John B. McGuire, MBA

Honorary Senior Fellow & Former Practice Leader

Current Role

John B. McGuire is an Honorary Senior Fellow & Former Practice Leader. He’s an international authority on leadership culture and organizational transformation and the co-founder of our Organizational Leadership practice. He specializes in vertical leadership culture as the core mechanism in his change leadership methodology for the transformation of executives, their teams, and organizations.

Experience

John has been with us for more than 20 years. He’s also Principal of the McGuire Consultant Group and an Action Inquiry Associate charter member. He specializes in vertical leadership culture as the core mechanism in his change leadership methodology for the transformation of executives, teams, and organizations.

John’s work has been widely published, including the book Transforming Your Leadership Culture; professional journal articles from Integral Review and Leadership Quarterly to Forbes and HBR; multiple handbook chapters from Sage to Harvard Business School to CCL; op-ed columns in the Washington Post and other popular press; and an action research series of CCL white papers.

John has assisted organizations across market sectors in transformation toward interdependent leadership cultures, and previously practiced vertical transformation through senior business management positions across industries.

Education

John has an MBA from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and an MA from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Science.

Areas of Expertise

Organizational Leadership Organizational Culture Change Leadership Strategy Leadership Culture

More About John B.

LinkedIn Profile

Insights From John B.

Article

Can You Identify Your Organization’s Leadership Culture?

We’ve found that organizational leadership cultures tend to fall into 3 types and, with maturity, evolve from one to the other. Which one best describes how your organization functions?

Article

Vertical vs. Horizontal Development: Why Your Leaders Need Both to Succeed

Discover how vertical development opens the door to deeper understanding, greater clarity, and multiple right answers — especially necessary for senior leaders balancing complexity and competing priorities.

Guide

Talent Development Challenges for HR and L&D Leaders

Talent development is more critical than ever in today’s evolving landscape of instability and disruptions. Learn the most common L&D challenges and our recommendations to overcome them.

Research From John B.

Research Paper

Vertical Leadership for Executive Teams: Culture Still Wins Over Strategy

Discover how interdependent cultures characterized by collaborative, shared leadership require vertical mindsets with both / and thinking. Framework emphasizes that leadership culture makes or breaks strategy, requiring deep understanding of organizational beliefs and their impact on transformation success.

Research Paper

How To Know if Your Culture Change Strategy Is Working

Understand how strategically collecting, analyzing, and using data throughout culture change initiatives reveals success and enhances effectiveness. Our evaluators challenge the misconception that impact assessment should wait until completion, demonstrating how continuous evaluation drives lasting organizational change.

Journal Publication

Vertical Transformation of Leadership Culture

Discover a framework for leadership culture and vertical transformation. Research provides a comprehensive model for understanding and developing organizational leadership cultures through developmental stages and collective capacity building.