Videos
-
How Modern Business Strategy is Evolving | Rosabeth Moss Kanter | TEDxBoston
-
Harvard Business Case Study: How Miami can become a global climate solutions hub
-
Opening Keynote: Advanced Leadership Skills for Workforce Innovation
-
Professor Rosabeth M. Kanter: Narrative
-
Rosabeth Moss Kanter | Think Outside the Building
-
Coast to Coast Ep 22: Building prosperous communities through inclusive, accessible entrepreneurship
-
Pres. Biden Has Pitched A Bigger View Of Infrastructure. Is He Right?
-
Rosabeth Moss Kanter: Culture of Innovation Requires Sheer Volume of Ideas
-
2019 ISA Thought Leader Award Recipient — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
-
SSS 2018 - Excerpt From Keynote Session with Rosabeth Moss Kanter
-
2016 Ev Rogers Award: 5 Questions for Rosabeth Moss Kanter
-
Washington Train Tragedy Turns Trump Agenda Back To Infrastructure
-
The Only 3 Career Steps that Matter | Rosabeth Moss Kanter | TEDxBeaconStreet
-
Rosabeth Moss Kanter on Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks
-
2014 Leadership Forum: Professor Rosabeth Kanter keynote highlights
-
Six keys to leading positive change: Rosabeth Moss Kanter at TEDxBeaconStreet
-
Creating a Supportive Environment for Innovation to Flourish || Rosabeth Moss Kanter
-
Innovation: Classic Traps and the Endurance Factors || Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Learn More About Rosabeth Moss Kanter
What makes the difference between a good leader and an advanced leader? A good leader, says renowned strategy and innovation expert Rosabeth Moss Kanter, wields authority to complete tasks. An advanced leader can holistically solve complex issues relating to overhauling business models, implementing cultural transformation and even addressing wider societal issues like climate change or upgrading a nation’s infrastructure. Kanter’s decades-long career, during which she has advised the world’s biggest corporations on leadership and change, has always seen her on the vanguard of addressing the latest business and social issues. Today, she advises corporate leaders across industries on how they can not only change their companies but change the world.
A New York Times best-selling author and Harvard Business School professor, Kanter has inspired cutting-edge innovation, strategy, leadership and culture across a broad spectrum of for-profit and non-profit industries, including celebrated corporations like IBM, Proctor & Gamble and Verizon. Attendees of her talks emerge with the tools to not only become more effective corporate team members and leaders, but also to apply their business know-how to tackle social change. Kanter’s latest book, “Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time” (January, 2020) draws on her work as director of Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. Offering examples of companies, entrepreneurs and philanthropists who have driven social change through innovative methods, “Think Outside the Building” – named a Best Business Book of 2020 in talent & leadership by strategy+business – moves well beyond corporate social responsibility to being active drivers of progress in education, health and the environment. Kanter’s latest work will be a blueprint for a new generation of organizational change-makers in an era where consumers and the public demand more than traditional philanthropy from corporations, and where brands can strengthen themselves by tackling social issues.
Named among the 50 most powerful women in the world (Times of London), the 50 most influential business thinkers in the world (Accenture and Thinkers 50), and recent recipient of the Thinkers50 Lifetime Achievement Award, Kanter is a distinguished social scientist, educator and writer whose strategic and practical insights guide leaders of large and small organizations worldwide. Her previous book, “MOVE: Putting America’s Infrastructure Back in the Lead” (W. W. Norton & Company, 2015), is a sweeping look across industries and technologies shaping the future of mobility and the leadership required for transformation. Kanter’s most highly regarded presentation themes – on the leadership of turnarounds and mastering change in turbulent times – are particularly relevant in today’s economic environment. Other popular lectures describe how to “load for growth,” outline the enduring skills of change leaders and explain why surprises are the new normal and resilience is the new skill.
Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, where she specializes in strategy, innovation and leadership for change. She is also the founding chair and director of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI), which helps successful leaders at the top of their professions apply their skills to national and global challenges in their next life stage. A collaboration across all of Harvard, ALI, which Kanter actively led from 2005 through 2018, aims to build a new leadership force for the world. In addition, through Goodmeasure Inc., the consulting group Kanter co-founded, she advises numerous CEOs and has partnered with IBM on applying her leadership tools from business to other sectors. She is a senior advisor for IBM’s Global Citizenship portfolio.
