BIO

Over the course of my career I've taught leadership to more than 2,100 managers in executive programs and worked directly with over 200 C-suite leaders across prominent organizations. I've heard their finest practices and their hardest challenges, and I've brought the best of behavioral science to bear on both.

I served as a full professor and academic administrator at the University of Washington and Seattle University, where Google Scholar records more than 17,000 citations of my research by other authors — listing me as the most cited scholar in the university's history. My research on self-efficacy became foundational in the field, with two Academy of Management Review papers recognized as Citation Classics. I led the design and development of Seattle University's Executive MBA program from inception to a national ranking as high as #11 per U.S. News and World Report, and I conducted a large-scale study of leadership advancement finding that different competencies predict success for men and women.

For my book, The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility (Berrett-Koehler, 2020), I interviewed the CEOs of organizations including Costco, Starbucks, Chase, TIAA, REI, Foot Locker, Holland America, Mayo Clinic, Expeditors International, and Alaska Airlines. Alan Mulally, former CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Ford Motor Company and named one of the three greatest leaders in the world by Fortune magazine, contributed the foreword and a guest chapter. Mulally teaches that my approach to leader humility is foundational to the success of his Working Together Management System. The book received the Top 20 Best Business Minds Book Award in 2024 and has been featured in Forbes, Quartz, and The Hill, with additional coverage in CEOWorld, Sirius XM Wharton Radio, the Global CEO Network, and numerous podcasts.

My consulting work has spanned a wide range of organizations, and my writing has appeared in Leader to Leader and other publications for many years.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Gist, M.E. “What Power Owes Us,” forthcoming, Leader to Leader, 2026.

Gist, M.E. and Mulally, A. "The Case for Leader Morality." Leader to Leader, June 2023.

Gist, M.E. (2020). The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility. Foreword and Guest Chapter by Alan Mulally.

Gist, M.E. "Leader Humility: The Essence of Leadership." Leader to Leader, Fall 2020.

Gist, M.E. and Mulally, A. "Charting the Course." 2016.

Gist, M.E. and Mulally, A. "Leading Successful Implementation." 2017.

Gist, M.E. and Mulally, A. "Moving from Great to Extraordinary: Why Leadership Matters." 2018.

Lobel, S. and Gist, M.E. "Developing dual-agenda leaders." Journal of Corporate Citizenship.

Gist, M.E. and McDonald-Mann, D. "Advances in leadership training and development." In Locke, E. and Cooper, C. (Eds.), Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Theory and Practice. London: Blackwell.

Gist, M.E. "Through the looking glass: Diversity and reflected appraisals of the self in mass media." In Creedon, P. (Ed.), Women in Mass Communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Stevens, C.K., Bavetta, A.G. and Gist, M.E. "Gender differences in the acquisition of salary negotiation skills: The role of goals, self-efficacy, and perceived control." Journal of Applied Psychology.

Gist, M.E. and Mitchell, T.R. "Self-efficacy: A theoretical analysis of its determinants and malleability." Academy of Management Review [Citation Classic].

Gist, M.E. "Minorities in media imagery: A social cognitive perspective on journalistic bias." Newspaper Research Journal.

Gist, M.E. "Self-efficacy: Implications for organizational behavior and human resource management." Academy of Management Review [Citation Classic].

CONTACT

For Keynote Addresses:

Washington Speakers Bureau

For Press Inquiries, Retreats, and Workshops:

Marilyn@marilyngist.com