Emily Truelove

Emily Truelove is a highly sought-after voice in the realm of high performance, transformation, and innovation. As an Assistant Professor in the Organisational Behaviour Unit at Harvard Business School, Emily teaches on the MBA programme and conducts pioneering research into how work is evolving in legacy organisations undergoing digital transformation. Her core motivation lies in helping leaders and teams adapt to rapid change while maintaining peak performance—balancing agility with structure, and creativity with execution. Emily is particularly interested in how leadership enables innovation within complex systems, which has made her an expert in sustainable high performance. Her speaking engagements span critical and contemporary themes, including Cross-Occupational Collaboration, Sustainable Transformation, Leading Innovation in the Digital Age, Navigating Cultural and Emotional Challenges in Change, Organisational Change and Technological Transformation, and The Intersection of Leadership and Innovation.

Emily’s career began with a foundation in education and human development. After earning her Master’s degree in Human Development & Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2005, she held roles such as Research Associate at Harvard Business School and Director of New Programme Development at ICEDR, where she developed strategic learning initiatives for global organisations. Her time as an English Language Lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia and an intern with Teach For America reflects a commitment to practical, cross-cultural learning environments. These early experiences laid the groundwork for her scholarly focus on workplace transformation and leadership. In 2011, she completed her PhD in Organisation Studies at MIT Sloan School of Management, positioning her at the forefront of research into organisational behaviour and change.

Over the past decade, Emily has built an impressive track record of contributions and accolades. She co-authored the influential book Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, widely regarded as a cornerstone text on leadership and innovation. In 2015, she joined Paradox Strategies as a Partner, advising organisations on how to harness paradoxes to drive innovation and adaptability. Her academic work has been published in leading scholarly journals and outlets such as the Harvard Business Review, further solidifying her status as a globally respected thought leader.

Emily is regularly hired to speak because she brings an exceptional blend of academic insight and practical relevance. Her keynotes offer deep dives into the human and structural dimensions of performance—how cross-functional teams collaborate under pressure, how organisations manage emotional and cultural complexities during change, and how leaders create space for innovation without sacrificing execution. With her focus on performance under dynamic conditions, Emily equips audiences not just to manage change, but to thrive through it—making her an invaluable asset for forward-looking organisations.