Robert Sutton

For business owners, Robert Sutton is the missing link in their quest for corporate greatness. His exceptional knowledge, reflected through his best-selling books, combines with his business experience to ensure a comprehensive, well-rounded speech, ensuring the success of every event he attends. As a keynote speaker, Bob arms audiences with the expertise needed to overcome hurdles in business, by highlighting the best practices commonly overlooked by those in leadership roles.

As defined by The Friction Project, led by Bob, all too often business leaders “make the right difficult to do” and the “wrong things easy to do”. When standards are slipping and best practices feel like a distant memory, Bob is the perfect speaker to step in and set the record straight. Also a topical podcast, The Friction Project highlights the driving forces behind organisational friction, and lays out a guide to overcoming damaging processes and actions. By adding a humorous spin, he mocks the typical petty conflicts that plague every office, and suggests practical remedies for interpersonal quarrels.

In the world of academia, Bob is a Professor of Management and Science, and a Professor of Organisational Behaviour. He founded the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, two esteemed establishments. As a researcher, he explores the impact of organisational change on workplace dynamics, and how leadership and innovation can transform a business. Such prestigious roles are only possible thanks to Bob’s hard work and dedication, which produced a PhD in Organisational Psychology from the University of Michigan.

Best known as the best-selling author of: Good Boss, Bad Boss, The No Asshole Rule, Weird Ideas That Work, The Knowing-Doing Gap and Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense. His books supply an actionable, relevant guide to business leadership, workplace culture and interpersonal conflicts, earning recognition from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Sellers lists. His book Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense was even named The Globe and Mail’s 2006 Best Business Book.

Whether he is writing articles for Harvard Business Review and the Financial Times, lecturing at Stanford University or giving keynote addresses at events in over 20 countries, Bob is a highly respected academic and businessperson. He has worked with the likes of TechCrunch and The Atlantic as a speaker, as well as Bloomberg and NBC Today where he has appeared on television and radio shows.

His education programs, Customer-Focused Innovation and the Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate, are a testament to Bob’s leading knowledge, while his work as a board member of the Institute for the Future has been truly transformative. He has been awarded several accolades in celebration of his work, including the 1989 Academy of Management’s Journal Award and the 2005 Academy Management’s Review Award. If you require a keynote speaker on workplace culture, book Business 2.0’s Management Guru, Bob Sutton.

Bob is a speaker above the rest. He presents from the perspective of a leading academic, as a Professor of Haas Business School and Senior Scientist of Gallup, and a trusted professional, as an advisor to McKinsey & Company. He regularly expands upon the content of his books, research, and some 150 articles on innovation, ensuring that his speeches are packed full of actionable strategies.