George Kohlrieser

George Kohlrieser is an organizational and clinical psychologist. He is Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior and the creator and director of the flagship High Performance Leadership Program at one of the world’s leading business schools, IMD (International Institute for Management Development).

Incorporating the lessons he learned as a psychologist and hostage negotiator, George has worked with global companies and their leaders in over 100 countries. Additionally, he has worked with the police, the military and humanitarian organizations in such hot spots as Israel, the Palestinian territories and Croatia as well as with other police departments and police academies around the world. In the course of his work, he has been taken hostage four times. Each time, using Secure Base Leadership skills, he successfully negotiated his way out. His first book, "Hostage at the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance," was an international best seller won the "Best Business Book Award 2007" from DCF (French Association of Business Leaders) and "Best Management Book 2008" in Germany from Managementbuch.de.

George had his own acclaimed radio call-in talk show, “Matters of the Mind,” for over a decade. He has been a guest on the BBC, CNN, ABC and CBS, and his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Economist and other leading newspapers and magazines.