Nicola Pless

Professor Nicola M. Pless, listed by Stanford University among the top 2% scientists in the world, is a former Vice President Leadership Development, holds the Chair of Positive Business at the University of South Australia and is Director of the Center for Business Ethics and Responsible Leadership. She was awarded both her Dr. oec. (PhD) and the Habilitation (Higher Doctorate) from the University of St. Gallen. She holds qualifications and degrees from other prestigious institutions such as Berkeley, Cornell University, INSEAD. She received the Faculty Pioneer Award for Teaching Innovation and Excellence by the Aspen Institute, dubbed the “Oscars of the business school world” by the The Financial Times. .

She has served on the faculties of the leading business schools in Europe and the world (ESADE, INSEAD and the University of St. Gallen). She held the Honorary Jef van Gerwen Chair at the University of Antwerp (2010-11) and is Distinguished Visiting Professor at EBS University in Germany. She is an elected permanent faculty member of Switzerland's University of St. Gallen (2020 FT ranking #7 in Europe).

She has lived in seven countries on three continents and combines her multicultural background with mulitsector business experiences, which she translates into her academic work. She worked for the World Bank Group, is a former Vice President Leadership Development at Credit Suisse and Managing Director of a consulting firm. Through consulting and executive coaching, she has helped individuals and organizations to develop effective and responsible strategies for navigating successfully in a VUCA world and to unleash their leadership potential for positive change in business and society.

She is internationally recognized as a founder of and authority in responsible leadership research and teaching. Her award-winning research in the field of leadership, responsibility and neuroscience has been published in leading academic A* and FT50 journals (e.g. Journal of Management Studies (FT50, A*), Human Resource Management (FT50, A*), Journal of Business Ethics (FT50, A), Academy of Management Learning and Education (A*), Organizational Research Methods (A*), and featured by Harvard Business School and in the international media: Business Week, Forbes, Management Today, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, CEO Magazine, UN PRME etc. Research impact according to Web of Science is as follows: WoS citations: 1429, h-index: 14, NCI 2.89.

Professor Pless' current research focuses on leadership (multi-level and contextual research) and its development, responsible decision making in multicultural and top management teams, and micro foundations of strategy; specifically the relationship between RL and social and economic value creation and the roles of values, empathy and mindfulness within this process. She is also a Principle Investigator in the international research group, ‘The Neuroscience of Leadership’. Her work often occurs in collaboration with business practice and is substantially informed by her senior executive experience.

She has taught courses at BA, MSc, MBA, and PhD level and has been involved in executive programs, such as the Georgetown ESADE Global Executive MBA and Stanford ESADE CSR program. Her innovative "Business in Society" core course was part of ESADE's Master of International Management, which took first place worldwide for CSR and ethics in the Financial Times rankings 2013.

She serves as a Guardian (by invite elect) of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI). GRLI is a foundation of public interest and an AACSB International and EFMD strategic partnership established with the founding support of EFMD and United Nations Global Compact.

Over the past twenty years she has worked with for-profit companies (Credit Suisse, Deutsche Telekom, Dong Energy, Mercedes, PwC, Swarovski, UBS, VW) and with for-purpose organizations such as Gram Vikas (India), Jurlique, The Body Shop, The World Bank.

Her mission is to advance the practice of responsible-global-leadership and its development through research and teaching innovation.

Education

• MSc in BA University of Bayreuth
• Georgetown University
• Executive Diploma in Clinical Organizational Psychology INSEAD
• PhD, DBA University of St. Gallen