Professor Herminia Ibarra is the Charles Handy Chair in Organisational Behaviour at London Business School. A Cuban native, she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University as a National Science Fellow. She began her academic career at Harvard Business School in 1989, moved to INSEAD as Cora Chaired Professor of Leadership and Learning, and joined LBS in 2017. Ibarra’s work bridges theory and practice, focusing on career transitions, leadership identity, and women’s advancement.
Her bestsellers, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader and Working Identity, have redefined leadership development by promoting experiential learning—advocating for “outsight” over introspection. Her HBR articles—such as “The Leader as Coach” and “The Authenticity Paradox”—have won top awards including the 2019 Warren Bennis Prize. Ibarra is a Fellow of the British Academy, serves on the WEF Expert Network, judges for FT’s Business Book Award, and is a recognized voice in gender equity.
Ibarra regularly presents at high-profile events—World Economic Forum, Global Drucker Forum, OECD Forum, TEDx, and WIRED Smarter—equipping leaders to navigate identity transitions and drive organisational transformation. With her data-driven, actionable approach, she delivers performances that blend academic depth, real-world applicability, and pathways for intentional leadership growth.
