Robert Kegan keynote speaker

Dr. Robert Kegan is arguably the single most cited thought-leader in the field of adult development today. His ground-breaking works on human and organizational behavior--The Evolving Self, In Over Our Heads, Immunity to Change, How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work, An Everyone Culture-- have helped create a whole new field of study, transformed practice in a host of professions, and unleashed the hope that we can all keep growing at any age.

Long a sought-after speaker to professional groups in every sector and geography, Kegan’s writings have been translated into twelve languages.

Now an emeritus professor, Kegan was the William and Miriam Meehan Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he taught for forty years. He was also Educational Chair for the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education and the Co-director for the Change Leadership Group. He continues to serve as the Chief Knowledge Officer of the Growth Culture Institute, a consultancy he co-founded, where he provides high-level services to leaders and organizations throughout the world.

Regularly quoted in such publications as The New York Times and Forbes, he is as comfortable in the boardroom as the classroom. CEOs worldwide ask him to assist them personally, their teams, and their organizations, to define and implement high-value improvement processes. His insight into individual and collective “immunities to change” has resulted in significant and sustainable improvements due to generative shifts in underlying mindsets.

As one of the foremost researchers on organizational and human psychology, Kegan has intensely studied companies of all sizes, shapes and industries, from global to boutique. The demand for his consulting work means his advisory work is just as far-ranging, with particular emphasis on Healthcare, Professional Service Organizations and Education/Nonprofits.

Kegan attended Dartmouth College, graduating summa cum laude, and then took his interests in Learning from a psychological, literary and philosophical point of view to Harvard University where he earned an interdisciplinary Ph.D.

In 2019, Kegan was inducted into a select group that includes Nobel Prize winners, Pope Francis, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, when The Disruptor Foundation honored his “life-long contributions and innovations in the field of developmental psychology, which have led to ground-breaking insights into the emergence of orders of human consciousness and the ongoing internal Copernican shifts that lead to self-transformation.”

A husband, father, and grandfather, he is also an avid poker player, an airplane pilot, and the unheralded inventor of the “Base Average,” a superior statistic for gauging offensive contribution in baseball.