The science of how leaders think — and what it costs when they don't.
I study the psychology of CEOs and senior executives — how their personality traits shape strategy, governance, and organizational outcomes. My research has been published in the Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Harvard Business Review, and the Journal of Applied Psychology. I bring that science directly to the leaders it describes.
Most strategy consulting treats the CEO as a rational actor — an optimizer of inputs and outputs. My research tells a different story. Whether a leader is narcissistic or humble, Machiavellian or agreeable, fearless or anxious — these traits systematically predict the strategic choices they make, the teams they build, the risks they take, and the outcomes their organizations produce.
I've spent fifteen years building the empirical evidence for this claim. Now I work directly with the executives and boards who need to act on it.
The personality of the person at the top is not noise in the system — it is the system.
My research program examines how the psychological characteristics of CEOs and senior executives shape firm strategy and performance. Here are the questions I've spent my career answering.
How CEO narcissism drives CSR spending (but for self-serving reasons), shapes executive pay, and affects organizational performance. Published in Strategic Management Journal (Highly Cited), Organization Science, and Journal of Business Ethics.
Why CEO humility leads to outperformance in market returns — humble leaders set lower expectations, then consistently exceed them. Published in Strategic Management Journal and featured in Harvard Business Review.
Machiavellian executives extract better deals from suppliers, partners, and even their own boards — but at what long-term cost? Published in Strategic Management Journal and Journal of Applied Psychology.
How narcissistic admiration vs. rivalry affects venture funding, and why the entrepreneur-investor relationship is more adversarial than most acknowledge. Published in Organization Science and Journal of Business Venturing.
The same evidence that earns publication in the top strategy journals has direct application in the boardroom, the C-suite, and the founder's office. I've built a practice that bridges this gap — bringing research-grade insight to the leaders who need it most.
This takes two forms: direct advisory work and a diagnostic assessment powered by the latest in personality science and artificial intelligence.
I don't fix what's wrong — I refine what's right. Grounded in process consultation, I bring behavioral science to the problems that keep senior leaders awake.
One-on-one work with CEOs and C-suite executives on decision-making under pressure, stakeholder dynamics, and self-awareness as a strategic tool. Grounded in the same research I publish.
CEO-chair alignment, board decision processes, and the interpersonal dynamics that governance structures alone cannot solve. Available as a select outside advisor.
Evidence-based guidance for entrepreneurs navigating investor relationships, scaling leadership, and the psychological costs of building under uncertainty.
Before I work with a leader, I want to know what the data says. The HEXACO-PI-R is a research-grade personality inventory used in hundreds of peer-reviewed studies. It measures six dimensions of personality that directly predict leadership behavior, strategic decision-making, and organizational outcomes.
My version of this assessment goes further. Each report is generated by AI, benchmarked against population norms from over 100,000 adults, and interpreted through the lens of fifteen years of CEO psychology research. Corporate leaders and entrepreneurs receive different reports — because the contexts demand different insights.
This is not a BuzzFeed quiz. It's the same science I publish — made personal.
Whether you're a CEO examining your own leadership, a board evaluating dynamics, or a founder navigating investors — the science applies. Start with a conversation or go straight to the assessment.