Kanter is the author or co-author of 20 books. “SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good” (Crown Business, 2009), a manifesto for leadership of sustainable enterprises, was named one of the 10 Best Business Books of 2009 by Amazon.com. Kanter’s “Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End” (Crown Business, 2004) was a New York Times best-seller and rated #1 by Businessweek. She is also one of the top business bloggers for Harvard Business Review, providing of-the-moment commentary on newsworthy items in relation to corporate social responsibility, leadership and innovation.
Kanter has received 24 honorary doctoral degrees, as well as numerous leadership awards and prizes. These include the 2023 Case Award in the Strategy and General Management category; the Academy of Management’s Distinguished Career Award for her scholarly contributions to management knowledge; the World Teleport Association’s “Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year” award; the International Leadership Award from the Association of Leadership Professionals; the Warren Bennis Award for Leadership Excellence; and most recently, USC Annenberg School’s 2016 Everett M. Rogers Award. Kanter has served on numerous business and non-profit boards, including City Year – the urban “Peace Corps” now focused on addressing the school dropout crisis – and on a variety of national or regional commissions, including the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.
Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World
A good leader, says Rosabeth Moss Kanter, can use their authority to see tasks through. But an advanced leader can move beyond “thinking outside the box” to “thinking outside the building,” implementing transformational change not just within organizations but for society and the world. With social and environmental problems proliferating, it is both necessary and beneficial for leaders in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors alike to step up to intractable challenges, from mounting climate change to crumbling infrastructure. In this presentation based on her latest book “Think Outside the Building,” Kanter offers multiple examples of corporate, nonprofit and individual leaders who have successfully addressed problems well beyond the boardroom, from improving education and nutrition to cleaning up the world’s oceans. As the public increasingly demands that organizations of all types contribute to solving the world’s most pressing challenges, Kanter’s insights will be of singular value to those seeking a new kind of leadership – and a framework for putting it into action.
Leadership in a Networked World
In today’s highly networked world, has the meaning of leadership changed? Competition is increasing – and increasingly global. Technology is transforming work – and how and where we do it – with exponential speed and rapid innovation. Ideas are coming from all directions and unexpected places, including emerging markets, more diverse partners and self-organizing employees. Rosabeth Moss Kanter answers the leadership question and eloquently identifies the new leadership imperatives. By learning to embrace them, leaders will harness the knowledge, capability and confidence – in us, our teams and our organizations – to produce the momentum of success.
Leadership to Reinvent Transportation and Infrastructure
The sorry state of American infrastructure affects businesses and everyday lives: commuters stuck in traffic congestion; delayed goods at higher cost; human suffering from collapsing bridges or train derailments; public transit that fails in severe weather or fails to connect poor neighborhoods to jobs; and other weaknesses compared to international competitors. Drawing from her book, “MOVE: Putting America’s Infrastructure Back in the Lead,” Rosabeth Moss Kanter takes a sweeping look across modes of transportation and changing industries to illuminate the roots of the current system mess and where the leadership will come from to initiate dramatic improvement. Among the important players are visionary civic leaders, app-creating technology entrepreneurs, established companies getting on the Big Data bus, and investors seeing the potential of sector change. Professor Kanter believes bringing infrastructure into the 21st century can net “quintuple wins” in health/safety, efficiency/cost-saving, productivity, cleaner air and economic growth opportunities, but it will require combining innovation with collaboration – in short, leadership.
The Big Change: Forces Reshaping Business
You might have survived the downturn, but disruptions continue – and seeking growth, let alone long-term survival, requires thinking differently. Diverse forces – from technology and demography to climate change and shifting social values – challenge once-dominant financial assumptions and require change-adept organizations to better connect to surrounding society. Big challenges can become attractive opportunities if companies see the strategic, organizational and cultural transformations ahead. Rosabeth Moss Kanter asserts that preparing for, responding to and thriving in business’ new normal requires a new focus on institution building. She discusses the six facets of organizational logic that are radically altering leadership and corporate behavior, and are the building blocks of a more sustainable competitive advantage, even in industries under siege. She draws compelling examples from great companies worldwide that are leading the way to creating innovation, profits, growth and social good. She also provides practical insights about how to make the change.
