Dr. Laura Empson is Professor in the Management of Professional Service Firms at Bayes Business School, University of London, and holds Research Fellowships at both Harvard Law School and the University of Cambridge.

She has dedicated 30 years to researching professionals, professionals, and the professions, and is a globally recognised expert in their leadership and governance. Her research also explores organisational and cultural change; growth and leadership transitions; mergers and acquisitions; professional careers; and the future of professional work.

In addition to dozens of publications in leading academic journals, she has published several books with Oxford University Press – her first was Managing the Modern Law Firm (2007), and her latest is Leading Professionals: Power, Politics, and Prima Donnas (reprinted in paperback, 2022).

Laura serves on the editorial board of Organization Studies and the Journal of Management Studies. She is a founder member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS) and a member of the Peer Review College of the ESRC.

She advises many of the world’s leading law, accounting, and consulting firms. From 2013 to 2016, she served on the Board of KPMG LLP (becoming Chair of the Independent Non-Executives).

Laura was previously an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford. Before becoming an academic, Laura worked as an investment banker and strategy consultant. She has a PhD and MBA from London Business School.


A Quote From This Episode

• "I use the phrase ‘intellectual junk food.’ I think that a lot of leaders are raised on a diet of intellectual junk food because that is what’s saleable...By contrast, some of our academic world is so mired in ambiguity and subtlety that it never even gets itself published...we need the balance. "

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Podcast: Leading Professional People
• Laura's Articles
  • HBR - Ways to Prepare for the Future of Work
  • HBR - How Has the Past Year Changed You and Your Organization?
  • HBR - How to Lead Your Fellow Rainmakers

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Plan for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

Dr. Kathy Allen specializes in leadership coaching and organizational change in non-profit organizations, foundations, small to mid-sized businesses, community development, higher educational institutions, and collaborative networks.

Dr. Allen has written and presented widely on topics of leadership, human development, and organizational development. She is a skilled facilitator of organizational change and organizational development. The earmarks of her work are the creation of shared ownership of the results of a change project, long-term sustainable change for the organization, and increased capacity for the staff members and leaders in those organizations.

Kathy's most recent book is Leading from the Roots: Nature Inspired Leadership Lessons for Today’s World. This book firmly anchors leadership in the soil of nature. It’s a foundational leadership framework that challenges our 20th-century views that leadership concepts can be universally applied to all contexts.

Rian Satterwhite serves as Director of the Office of Service Learning & Leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and teaching faculty at Claremont Lincoln University. A long-time member of the ILA, he serves on the Steering Committee for the ILA Sustainability Leadership Member Community and the ILA Committee for the Advancement of Leadership Programs. He is an active member of The Research University Community Engagement Network (a part of Campus Compact), and serves as a recommended consultant for the Carnegie Elective Classification in Community Engagement and a reviewer for the Elective Classification in Leadership for Public Purpose. Most importantly, he is a father of two and enjoys hiking, travel, and photography.

A Quote From This Episode

• "We gotta elder up here..."

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Ryan's list of resources (See episode transcript)
• Website: Kathy Allen
• Book: Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Newport
• Television Show: Shogun
• Organization: One Planet Leadership

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Plan for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About The Boler College of Business at John Carroll University

• Boler offers four MBA programs – 1 Year Flexible, Hybrid, Online, and Professional. Each track offers flexible timelines and various class structure options (online, in-person, hybrid, asynchronous). Boler’s tech core and international study tour opportunities set these MBA programs apart. Rankings highlighted in the intro are taken from CEO Magazine.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

Dr. Steve Kempster is an Emeritus Professor of Leadership Learning and Development at Lancaster University Management School and is an Associate Partner of the Regenerative Alliance. He has published broadly on leadership learning, leadership of purpose, and responsible leadership with five books and many articles and chapters. Steve leads the Good Dividends project (www.gooddividends.com) – formed from an interdisciplinary group of academics drawn from 5 universities in Europe and Australasia – to enable business leaders to develop their business models towards becoming regenerative and realising good growth.

His latest book is ‘Good Dividends: Responsible Leadership of Business Purpose’. Recently, Steve has been the director of the Lancaster University Made Smarter and Evolve Digital programmes, which link digitalisation with regenerative outcomes and are funded by the UK government. He is currently co-director of Lancaster University's ‘Good Growth’ Programme, which is focused on reframing growth towards regenerative outcomes and building towards a well-being economy.

A Quote From This Episode

• "What we require is evidence...where is the evidence base? How is this all coming together? How can we see the difference from this leadership that's been pursued - regenerative leadership."

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Organization - B for Good Leaders
• Podcast - The Rest is Politics
• Podcast - The Daily Doug
• Book: Radical Hope by Lear
• Book: How Democracies Die by Levitsky and Ziblatt
• Book: How Civil Wars Start by Walter

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Plan for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About The Boler College of Business at John Carroll University

• Boler offers four MBA programs – 1 Year Flexible, Hybrid, Online, and Professional. Each track offers flexible timelines and various class structure options (online, in-person, hybrid, asynchronous). Boler’s tech core and international study tour opportunities set these MBA programs apart. Rankings highlighted in the intro are taken from CEO Magazine.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.