Jim Kouzes Speaker & Booking Information

Jim Kouzes is an Executive Fellow at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Jim is featured as one of the workplace experts in George Dixon's book , What Works at Work: Lessons from the Masters (1988) and in Learning Journeys: Top Management Experts Share Hard-Earned Lessons on Becoming Great Mentors and Leaders edited by Marshall Goldsmith, Beverly Kaye, and Ken Shelton (2000). Not only is he a highly regarded leadership scholar and an experienced executive, but The Wall Street Journal has cited him as one of the twelve most requested non-university executive education providers to U.S. companies.

A popular seminar and conference speaker, Jim shares his insights about the leadership practices that contribute to high performance in individuals and organizations, and he leaves his audiences inspired with practical leadership tools and tips that they can apply at work, at home, and in their communities. Jim was the President and then CEO and Chairman of the Tom Peters Company, a professional services firm that specialized in leadership development, from 1988 through 1999. Jim directed the Executive Development Center (EDC) at Santa Clara University from 1981 through 1987. Under his leadership the EDC was awarded two gold medals from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He also founded the Joint Center for Human Services Development at San Jose State University, which he managed from 1972 until 1980, and prior to that was on the staff of the University of Texas School of Social Work.

His career in training and development began in 1969 when Jim, as part of the Southwest Urban Team, conducted seminars for Community Action Agency staff and volunteers in the “war on poverty” effort. Jim received his B. A. degree (1967) with honors from Michigan State University in political science and a certificate (1974) from San Jose State University's School of Business for completion of the internship in organization development. 

He's also an executive fellow, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, CA.

The third edition of The Leadership Challenge, released in the fall of 2002, debuted as number 4 on the BusinessWeek best-seller list, the only 3rd edition of any book ever to make that list. The Leadership Challenge is available in seventeen languages. It was the winner of the 1989 James A. Hamilton Hospital Administrators' Book, the 1995-96 Critics' Choice Award, and was a BusinessWeek bestseller in 2001 and 2002. Mr. Kouzes and Dr. Posner have also coauthored Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It, chosen by Industry Week as one of the ten best management books of 1993. Their newest book, A Leader's Legacy, will be released in the fall of 2006. Among their other books are, Encouraging the Heart (1999, 2003) and The Leadership Challenge Workbook 1999, 2003), and The Leadership Challenge Journal (2003). Based on solid research involving over 70,000 surveys, 1,000 written case studies, and 100 in-depth interviews, these books describe the leadership principles and practices that generate high performance in individuals and organizations.

James Kouzes and Dr. Posner developed the widely used and highly acclaimed "Leadership Practices Inventory" (LPI), a 360" questionnaire assessing leadership behavior (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 1988, 1997, 2003). The LPI has been administered to over 250,000 individuals, and over one million observers have provided feedback using the questionnaire. Over 300 doctoral dissertations and academic research projects have been based on their work.

The International Management Council (IMC) honored Mr. Kouzes and Dr. Posner as the 2001 recipients of the prestigious Wilbur M. McFeely Award for their outstanding contributions to management and leadership education. Past McFeely Award recipients include: Peter Drucker, Lee Iacocca, Tom Peters, Ken Blanchard, Norman Vincent Peale, Francis Hesselbein, Stephen Covey, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

James Kouzes is a highly regarded leadership scholar and experienced executive and The Wall Street Journal has cited him as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S. A popular speaker, he shares lessons learned about leadership from over 20 years of original research. He leaves his audiences inspired with practical leadership tools and tips to apply at work, at home, and in their communities. His clients have included: Accenture, Applied Materials, AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing, Charles Schwab, Cisco Systems, Consumers Energy, Dell Computer, Deloitte Touche, Egon Zehnder International, Federal Express, Honeywell, Ingersoll Rand, Johnson & Johnson, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Levi Strauss & Co., 3M, Motorola, Roche Bioscience, Siemens, State of New York, Sun Microsystems, Thomson Corporation, Toyota, and Wells Fargo.

James Kouzes served as president, then CEO and chairman of the Tom Peters Company (TPC) from 1988-until 2000. Prior to his tenure at TPC he directed the Executive Development Center (EDC) at Santa Clara University from 1981 through 1987. Under his leadership the EDC was awarded two gold medals from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He also founded the Joint Center for Human Services Development at San Jose State University, which he managed from 1972 until 1980.

Mr. Kouzes' commitment to service was nurtured during his years growing up in the Washington, D.C. area. His lifelong career in education began in 1967-1969 when he served for two years in the Peace Corps. He believes it was on January 20, 1961 when he was first inspired to dedicate himself to leadership. That was the day he was one of only a dozen Eagle Scouts who served in John F. Kennedy's Honor Guard at the Presidential Inauguration.