About Rita McGrath

Rita McGrath, one of the world’s top experts on strategy and innovation, is consistently ranked among the top 10 management thinkers in the world by the prestigious Thinkers50 and won their #1 award in strategy. She is a trusted partner and strategic advisor in the C-suites of many of the country’s biggest and most well-known companies – especially as they work to grow, evolve, reinvent themselves and see around corners. 

She is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on strategic inflection points, the topic of her most recent book -  Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019). She is the author of 4 other books on leadership, business and organizational management including the best-selling The End of Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013). Her work on discovery-driven growth was praised by the late legendary management thinker Clayton Christensen as offering “some of the most important ideas of management and strategy that have ever been developed.” She is currently working on a book full of humor and insight for business leaders aimed at helping organizations become ‘2% less stupid’ by adopting permissionless structures. 

Rita regularly sits down for in-depth conversations with high level authors and leaders in business for her popular podcastThought Sparks. She also writes a regular Thought Sparks newsletter and shares insights across social media platforms, including LinkedIn, where she has more than 45,000 followers.  

Rita is known for her energy, positivity, storytelling, and ability to connect with audiences. She is also a sought-after corporate speaker, a long-time educator at Columbia Business School, the author and host of the popular podcast and newsletter Thought Sparks, available on Youtube. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Learn more at RitaMcGrath.com and Valize.com. 

Columbia Courses

Courses Rita Directs

Leading Strategic Growth and Change

This is an in-person one-week crash course in the tools that you need to lead an organization through changing and uncertain situations. You’ll learn how to balance investments in today’s business with investments in the future, how to enhance customer insight, discovery driven planning, the science of making better choices, leading organizational transformation, competing as a platform and much more. Even better, we set time aside every day for you to work with your peers on a project of your choosing. Participants come from everywhere, and are all hugely helpful with each other’s challenges.

Courses Rita Teaches

Developing and Leading High-Performance Teams

Well-constructed and well-managed teams are a necessity in today’s work environment, and organizational success relies upon the ability to both create and lead high-performance teams. This program, designed for executives in leadership positions or on the cusp of assuming leadership responsibility, integrates and applies Columbia Business School’s thought leadership to prepare you to build a high performance team and lead them to their highest potential.

#1 award for Strategy, Thinkers50

Ranked in the Thinkers50 Top 10 for many years

Theory to Practice award, Vienna Strategy Forum

Best Business Book awards

Fellow of the Strategic Management Society

HR Magazine’s most influential international thinker

Fast Company – one of the 25 smartest women to follow on Twitter

Huffington Post – one of the top 100 people to follow on Twitter

Best Paper, Academy of Management Review

Maurice Holland Award for Best Paper in Research Technology Management

Strategic Management Society best paper award

Included in Harvard Business Review’s ‘must read’ collections in strategy and innovation

Hear More from Rita

Rita regularly posts about topics that spark her thinking – what we call “thought sparks.”  You can subscribe to receive regular email updates.