James Kouzes

Jim Kouzes is chairman emeritus of tompeters!company, a professional services firm that specializes in developing leaders at all levels. He's also an executive fellow in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, and a member of the School's adjunct faculty.

Jim is the co-author with Barry Posner of the award-winning book, The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, which is now in its second edition (1995) with over one million copies in print. The Leadership Challenge, available in eleven languages, has been a selection of the Macmillan Executive Book Club and the Fortune Book Club. It's the winner of the 1989 James A. Hamilton Hospital Administrators' Book Award and 1995-96 Critics' Choice Award. Of the 8,166 leadership books listed on Amazon.com, The Leadership Challenge is consistently one of the top three best sellers. Jim and Barry have also co-authored Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It, which was chosen by Industry Week as one of the ten best management books of 1993. Their newest books, Encouraging the Heart and The Leadership Challenge Planner, were released in 1999. 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.

Jim and Barry have also developed seven 360-degree assessment instruments, including the widely used and highly acclaimed Leadership Practices Inventory, a 360˚ questionnaire assessing leadership behavior. Published by Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, over 250,000 individuals have used the LPI to measure their effectiveness as leaders. Jim has also recorded three audio programs with Jossey-Bass and Nightingale-Conant, and seven video programs with CRM Learning and the Stanford University Alumni Association.

Jim and Barry were recently honored by the International Management Council (IMC) with their selection to receive the prestigious Wilbur M. McFeely Award in 2001. Past McFeely Award recipients include: Peter Drucker, Lee Iacocca, Tom Peters, Ken Blanchard, Norman Vincent Peale, Francis Hesselbein, Stephen Covey, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

The Wall Street Journal has cited Jim as one of the twelve most requested "nonuniversity 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 with practical leadership tools and tips that they can apply at work, at home, and in their communities. He has conducted leadership development programs for hundreds of organizations including: Andersen Consulting, Applied Materials, AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing, Charles Schwab, Cisco Systems, Consumers Energy, Dell Computer, Deloitte Touche, Egon Zehnder International, Federal Express, Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Levi Strauss & Co., 3M, Motorola, Pacific Telesis, Siemens, Sun Microsystems, and Thomson Corporation.

Prior to co-founding tompeters!company, Jim directed the Executive Development Center 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.

Jim's interest in leadership began while he was growing up in Washington, D. C. In 1961 he was one of a dozen Eagle Scouts selected to serve in John F. Kennedy's Honor Guard at the presidential inauguration. Inspired by Kennedy, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1967 through 1969.

Jim Kouzes is the coauthor with Barry Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over one million copies sold. He is also an executive fellow in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, as well as the chairman emeritus of the Tom Peters Company, a professional services