Bill Kahn Ph.D.

About

Bill Kahn, Ph.D., is Professor of Organizational Behavior at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. He received his BA in Psychology from Clark University and his doctorate in Psychology from Yale University. He has published numerous articles in organizational and management journals on topics ranging from instigating and reacting to change, creating healthy work relationships, and the nature of leadership and authority.

Several decades ago he originated the concept of personal engagement at work, which has since given rise (much to his chagrin) to a huge survey and consulting business. In recent years he has specialized in the dynamics of caregiving organizations, about which he has published a book (Holding Fast: The struggle to create resilient caregiving organizations published by Routledge in 2005.) Bill has won several teaching awards and is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Management Education. He also hosted for three years a Boston-based NPR segment ("Dr. Bill") in which people called in seeking help with workplace relationships.

Books by Bill Kahn Ph.D.

Recent Posts

Caring for the Caregivers

The pandemic exposes healthcare workers not simply to an insidious virus but to unrelenting traumatic stress. They may need help with PTSD.

When We Are Our Own Antagonists at Work

It is one thing to get in our own way. Yet it is another to shut ourselves off from the possibility of learning how we do so, and thus ensure that we continue to fail ourselves.

The Dark Side of Nice

There are some really, really nice people at work. They are so nice that they remain unaware of all the damage that they do, not in what they say, but in what they do not say. We all need to look closely at the choices that we make when we choose to be dangerously nice to others.

The Open Secrets That Halt Organizational Change

Unless system members are able to name openly what they all know, and work with the fallout, there will always be workarounds, disempowerment, skulking, and a great deal of unproductivity and unhappiness. That’s an unpleasant place to live and work.

Workarounds

It seems simple to just work around people who are difficult, obnoxious, and self-centered at work. Yet whenever we do so, it seems that it does more harm than good. Understanding rather than avoiding these people can make a world of difference.

The Heart of Engagement

At the heart of employee engagement are the emotional experiences that people have at work. Ignoring this reality is problematic, for workers and organizations alike.

From Knowing to Doing

Now you face the choice: Do you pause, speak a moment of truth, name what is right there to be named, and invite the other to join you in making right what is wrong? Or do you stay where you are, hiding in plain sight?

The Messiness of Change

Insight into our selves opens the gate to changes in behavior ... but we still need to walk through that gate and into the light and act as if we belong there.

The Right Conversations

Getting into the right conversations means getting out of the wrong ones.

Moments of Truth

There is a simple, profound way to move from destructive relationships at work: moving toward moments of truth.