About Rita McGrath

Learn About Rita

A Bit About Me

People often ask about the course of my career as if it were the result of a grand strategic plan. Um, not exactly. Its contours included a pretty-disastrous foray into entrepreneurship, early roles as a bureaucrat and leader of a digital transformation, a really hard transition to academia and an unexpected opportunity to join Columbia Business School. The twists and turns have often proved to be surprisingly useful for “seeing around corners.”

My best days involve discovering new insights and helping people I work with gain new capabilities, typically at the intersection of strategy and innovation, with a few detours into areas such as women’s leadership. I help organizations get past innovation theater to create new opportunities they can actually do something about. I love helping people answer the question, “where do I start?” My commitment is to help people translate powerful ideas into action.

In addition to my own work writing, teaching, speaking and consulting, I’ve founded Valize, LLC, which I hope to develop into an innovation platform that will help companies build sustainable innovation capabilities. If you’re interested in learning more, visit 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.