Barry Phegan

Barry Phegan, PhD

I was raised in Sydney and worked as an employee and then manager in Australia, Sweden, Canada, and the US. These 15 years told me first-hand that there had to be a better way to manage companies.

I enrolled at UC Berkeley. After graduating and working as a consultant and lecturer, I established a professional service company, the first in the US to focus on organizational culture. In 1976 the concept of organizational or company culture was unknown to corporate leaders and rarely mentioned in academia. Today most managers accept that the right corporate culture is a major competitive advantage and profit source. Despite that, few CEOs know how to deliberately manage their company's culture.

For 30+ years, I enjoyed working closely with managers from many companies — from Fortune 50 to the very smallest — on major culture development projects that dramatically improved company performance.

I have spoken frequently on company culture and leadership to US and international management groups at universities, professional associations, conferences, and corporations. In addition to many papers and articles on management topics I wrote Developing Your Company Culture: The Joy of Leadership —A Handbook for Leaders and Managers. It is available through Amazon. My most recent book is Conflict, Meetings, and Difficult People, available through Amazon and Ambience Press.

I have a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Sydney, a Master’s degree from Washington University, St. Louis, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley where my interests were, and still are, business leadership, general systems theory, developmental psychology, group dynamics, cultural anthropology, and evolution.