WSB Exclusive Speaker Adam Grant keynote speech
Adam Grant speaks at TED2018 - The Age of Amazement

Adam Grant

"Our session was incredible! As you had promised, Adam was superb in every way. His generosity of time, energy, knowledge, and spirit was incredible. We could not have asked for more." Fraternal/Membership Organization

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and bestselling author who explores the science of motivation, generosity, rethinking, and potential.

Adam Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 straight years. As an organizational psychologist, he is a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, rethink assumptions, and live more generous and creative lives. He has been recognized as the world’s #2 most influential management thinker and one of Fortune’s 40 under 40.

He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 6 books that have sold millions of copies and been translated into 45 languages: Hidden Potential, Think Again, Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves. His books have been named among the year’s best by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. His viral piece on languishing was the most-read New York Times article of 2021 and the most-saved article across all platforms.

Adam hosts the TED podcasts Re:Thinking and WorkLife, which have been downloaded over 70 million times. His TED talks on languishing, original thinkers, and givers and takers have over 35 million views. He has received a standing ovation at TED and was voted the audience’s favorite speaker at The Nantucket Project. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, Bridgewater, and the Gates Foundation. He writes on work and psychology for the New York Times, has served on the Defense Innovation Board at the Pentagon, has been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and has appeared on Billions. He has more than 8 million followers on social media and features new insights in his free monthly newsletter, GRANTED.

Adam was profiled in the New York Times Magazine cover story, Is giving the secret to getting ahead? He was tenured at Wharton while still in his twenties, and has received the Excellence in Teaching Award for every class that he has taught. He is the founder and host of the Authors@Wharton speaker series, and co-director of Wharton People Analytics. He curates the Next Big Idea Club along with Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, and Dan Pink, handpicking two new books each quarter for subscribers and donating 100% of profits to provide books for children in under-resourced communities.

Adam earned his Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan, completing it in less than 3 years, and his B.A. from Harvard University, magna cum laude with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa honors. He has received awards for distinguished scholarly achievement from the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Association, and the National Science Foundation, and been recognized as one of the world’s most-cited, most prolific, and most influential researchers in business and economics. His pioneering research has increased performance and reduced burnout among engineers, teachers, and salespeople, and motivated safety behaviors among doctors, nurses, and lifeguards. Before graduate school, Adam worked at Let’s Go Publications, where he set multiple company records for advertising sales and was selected as the manager of the year. He is a former magician and Junior Olympic springboard diver.

Featured Videos

Adam Grant Profile Photo
Adam Grant

Adam Grant on Modeling Resilience: Why Leaders Should Prioritize Mental Wellness

Adam Grant Profile Photo
Adam Grant

Adam Grant on How to Reveal Hidden Potential & Unlock Organizational Excellence

Adam Grant Profile Photo
Adam Grant

Adam Grant on How to Stop Languishing and Start Finding Flow

Adam Grant Profile Photo
Adam Grant

Adam Grant on Rethinking Brainstorming: A Better Method to Drive Creativity

Adam Grant Profile Photo
Adam Grant

Millennials, Motivation, and the Changing World of Work

Adam Grant Profile Photo
Adam Grant

Adam Grant on ‘Are You A Giver or A Taker?’

Adam Grant’s Speech Topics

  • Hidden Potential

    We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent and intelligence. But the true measure of potential isn’t where you start—it’s how far you can travel. Building on his #1 New York Times bestseller, Hidden Potential, Adam Grant examines how to build the character skills, structures, and systems that accelerate learning and elevate excellence. We all have hidden potential, and this talk highlights how we can unleash it—in ourselves, in our teams, and in our organizations.


    Advance praise:

    “This is a book that should be read by parents, leaders, coaches, and every school board member in America. Adam Grant reveals that everything you think about developing potential is wrong.”

    – Mark Cuban, Shark Tank investor, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and cofounder of Cost Plus Drugs


    “I read Hidden Potential in one sitting, loved it, and have been thinking about it ever since. Which is the highest praise I can give a book. This is Adam Grant’s finest work—it will inspire you to bigger dreams.”

    – Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers and host of Revisionist History


    “Wickedly entertaining and deeply insightful, Adam Grant has done it again. You have more in common with Mozart and Steph Curry than you know, and Hidden Potential will show you how to achieve your absolute best. You’ll devour it and find yourself begging for more.” 

    – U.S. Navy Admiral William H. McRaven, author of Make Your Bed and The Wisdom of the Bullfrog

  • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

    Many visions, strategies, and best practices were created in a world that no longer exists. The faster our environment changes, the more critical it becomes to rethink our assumptions. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant finds that the very skills that make us good at thinking and learning can make us worse at rethinking and unlearning. Building on his #1 New York Times bestselling book, Think Again—called “brilliant” by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman—Adam examines how we can update our own opinions, open other people’s minds, and build a learning organization in which people know what they don’t know and are eager to improve on the status quo. His eye-opening evidence and entertaining delivery will leave you determined to never again say “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

  • Resilience at Work: A Conversation with Adam Grant

    When Adam Grant wrote his viral piece about languishing, it was the most-read New York Times article of the year—and the most-saved across all platforms. During this session, he fields questions about how the “blah” of languishing is different from burnout, what causes these two sets of emotional challenges, and how individuals, teams, and workplaces can move toward flourishing and build resilience. “Resilience is the strength and speed of our response to adversity,” says Grant. “It’s a skill set that we work on throughout our lives.” 

  • Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World

    To survive and thrive, organizations need original thinking. Yet many people stay silent instead of voicing their best ideas—and many leaders stifle dissent rather than encouraging it. In his #1 New York Times bestselling book Originals, Grant set out to explore how to unleash original thinking. “Originals are nonconformists—people who not only have new ideas, but take action to champion them,” says Grant. “They’re people who stand out and speak up. Originals drive creativity and change in the world.” In this talk, Grant reveals how to get better at recognizing and championing new ideas, and how to build cultures that welcome diverse perspectives and honest feedback.

  • Givers Take All: Creating a Culture of Productive Generosity

    Culture is a key component of success, but many leaders struggle in managing the cultures of their teams and organizations. Based on decades of evidence, Adam Grant argues that the highest-performing organizations are the ones that embrace an ethos of knowledge sharing, helping, and mentoring. In his New York Times bestselling book, Give and Take, Grant examines how interpersonal interactions can fuel success, depending on whether you’re a “giver” (generous), a “taker” (me-first), or a “matcher” (trades favors evenly, quid pro quo). “Givers succeed in a way that creates a ripple effect, enhancing the success of people around them,” he writes. “Giver success creates value, instead of just claiming it.” In this presentation, Grant outlines the key strategies for building a culture of productive generosity. He highlights the importance of screening out takers, rewarding givers, and creating norms of help-seeking as well as help-giving.

What other organizations say about Adam Grant

Our session was incredible! As you had promised, Adam was superb in every way. His generosity of time, energy, knowledge, and spirit was incredible. We could not have asked for more.

Fraternal/Membership Organization

What other organizations say about Adam Grant

Adam Grant was very well received by our audience. He was an absolute delight and we enjoyed hosting him. His presentation was energetic, informative and he built in enough humor into his presentation that it kept it light and entertaining. There were lots of questions from the audience so good audience interaction was/is always a good sign. In short, I believe that the learning was great and that everyone left with information that they could take away and apply.

Fraternal/Membership Organization

What other organizations say about Adam Grant

We received very positive feedback on Adam’s presentation and we are appreciative of the customization of his remarks to the financial services industry.

Insurance

What other organizations say about Adam Grant

Adam Grant was fantastic and response from the audience was also extremely positive. We had good engagement from the audience during the Q&A, and the majority who responded to our post-event survey rated Adam as Excellent. All in all, I’d say it was a success.

Education Programs

What other organizations say about Adam Grant

Adam Grant got our Annual Meeting off to a terrific start with such a great and provocative message for our members. Just truly fantastic! And, a great conversation starter for the rest of the meeting.

Executive Development/Coaching

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