment between their personal values and their professional activities.

Prior to coaching full time, le Gentil spent over 30 years in business in various industries, working for leading multinational companies in the areas of media consulting, marketing, and advertising. She then founded and spent 10 years as CEO of an entrepreneurial start-up (in metals recycling).

Hortense is part of the MG100 Coaches, Marshall Goldsmith’s Pay It Forward project, and is a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered™ Coach. She has been selected to receive a Thinkers 50 coaching award for excellence in her field. She is the author of several articles about leadership and coaching in such publications as Leader to Leader and Les Echos.

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“Hortense is a great author and thinker – and an even more impressive human being. . Her book, Aligned, is not only a guide for leaders, but also a guide for life. Hortense is a great author, coach and thinker and an even more impressive human being. She is currently coaching leading CEO’s around the world.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Martin Lindstrom

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Martin Lindstrom is sought after as a branding/marketing/keynote speaker and workshop leader by companies and organizations throughout the world. The rapid rise of his career has made him one of today’s most respected branding speakers in the world according to the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He sits on several boards globally, and his clients include Disney, Mars, Pepsi, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, Reuters, Visa, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, Ericsson, Yellow Pages and Microsoft. He energizes audiences with his creative genius and dynamic, motivational style. Lindstrom’s reputation for earning “a guaranteed standing ovation” at his compelling lectures on branding accompanies his popularity as an Advertising Consultant, keynote speaker, Branding Consultant, workshop leader and in-house trainer. Martin Lindstrom is the author of 5 books, including collaborative works with industry icons such as Dr. Philip Koter Kotler on Marketing), Paco Underhill Why We Buy), Dr. Don Peppers, Martha Rogers 1to1 Marketing) and Patricia Seybold (Customer.com). Buyology – Truth and Lies About Why We Buy (Doubleday, New York), has been translated into over 40 languages.

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“Martin is the most interesting person that I have ever met! The world authority on branding, noted author and top consultant. I am honored to work with him on our M&M internet show. He has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World as the 2021 #1 Influencer on LinkedIn. He is the author of several bestsellers, that have become classics in marketing.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Erin Meyer

Erin Meyer is a professor at INSEAD, one of the leading international business schools. Her work focuses on how the world’s most successful managers navigate the complexities of cultural differences in a global environment. She helps companies to develop organizational cultures that breed both flexibility and innovation and offers cutting-edge strategies to improve the effectiveness of projects that span the globe.

Living and working in Africa, Europe, and the United States prompted Erin’s study of the communication patterns and business systems of different parts of the world. Her Culture Map framework allows international executives to pinpoint their leadership preferences, and compare their methods to the management styles of other cultures. Erin has taught thousands of executives from five continents to decode cross-cultural complexities impacting their success, and to work more effectively across these differences.

More recently Erin conducted an in-depth study with Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix, investigating the underlying principles necessary for building a corporate culture that is inventive, fast, and flexible. The results of that research were published in their new book No Rules Rules (Penguin Press, September 2020).

Erin’s work at INSEAD includes directing the Leading Across Borders and Cultures program.

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“Erin has an uplifting spirit toward life. She is the author of The Culture Map and No Rules – Rules. She encourages organizations to create cultures that support fun and innovation – and lives the same way. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Alex Osterwalder

One of the world’s most influential proponents of business model innovation and value proposition design, Alexander (Alex) Osterwalder provides a framework for large companies and startups to innovate by rapidly experimenting with new business models and value propositions. He is co founder of Strategyzer, an innovation powerhouse that helps organizations develop growth engines, better customer understanding, more attractive value propositions and powerful business models via online applications and blended online/offline courses.

Osterwalder invented the Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas, Culture Map, and Business Portfolio Map, to help business people with practical tools to help address important strategic jobs. He simplifies the strategy development process, turning complex concepts into digestible visual models. As a result, a better language for identifying and communicating value is created and disseminated throughout an organization. Osterwalder’s talks – which illuminate the application of these practical tools with current market examples – consistently rank first or second among his peers at global conferences. By punctuating his informative speeches with humor and interactive exercises, Osterwalder establishes a deep and direct connection with audiences ranging from five to 5,000 and beyond, commanding high levels of participation, engagement and enthusiasm. His speeches further reveal how his business model and value proposition frameworks allow companies to grasp and maintain a competitive advantage in the midst of a crowded, or previously uncharted, industry.

Osterwalder won the 2015 strategy award from Thinkers50 and currently ranks #7 among the top 50 business thinkers of the world. In 2013, he won the European Union’s inaugural Innovation Luminary Award. A frequent keynote speaker at Fortune 500 companies,

Osterwalder travels the world discussing his ideas and strategies at leading universities such as Wharton, Stanford, Berkeley, IESE, MIT, KAUST and IMD. He holds a doctorate from HEC Lausanne, Switzerland, and is a founding member of The Constellation, a global not-for-profit organization aimed at eliminating HIV/AIDS and Malaria.

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“Alex is one of the great strategic thinkers and consultants in the world. He is the developer of the Business Model Canvas ¬– a practical tool that has helped countless leaders and their organizations.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Tom Peters

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A navy personnel turned management professional Tom Peters writes and speaks about a very special area of management i.e. personal and business empowerment and problem solving methodologies. Peter went to Severn School for High School and attended Cornell University receiving a bachelors degree in civil engineering in 1965 and a masters degree in 1966. He later studied business at Stanford Business School receiving an M.B.A. and Ph.D. In 2004 he also received an honorary doctorate from the State University of Management in Moscow. He is called the most provocative and engaging management guru in the USA. He is also called the Red Bull of management thinkers. He is a best selling author of the book In Search of Excellence which became a bestseller and had exposure in the United States at a national level when a series of television specials based on the book and hosted by him appeared on PBS.

