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Turning academic insights into
practical action

Laura uses insights from her lifetime of academic research to help leaders of professional organizations address some of their most challenging issues.

Insights Speaking Advisory
Professor Laura Empson, Academic, Speaker, Advisor

About Laura

Academic | Speaker | Advisor

Laura has been conducting academic research into leadership and professional organizations for more than 30 years.

She is Professor in the Management of Professional Service Firms at Bayes Business School, University of London, and Professor of Leadership and Organization at Copenhagen Business School. She also holds Research Fellowships at Harvard Law School and Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.

Alongside her academic work, Laura acts as an advisor to the leaders of many of the world’s leading professional organizations.

Specialist subjects

Laura offers advisory consultations and keynote speeches, based on insights from her lifetime of academic research, to help leaders of professional organizations navigate their most pressing challenges. Here is a selection of the subjects she covers.

Collective leadership

Distinctive dynamics among professionals.

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Power of partnership

Realizing the individual and collective potential within professional service firms.

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Leadership and culture

Reinvigorating professionals and their organizations.

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Future of professional work

Leading collectively through uncertainty.

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Growth and change

Navigating rapid growth and change in professional organizations.

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Can’t see what you’re looking for?

Leaders of professional organizations approach Laura for a variety of reasons. Explore more here.

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Podcast: Leading Professional People

Professor Laura Empson and Tony Hall, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, explore the crucial leadership questions currently facing professional organizations and their leaders. They uncover the complicated, messy and surprisingly emotional challenges of leading professionals.

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Laura’s latest book
(published in paperback August 2022)

Leading Professionals: Power, Politics, and Prima Donnas analyses the complex power dynamics and interpersonal politics that lie at the heart of leadership in professional organizations. It draws on the latest organizational and leadership theory to analyse in detail exactly how professionals come together to create 'leadership'. It identifies how change happens within professional organizations and explains why their leaders so often fail.

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Leading Professionals: Power, Politics, and Prima Donnas

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