Watch Lynn in Action
About Lynn Perry Wooten
How do leaders create workplace cultures where every employee feels they belong? How can organizations turn everyday crises into opportunities? Lynn Perry Wooten, Ph.D., has built a career on turning those questions into competitive advantages, showing that organizations do not have to succumb to a crisis: they can thrive in the midst of one and emerge stronger. She has consulted for the Kellogg Foundation, Harvard's Kennedy School and Google, and has collaborated with firms across professional services, health care, automotive, technology, retail, hospitality and the nonprofit sector.
An accountant by training, Wooten draws on research on crisis leadership, diversity and inclusion, management strategy and positive leadership to help leaders prepare for whatever lies around the corner. Her co-authored book The Prepared Leader presents the five phases of crisis management, using cases from the NBA to Burger King to show how leaders make the right decisions under pressure and build crisis leadership teams. "In addition to people, profit and the planet, prepared leadership should be the fourth 'P' in a company's bottom line," she explains. "The time to prepare is always."
Lynn's Keynote Topics
Women leaders should no longer be considered simply lucky to survive in the workplace, they should be able to thrive at the top. As president of Simmons University, Lynn Perry Wooten’s goal is to economically and socially level the playing field for women and historically marginalized groups. Her co-authored book “Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership” – a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller – equips women with the tools to flourish in senior leadership roles. This presentation, based on Wooten’s decades of research and experience leading and learning in women-centered environments, teaches managers how to inspire excellence in their teams while leading a highly fulfilled life.
How do leaders create cultures where people feel like they belong? Research has shown that workplace diversity drives innovation and profitability, and closing the gender gap could add trillions to the global economy. An expert on positive organizational scholarship, Simmons University President and former Center for Positive Organizations (CPO) faculty affiliate Lynn Perry Wooten says that leaders must think strategically about inclusiveness. In this presentation, she reveals her framework for how leaders can build bridges and cultivate capabilities that will turn strengths into excellence. The result is the ability to create competitive advantages that will elevate your organization from good to great.
How do high potential employees rise from being a leader to becoming a leader of leaders? Simmons University President Lynn Perry Wooten, a Financial Times “Next Generation Business Thinker” and pioneering authority on corporate strategy, helps people map out career strategies and effectively transition to leading other leaders. Grounded in more than two decades of research and experience leading at all levels of an organization, Wooten shares practical strategies for building high performance teams, achieving excellence, and creating win-win atmospheres that will strengthen your organization’s leadership pipeline.
When an organization is in crisis mode, how can leaders use these unplanned emergencies as opportunities to become stronger and more resilient? Simmons University President Lynn Perry Wooten brings to each presentation decades of experience and research on crisis leadership, diversity and inclusion, management strategy, and positive leadership to help leaders better prepare to lead through crises ― and for whatever lies around the corner. “The time to prepare is always,” she says. Her new co-authored book, “The Prepared Leader: Emerge from Any Crisis More Resilient Than Before” (September 2022), presents five phases of crisis management and lays out a blueprint for leaders to make the right decisions under pressure. Going beyond the mechanics of damage control and effective communications to recognizing crisis situations as opportunities to create change and open the door to innovation and growth, Wooten offers practical tools and frameworks for addressing and learning from crises and illuminates skills necessary to become a prepared leader.
Books by Lynn Perry Wooten
Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership
McGraw Hill, 2022
The Prepared Leader: Emerge from Any Crisis More Resilient Than Before
Wharton School Press, 2022
Positive Organizing in a Global Society: Understanding and Engaging Differences for Capacity Building and Inclusion
Routledge, 2015
Leading Under Pressure: From Surviving to Thriving Before, During, and After a Crisis
Routledge, 2010Lynn in the Media
Women's Equality Day 2025
Beyond the Hustle: Rethinking What it Takes to Thrive at Work
The Antidote to Fear: 7 Questions to Courageous Action
The Essence of Authenticity: Crucial Insights for Leaders
Women Rising: Embracing Progress and Paving the Way for Leadership Transformation
Inclusion & Impact: Honoring Change Makers of Our Time
How Small Schools Can Thrive as Higher Ed Changes
Black Women Rise To Top Leadership Roles at N.E. Colleges and Universities
Friendtor - When Your Friend Makes You Better
Reworking Work in the Post-Pandemic Economy
Three Women of Color Leading Higher Ed Institutions in Massachusetts on Their Work and the Future
SVB Bridge Bank CEO to Clients: ‘Give Us a Chance’
Erika H. James and Lynn Perry Wooten present a practical and insightful tour through the critical elements of effective crisis management. Crises are inevitable but the key to leadership through one is building resilience before the crisis―feedback and learning loops are essential to prepare leaders for the serious challenges they must address. James and Wooten show that crises provide risks coupled with opportunities and that the leaders who thrive during crises are those who push themselves to learn thoroughly and rapidly and to seize on both wins and losses.
Ruth PoratSVP & Chief Financial Officer, Alphabet and Google
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