Innovation: The Classic Traps and The Key Accelerators
To successfully compete in today’s global economy, innovation is imperative. It’s the big prize; finding it is framed as almost a sacred quest for the big hit solution that will create growth and open new eras of prosperity and well-being. Yet, for all the talk about the great need and value of innovation, there are leaders in every sector who actively stifle it – unwittingly or not. Is your organization stuck in an innovation trap or are you accelerating change through new ideas? Rosabeth Moss Kanter identifies nine anti-innovation practices to eliminate and discusses actions necessary to allow innovation to flourish, including using the “innovation pyramid” to guide both small wins and bold ventures. Create a culture that embraces – and propels – innovation of all kinds. The health and sustainability of your business depend on it.
Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time
(Public Affairs, January 2020)
SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good
(Crown Business, August 2009)
America the Principled: 6 Opportunities for Becoming a Can-Do Nation Once Again
(Crown, October 2007)
Challenge of Organizational Change: How Companies Experience It And Leaders Guide It
(Free Press, August 1992)
Women Entrepreneurs and Tech Ecosystems: One City, Two Realities, and Four Diverse Women
(Harvard Business School, October 2020)
West Side United: Hospitals Tackle the Racial Health and Wealth Gap
(Harvard Business School, September 2020)
Advance Praise for “Think Outside the Building”
“Striking…This realistic and hopeful manual shows how accomplished individuals can tackle problems whose victims often lack resources to take action.”
“Stimulating…Buoyed by strong writing and an encouraging tone, Kanter’s thorough and thought-provoking guide will be a boon for veteran leaders who want to put their well-tested skills to new-and socially constructive-use.”
“I feel so strongly about this book and its message that I want everyone who aspires to make a difference to read it. It is the quintessential guide for answering the question we all eventually ask: Have I accomplished my purpose in life? As a graduate of West Point and an Airborne Ranger infantry officer I learned to ask, ‘If not me, who?’ Here are the personal tools for getting it done, showing us how small pebbles can make big waves.”
“Rosabeth Moss Kanter has done it again! This is the best book on leadership written in this century. It may change the world—at the least make it better.”
“Kanter’s book lays out the next big step in innovation: the bold leadership to imagine new solutions to big problems of communities and the world. Her brilliant new book is a compelling read, full of fascinating stories and breakthrough ideas.”
“In this season of public appetite for big solutions to big problems, Kanter’s Think Outside the Building is both a clarion call and a map for new leaders to step up.”
“As our world moves from complicated to complex, those who strive to be great leaders cannot limit themselves to ‘thinking inside the building’. We must, instead, become advanced leaders who can think outside the building – stepping outside, knocking on other doors, creating new teams who can deliver the innovative solutions the world needs, and providing promising entryways for the people of tomorrow to enter.”
“Kanter will literally change the world with Think Outside the Building. The book provides clear views and experiences on how (and how not) to apply experienced corporate leadership to the biggest challenges facing our society. Let’s hope many are inspired by this great book.”
“Brimming with compelling stories of action focused on measurable impact and transformation, this book by distinguished scholar and practitioner Rosabeth Moss Kanter, lays out the argument for a new kind of leadership—’advanced leadership’. In this moment where vivid instances of failed leadership around the world are evident in every sector, and when the complexity of problems and the frequency of crises are growing at an accelerated pace, adopting the strategies and methods presented in this terrific book has never seemed more urgent.”
“Think Outside the Building is an excellent and inspiring guide for anybody who is trying to make change in the world. Drawing on the stories of dozens of effective efforts, Rosabeth Moss Kanter has created a guidebook that, with wisdom and optimism, extracts the essential techniques for success–especially for new initiatives with a mission to improve society.”
“Drawing on fifty detailed case studies and hundreds of interviews, Rosabeth Moss Kanter distills her experiences with Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative in this informative and fascinating volume. Both an ‘inspiration and a guide to action,’ this book challenges the reader with narratives describing extraordinary new approaches to old institutional and societal problems; Kanter has penned essential reading for twenty-first century leaders.”
“Dr. Kanter at both events was an effective and gregarious participant. Those at the head table have commented on what a delightful and engaging dinner guest she was and her remarks on leadership and change were 100% on areas of interest and importance to our members – additionally she did a most admirable job of catching the interest of the spouses/dates of the members which is always a challenge for the dinner speakers. She made our second Kinetic event a big success with her opening remarks…they spanned a broad and relevant set of topics and set the tone for a high-quality panel discussion and she was kind enough to sit in on and actively participate in the panel dialogue.”