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“Tom has been a personal inspiration to me. He, perhaps more than anyone, has taken management theory out the of classroom and applied it to the real world. Along with selling millions of books, he is also a good person who has always been kind and generous to younger thinkers in our field.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Jeff Pfeffer

JEFFREY PFEFFER is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University where he has taught since 1979. He is the author or co-author of 15 books.

Pfeffer has presented seminars in 39 countries throughout the world as well as doing consulting and providing executive education for numerous companies, associations, and universities in the United States.

Jeffrey Pfeffer has won the Richard D. Irwin Award presented by the Academy of Management for scholarly contributions to management and numerous awards for his articles and books. He was listed in the top 25 management thinkers by Thinkers 50 and as one of the Most Influential HR International Thinkers by HR Magazine. In November, 2011, he was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from Tilburg University in The Netherlands.

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“Jeff, a Professor at Stanford, is one of the greatest business school educators on the planet. His works on power and influence are among the most practical and useful teachings that I have ever encountered. His wisdom is matched by his humanity.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Sanyin Siang

Sanyin Siang’s personal mission in life is to enable greatness in others. She lives this out as a board and ceo coach, an educator, author, and a mom.

Recognized as the world’s #1 Coach by Thinkers50 (the Oscars of Management), she leads Duke University’s Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics (COLE) at the Fuqua School of Business. She is a professor at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, an advisor to Google Ventures, and the author of The Launch Book.

Sanyin helps leaders and teams of leaders create even more value by focusing on mindset, behavioral change, and team and culture building. She has worked with generals, Fortune 500 CEOs, family business leaders, nonprofit leaders, and sports executives.

Her experience in coaching coupled with an understanding of board and executive team dynamics and patterns of effective leadership across industries, has helped organizations and executives identify gaps and lead more effectively in a rapidly changing marketplace and talent space. She convenes interdisciplinary and diverse teams towards finding and implementing new approaches for complex problems. Whether the client is startup founder working on scaling the team, business and culture, or a general or CEO of billion dollar company – every chief executive faces the challenges of scaling self, leading their teams in a disruptive new market, while maintaining work-life integration.

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“Sanyin is an inspiration to me in so many ways. She was recognized as the 2019 Thinkers50 #1 Coach and also ranked as one of the 50 Most Influential Management Thinkers in the World. At Duke University, she has appointments in the Business, Engineering, and Divinity Schools. Along with being a great thinker, she constantly demonstrates kindness and caring for others. She always wants to help whenever she can. She is making a huge impact in the worlds of education, business, entrepreneurship, and social impact.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

Guru #29

David Ulrich

Ranked as the #1 management guru by Business Week, profiled by Fast Company as one of the world’s top 10 creative people in business, a top 5 coach in Forbes, and recognized on Thinkers50 (Hall of Fame) as one of the world’s leading business thinkers, Dave Ulrich has a passion for ideas with impact. In his writing, teaching, and consulting, he continually seeks new ideas that tackle some of the world’s thorniest and longest standing challenges.

His bestselling books and popular speeches inspire the corporate and academic agenda. Dave has co authored over 30 books and 200 articles that have shaped three fields:

Organization.  With co-authors, he has influenced thinking about organizations by empirically showing how organization delivers 4 times business results over talent (Victory Through Organization), defined organizations as bundles of capabilities (Organization Capability) and worked to delineate capabilities of talent management (Why of Work; Talent Accelerator), culture change (GE Workout), learning (Learning Organization Capability), and collaboration (Boundaryless Organization). Leadership.  With colleagues, he has also articulated the basics of effective leadership (Leadership Code and Results Based Leadership), connected leadership with customers (Leadership Brand), shown how leadership delivers market value (Why the Bottom Line Isn’t), shaped investor expectations and ability to measure leadership (Leadership Capital Index), and synthesized ways to ensure that leadership aspirations turn into actions (Leadership Sustainability). Human Resources.  He and his colleagues have shaped the HR profession and he has been called the “father of modern HR” and “HR thought leader of the decade” by focusing on HR outcomes, governance, competencies, and practices (HR Champions; HR Value Added; HR Transformation; HR Competencies; HR Outside In).  He spearheaded a “gift” book on the future of HR (The Rise of HR) distributed to over 1,500,000 HR professionals), in which 70 thought leaders freely share their insights.

Wendy and Dave serve frequently in their church, have 3 children, 8 grandchildren, and get their greatest glee when their grandkids’ eyes light up at seeing them

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“Dave is a lifelong friend and professional colleague. He has won more awards than he can count, written over 30 books, and is clearly the top HR thinker in the world. More important to me, Dave always wants to learn, and he has gone out of his way to help me learn.” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

2022

Liz Wiseman

Liz Wiseman is a researcher and executive advisor who teaches leadership to executives around the world. She is the author of New York Times bestseller Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools, and Wall Street Journal bestseller Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work.

She is the CEO of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, California. Some of her recent clients include: Apple, AT&T, Disney, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Nike, Salesforce, Tesla, and Twitter. Liz has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking and named one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world.

She has conducted significant research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence and writes for Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and a variety of other business and leadership journals. A former executive at Oracle Corporation, she worked over the course of 17 years as the Vice President of Oracle University and as the global leader for Human Resource Development.

She is a frequent guest lecturer at BYU and Stanford University. Liz holds a Bachelors degree in Business Management and a Masters of Organizational Behavior from Brigham Young University.

 

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“Liz is one of the Thinkers50 winner for #1 Leadership Thinker in the World. Along with her work on leadership, she is an authority on both innovation and culture. Her book Multipliers is a classic. She is always willing to help others and share what she has learned. ” – Dr. Marshall Goldsmith