Dean Williams

Lecturer in Public Policy
Center for Public Leadership
Office Address
Taubman-136
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 124
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-496-8506
Fax: 617-496-3337
Email: dean_williams@harvard.edu
Dean Williams

Profile

Dean Williams, Lecturer in Public Policy, teaches and conducts research on adaptive leadership and change. As a faculty member, he is based at the Center for Public Leadership. He is originally from Geelong, Australia. He has worked on major change initiatives in various parts of the world. For five years he served as the Chief Advisor to the President of Madagascar. For two years he was the lead consultant to the government of Queensland, Australia, in orchestrating a complete reform of the educational system. Formerly, he was a consultant to the Government of Brunei in upgrading its civil service. He has also served as a consultant with the Singapore government's National Productivity Board, and is the director of the Social Leadership Singapore program. He has done a significant amount of advising to the Government of East Timor, and has also done extensive leadership development work for companies and governments throughout Asia, Europe, Australia, and the United States.

He has also studied the dynamics of community, organization, authority and leadership with tribal peoples in Borneo, Australia, and Madagascar.

He is the author of Real Leadership: Helping People and Organizations Face Their Toughest Challenges (Berrett-Koehler, 2005).

Courses

Spring

  • MLD-202 Exercising Leadership: A Cross-Cultural & International Perspective
  • MLD-201-B Exercising Leadership: The Politics of Change

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
    • Williams, Dean. "Leadership in a Changing World: From Afghanistan to East Timor, the Challenges are Great." Leadership 2.1 (Spring 2002).