Richard Boyatzis

Richard E. Boyatzis is Distinguished University Professor of Case Western Reserve University, Professor in the Departments of Organizational Behavior, Psychology, and Cognitive Science. He has a BS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, a MS and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University. Using his Intentional Change Theory, he studies sustained, desired change at all levels of human endeavor. He began research on helping and coaching in 1967 and coaching executives in 1969.

About thirty years ago, he launched a series of longitudinal studies on coaching, followed by three fMRI and two hormonal studies of coaching processes that are effective in helping people be open to change. Using his work from 1970 as one of the founders of the competency movement in HR, he has launched several landmark studies on the competencies of coaches that predict client change. He is the author of more than 200 scholarly articles and 75 practitioner articles on coaching, leadership, competencies, emotional intelligence, neuroscience and management education. His Coursera MOOCs on leadership, emotional intelligence and coaching have over one and a half million visitors and enrolled from 215 countries.

His 9 books include: The Competent Manager; the international best-seller, Primal Leadership with Daniel Goleman and Annie McKee; and Resonant Leadership, with Annie McKee, and Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion or Lifelong Learning and Growth with Melvin Smith and Ellen Van Oosten. He is Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science, the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and the American Psychological Association.