Barbara Kellerman

James McGregor Burns Lecturer in Leadership
Center for Public Leadership
Office Address
Taubman-158
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 124
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-495-7570
Fax: 617-496-3337
Email: barbara_kellerman@harvard.edu
Assistant
Mike Leveriza (617-496-8866)
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Profile

Barbara Kellerman is the James MacGregor Burns Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. She was the Founding Executive Director of the Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership, from 2000 to 2003; and from 2003 to 2006 she served as the Centers Research Director. Kellerman has held professorships at Fordham, Tufts, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Washington, and Uppsala Universities. She also served as Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Fairleigh Dickinson, and as Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership at the Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland.

Kellerman received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, and her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. (1975, in Political Science) degrees from Yale University. She was awarded a Danforth Fellowship and three Fulbright fellowships. At Uppsala (1996-97), she held the Fulbright Chair in American Studies. Kellerman was cofounder of the International Leadership Association (ILA), and is author and editor of many books including Leadership: Multidisciplinary Perspectives;The Political Presidency: Practice of Leadership; and Reinventing Leadership: Making the Connection Between Politics and Business. She has appeared often on media outlets such as CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, NPR, Reuters and BBC, and has contributed articles and reviews to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and the Harvard Business Review.

Her most recent books are Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters (2004); a co-edited (with Deborah Rhode) volume, Women & Leadership: State of Play and Strategies for Change (2007); and Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and Changing Leaders (2008). Kellerman speaks to audiences around the world, including in recent years in Berlin, London, Moscow, Rome, Sao Paolo, and Shanghai. She holds an Honorary Degree from Ripon College, and is currently ranked by Leadership Excellence as 6th on the list of the 100 best minds on leadership. For instant information on Kellerman's recent thinking see her weekly blog, "Political Animals," at http://Discussionleader.harvardbusiness.org.

Courses

Not Offered

Spr Mod3

Spring

Media Expertise

Barbara Kellerman welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.

Research

For a complete list of faculty citations from 2001 - present, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School Research Report Online.

Selected Publication Citations:

  • Academic Journals
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Required Reading." Harvard Business Review (December 2001).
    • Kellerman, Barbara, and Scott Webster. "The Recent Literature on Public Leadership: Reviewed and Considered." Leadership Quarterly (December 2001).
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Leadership: Warts and All." Harvard Business Review (January 2004).
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "When Should a Leader Apologize -- and When Not?" Harvard Business Review (April 2006).
  • Book Chapters
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "For the People: Can We Fix Public Service?" The Difference "Difference" Makes: Women and Leadership. Ed. Deborah L. Rhode. Stanford University Press, 2002.
    • Gergen, David, and Barbara Kellerman. "Public Leaders: Riding a New Tiger." For the People: Can We Fix Public Service? Ed. John D. Donahue and Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Brookings Institution, 2003.
    • Rhode, Deborah L., and Barbara Kellerman. "Women and Leadership: The State of Play." Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change. Ed. Barbara Kellerman and Deborah L. Rhode. Jossey-Bass, 2007, 1.
  • Books
    • Kellerman, Barbara. Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters. Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
  • Edited Volumes
    • Kellerman, Barbara, and Deborah L. Rhode, eds. Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change. Jossey-Bass, 2007.
  • Magazine and Newspaper Articles
    • Kellerman, Barbara, and Deborah L. Rhode. "Viable Options: Rethinking Women and Leadership." Compass: A Journal of Leadership Fall 2004.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "How Bad Leadership Happens." Leader to Leader Winter 2005.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Yin and Yang of Leadership in China." Compass Fall 2005: 5.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Men Behaving Badly." Forbes.com May 26, 2006.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Leaders and Followers." Forbes.com July 6, 2006.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Back to Basics." Forbes.com August 7, 2006.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Public Displays of Bad 'Leadership.'" Forbes.com September 11, 2006.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Behind Closed Doors." Forbes.com October 16, 2006.
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "Followers Flex Their Muscles." U.S. News & World Report (November 19, 2007).
  • Op-Eds
    • Kellerman, Barbara. "These Leaders Get the Respect They Deserve." Washington Post, April 17, 2005: B03.