“Eric changed the way [our] people think about leadership in turbulent times.”
In his own words, “My overarching desire is to help leaders create teams, organizations, and a society where as many people as possible contribute to the greater good to the fullest extent of their ability.”
About Eric McNulty
Eric is passionate about unleashing human potential to solve complex challenges:
- To enable “as many people as possible,” Eric engages in work on leadership, social innovation, and resilience that expands opportunity and breaks down barriers that keep people from finding those opportunities.
- He uses the word “contribute” because he believes that giving is at the root of personal, professional, and societal growth and fulfillment.
- “To the fullest extent of their abilities” gives voice to Eric’s belief that everyone has strengths and abilities — and that the design challenge we collectively face is creating organizations and systems that make it possible for that talent to be unleashed.
Leading, broadly distributed and practiced in the pursuit of wisdom, is essential for this journey. Eric studies the natural world and the nested systems of urban environments for insight and clarity on Purpose (utility in the system), Principles (honor of the system), and Performance (contributions to the system).
Eric wants to empower people on every tier of the organization to craft work experiences where their contributions matter and are recognized. Where people derive satisfaction and meaning through their efforts. These are organizations that appreciate both rebels and steady hands. Their leaders cultivate talent as the surest path to innovative ideas and satisfied customers. Eric believes that armed with a better understanding of how our decisions in the workplace affect our customers, coworkers, and the world around us, we are unstoppable.
Eric is Associate Director of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. He teaches leadership, negotiation, and conflict resolution in graduate programs as well as in executive programs at Harvard, MIT, UC San Diego Health, and UMass Medical Center. He has given keynotes and delivered workshops around the world.
Eric came to his academic career after a series of communications roles that included stints in luxury fashion/retail, publishing, and travel. He served as contributing editor at Harvard Business Publishing, Business Review China, and Strategy+Business. Visit Eric’s entry on Wikipedia.
Reach out to Eric on LinkedIn.
Eric’s writing and speaking have been called “crystal clear,” “compelling,” and “timely.”
As a speaker and author, Eric draws on his curiosity and breadth of experience to engage with his audience. He is a wide-ranging thinker and natural storyteller. Eric builds from one subject to the next, finding the connections, often unseen, between various areas of study and practice. He helps people the world, and their potential in it, more expansively. He has a special expertise in helping subject matter experts—physicians, engineers, scientists, preparedness and response executives, and more—step up to leading their teams, peers, organizations, and communities.
Pick up one of the four books Eric has authored and co-authored, and you can enjoy his unique perspective firsthand.
- You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When it Matters Most (PublicAffairs)
- Three Critical Shifts in Thinking for the Evolving Leader (O’Reilly)
- Your Critical First 10 Days as a Leader (Safari)
- He is also the co-author, along with Dr. Leonard Marcus and Dr. Barry Dorn, of the second edition of Renegotiating Health Care: Resolving Conflict to Build Collaboration (Jossey-Bass)
Eric has also written more than 200 bylined articles on leadership, decision-making, and negotiation. Find them all on Authory.com or dive into some of his writing in top journals such as:
- CNN.com
- Harvard Business Review
- Leader to Leader
- MIT Sloan Management Review
- Strategy+Business
- Eric has also been widely quoted in publications such as the Financial Times, Forbes, Inc., the New York Times, The New Yorker, and more.
Eric’s Other Affilitiations and Interests
- Member, Leadership Communications Council, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
- Member, Future Vision Committee, Disaster Recovery Institute International
- Member, Editorial Advisory Council, Crisis Response Journal
- Member, Advisory Board, Mental Health Literacy Collaborative
- In 2018, he was named a Trust Across America Top Thought Leader in Trust
- As a lifelong lover of animals and avid birder, Eric also sits on the board of Massachusetts for Elephants, is a Community Advocacy Leader with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and donates a portion of his speaking income to Big Life Foundation. He is also a lifelong Red Sox fan.