Charles Palus

Experience

Charles J. (Chuck) Palus, PhD, is a Senior Fellow and faculty member in Research at the Center for Creative Leadership. As a collaborator in several cross-disciplinary research groups, he studies, teaches, and develops leadership as a relational process, with the overarching question: In what ways does a shift in perspective from leadership as the capacity and actions of individuals, to leadership as a collective social process, yield better results for leaders, groups, teams, organizations, and communities? Within this perspective he specializes in vertical development, leadership culture transformation, mediated dialogue, and societal leadership.

He is co-founder of CCL Labs, a community-based innovation laboratory with a line of products including Visual Explorer, Leadership Essentials, Transformations, the Early Leadership Toolkit, and the Leadership Culture Tool Box.

He has co-designed numerous development experiences including: Leading Creatively, EdgeWork, Facing and Solving Complex Challenges, Transforming Your Organization, Boundary Spanning Leadership, and Leadership for Societal Impact. He is a passionate contributor to the CCL Societal Advancement agenda and has worked extensively in Africa from the grass roots with students to senior levels at the African Union.

He is co-author of the award-winning book The Leader’s Edge; and the influential papers: Making Common Sense: Leadership as Meaning-Making in a Community of Practice, and Evolving Leaders. He work appears in Leadership Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, the Harvard Business School Handbook for Teaching Leadership, the CCL Handbook of Leadership Development, the CCL Handbook of Coaching, the Handbook of Action Research, and the Change Handbook.

Prior to coming to the Center for Creative Leadership, Chuck was an R&D engineer in polymers with DuPont; a water purification engineer with Vaponics; an instructor and designer with the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School; and he taught social psychology and statistics at Boston College. He received a BS in chemical engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in social psychology from Boston College

Current Role

Charles J. (Chuck) Palus, PhD, is a Senior Fellow and faculty member in Research at the Center for Creative Leadership. Chuck is a designer, facilitator and researcher in the CCL Organizational Leadership Practice and is one of its co-founders.

Areas of Expertise

Leadership Development/ Design/ Strategy, Relational Leadership, Leadership Culture, Vertical Development, Collective Leadership, Leadership & Networks, Mediated Dialogue, Collaborative Inquiry, Societal Impact

Educational Background

Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Boston College; B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Professional Affiliations

Chuck is a member of the American Psychological Association, and is a founding member of the Co-Lead Network at New York University.

Select CCL Publications

• Mediated Dialogue: See Your Way Through Change
• Cultivating Networks that Support Innovation: A Case Study of Leadership Development at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals
• Network Savvy Executives: Five Advantages for Leaders in a Networked World
• Exploring Shared Value: Inter-organizational Networks as a Strategy for Business Success and Positive Societal Impact
• Leadership Strategies for Societal Impact

Curriculum Vitae

Charles J. (Chuck) Palus, PhD, is a Senior Fellow and faculty member in Research at the Center for Creative Leadership. As a collaborator in several cross-disciplinary research groups, he studies, teaches, and develops leadership as a relational process, with the overarching question: In what ways does a shift in perspective from leadership as the capacity and actions of individuals, to leadership as a collective social process, yield better results for leaders, groups, teams, organizations, and communities? Within this perspective he specializes in vertical development, leadership culture transformation, mediated dialogue, and societal leadership.

See Chuck’s Curriculum Vitae

Select External Publications

• Developing Relational Leadership in Africa
• Mediated Dialogue in Action Research
• Developing Interdependent Leadership
• Direction, Alignment, Commitment: Toward a More Integrative Ontology of Leadership
• The Leaders Edge: Six Creative Competencies for Navigating Complex Challenges

Honors, Awards, Grants

• Senior Fellow, Center for Creative Leadership, 2015.
• Founding Fellow, Action Inquiry Associates (with Bill Torbert), 2013.
• Invited Scholar, Harvard Business School, Seminar on Teaching Leadership, 2008-2011.
• Invited Scholar, Columbia University, Teacher’s College Thought Leader Co-Inquiry, 2009-2010.
• Senior Advisor, New York University, The Wagner School, (Collective Leadership Network 2014-present) (Research Center for Leadership in Action 2008-2014) (Leadership for a Changing World 2001-2008).

Current Projects

• Interdependent Leadership
• Network Approaches to Leadership