Foremost thought leader on
the psychology of leadership.

Highlights

Barbara Mackoff is a widely acclaimed expert in the psychology of effective leadership—how great leaders think.

An executive coach and acclaimed leadership educator and author, Barbara’s groundbreaking research and presentations explore how exceptional leaders translate their formative experiences into powerful habits of mind that guide their approach to leadership.

She is a superb speaker on leadership, managing change and work-life balance, with a strongly positive focus. Barbara’s fresh strategies and entertaining style involve each participant in identifying the source and foundations of their unique potential as leaders.

She customizes her presentations using brief phone interviews with some participants and to make her message more relevant and applicable.

She is the author of five highly-praised books, including The Art of Self-Renewal and coauthor of The Inner Work of Leaders: Leadership as a Habit of Mind.

She is currently writing a book on Signature Leadership: Discovering the Positive Core of Your Work. Her next book is Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty-handed.

Dr. Mackoff's perspectives on leadership and productivity have been featured on The Today Show, CBS Morning News, and All Things Considered and her work has been profiled in The New York Times, USA Today and the Washington Post.

Her corporate clients include IBM, AT&T, Merrill Lynch, Nintendo and Yurekli/Turkey, and a host of healthcare organizations.

The Books

Barbara Mackoff is the author of five highly praised books.

In her most recent, The Inner Work of Leaders: Leadership as a Habit of Mind, Dr. Mackoff profiles more than 50 leaders who have leveraged the legacy of their life experiences into five powerful habits of mind that guide their response to challenges in their leadership. In her presentations based on The Inner Work of Leaders, she helps leaders understand their own formative experiences as leaders and use them to inspire others.

Her forthcoming book, Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty-handed, outlines strategies for working with grace and resilience under pressure.

Other books include

Art of Self Renewal: Balancing Pressure and Productivity On and Off the Job
What Mona Lisa Knew: A Woman’s Guide to Getting Ahead in Business by Lightening Up
Leaving the Office Behind

Healthcare Leadership

Barbara Mackoff’s bold approach to leadership is in demand by healthcare organizations around the world. She is the principal investigator of a nation-wide research project on nurse leadership funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Some of her clients include:

US Healthcare in Philadelphia, Jackson Memorial in Miami, Providence Hospital, AtlantiCare, Portland Children’s Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, The Advisory Board’s Nursing Leadership Academy, The National Association of Healthcare Executives, The Washington State Hospital Association, The Voluntary Hospital Association, OR Manager magazine, and The Home Health care Association of New York.

Keynote Speeches & Seminar Topics

Proof Positive—The Art of Affirmative Leadership
MMTransform your organization by discovering the strengths that define your leadership.

Inner Leadership—Discovering the Positive Core of Your Leadership (Seminar)
MMA day-long seminar in which participants identify the strengths that define their leadership.

Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty-handed—Habits of Mind of Challenging Times
MM"Actions of mind" that can revitalize performance and enrich your capacity to learn from MMsetbacks, transitions and change.

Leadership as a Habit of Mind
MMLeverage the lessons from life experience into powerful habits of mind for leadership.

The Art of Renewal
MMHow to recover from job pressure, recharge batteries, restore perspective and
MMreinvigorate performance.

What Mona Lisa Knew—Humor as a Strategic Tool
MMHow to use humor to enhance work life, enrich leadership, invigorate creativity, reduce
MMstress and build a sense of team.

Credentials

• Educational and clinical appointments, Tufts University, Northeastern University, and the University of Washington Medical School and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Author of five acclaimed books
• M.A./Ph.D, psychology and education, Harvard University
• M.A., anthropology, University of Massachusetts
• B.A., anthropology and education, Tufts University

Books

Signature Leadership: Discovering the Positive Core of Your Work (forthcoming)

Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty-handed (forthcoming)

The Inner Work of Leaders: Leadership as a Habit of Mind (Gary Wenet, coauthor) (2000)

Growing a Girl: Seven Strategies for Raising a Strong, Spirited Daughter (1996)

The Art of Self-Renewal: Balancing Pressure and Productivity On and Off the Job (1993)

What Mona Lisa Knew: A Woman’s Guide to Getting Ahead in Business by Lightening Up: The Bold New Strategy for Less Stress and More Success on the Job (1990)

Leaving the Office Behind (1984)