Deborah Grayson Riegel

I’m an instructor of Management Communication at the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania, and I partner with both Columbia Business School and Duke Corporate Education as a speaker and coach for their custom leadership development programs. I have also served as a Visiting Professor of Executive Communications at the Beijing International MBA Program at Peking University, China, where I prepared senior leaders from around the world to communicate more effectively in a growing global marketplace.

As a regular columnist on leadership and communication for Harvard Business Review, Inc., Psychology Today, Fast Company and more, I focus on sharing practical, research-based approaches to common workplace challenges.

I consult for companies including Amazon, BlackRock, Bloomberg, KraftHeinz, PepsiCo, and The United States Army.

I combine my background in cognitive and social psychology, leadership coaching, presentation skills, appreciative inquiry, and, perhaps most importantly, improvisational and stand-up comedy, to help leaders and teams think on their feet and make thoughtful decisions about their impact. I believe that the most successful leaders are those who balance professional credibility with personal authenticity, combining their deep expertise with transparency about where they need to grow.

I am the mom of twins Jake and Sophie, the wife of a fellow leadership coach, Michael, and the favorite human of our rescue dog Nash.