Founded by Manfred Kets de Vries, one of the world’s foremost thinkers on leadership, the Kets de Vries Institute (KDVI) is a consulting firm that specialises in organisational development and transformation.
We work extensively with top teams and boards in world-leading organisations to improve leadership effectiveness and alignment around a common strategy.
Find out moreKDVI’s psychodynamic-systemic approach to organisational intervention identifies challenges and issues at the business level, and in addition, draws attention to the deeper sources of energy and motivational forces that give impetus to, or create inertia against, human actions in organisations.
In other words, we work with people in a holistic way, within their specific business context.
Find out moreIf you would like to receive occasional news and updates, vist our contact us page and sign up to our mailing list.
15 Jun, 2023
Join us as we explore a selection of KDVI tools (Inner Theatre Inventory, High Performing Team Dynamics and Organisational Culture Audit) and how they may be used in a psychodynamic way to surface deeper dynamics within oneself, teams & the organisation. Register for the 3 upcoming events!
Read More12 Jun, 2023
Join us as we present the latest thinking in future leadership needs and reflect on problems causing personal headaches as people leaders. Register!
Read More17 May, 2023
Join us as we explore and share our experiences of using the group coaching approach in understanding the need of the client. Registration open!
Read More25 Apr, 2023
Join us in our discussion on the Leadership Mystique and pull back the veil on the dynamics of effective leadership.
Read More30 Mar, 2023
Please join us for an interactive session on KDVI’s diagnostics and our psychodynamic-systemic approach to diagnosis and feedback.
Read More14 Feb, 2023
In this session, we explore what leads to good group dynamics in a way that we can empower teams to better communicate and collaborate.
Read More07 Feb, 2023
In this session, we explore how to connect to our inner theatre and gain better awareness of how we bring ourselves to work.
Read More06 Feb, 2023
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7011630376469024768
Read More17 Nov, 2022
Please join us for an interactive session on KDVI’s diagnostics and our psychodynamic-systemic approach to diagnosis and feedback.
Read More16 Nov, 2022
Christina von Wackerbarth shares her experience on using the Everest Simulation and the learning outcomes of this virtual journey.
Read More27 Oct, 2022
Fabio Coluccia, Victoria Bouix & Cyrus Tanedo share how they deploy Grow to better deliver sustainable team development initiatives.
Read More22 Sep, 2022
Stories from the trenches: The challenges of advising family businesses
Read More19 Sep, 2022
Betina Rama, Kate Philips-Kaiser & Katherine Twaddell will share their experience of creating an online guided reflection tool.
Read More07 Jul, 2022
Today we celebrate the loss of Simon, a treasured member of the KDVI community, who was integral to the building of the business and who’s deep understanding of leadership and group dynamics has had a deep impact on the many leaders and organisations that he worked with.
Read More29 Jun, 2022
Margot Schumacher and the GCP team would like to invite you to an informational session on our flagship professional development programme.
Read MoreThe shift from Socialised to Self-Authored: Letting go of our demons and walking out into the light
KDVI, 17 June 2022
Lunch with the FT - The CEO whisperer: ‘Every leader needs a fool’
The Financial Times, 05 March 2021
Partner, Powerful. New Role Models for Women Leaders in 2021
KDVI Writer's Colony, 13 January 2021
Leadership for the Future - Creating conscious leaders and purpose-driven organisations
21 December 2020
Coaching in the Time of COVID- An argument for Revitalization
KDVI Research Lab, 02 November 2020
Journeys into Coronavirus Land: Lessons from a pandemic
Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, 03 July 2020
Digital Communication Technology during Covid-19 – Saviour or Tormentor?
Caroline Rook, KDVI Research Associate & Lecturer in Leadership at Henley Business School, 01 May 2020
"What the coaches say..." about something inspiring about their clients
KDVI Writer's Colony, 11 April 2020
"What the coaches say..." about how to help people navigate the crisis"
KDVI Writer's Colony, 08 April 2020
KDVI Writer's Colony, 09 March 2020
Gender Balance at the Top Requires Career Planning, Not Quota
KDVI Writer's Colony, 19 February 2020
05 Feb, 2020
At KDVI we are proud to promote the Immunity to Change™ Facilitator’s Workshop run by our good friends at Minds at Work. The Immunity to Change (ITC) methodology, developed by Harvard psychologists Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, is helping individuals, teams and organisations to attain deeply sought changes by bringing their internal unconscious resistance to light.
Read MoreUnhealthy Organisations - Neurotic Styles of Organisations
KDVI Writer's Colony, 11 November 2019
17 Sep, 2019
So pleased to announce that, for the second year running, our Advancing Women in Leadership programme is now in session.
Read More16 Jul, 2019
Margot Schmacher writes about what inspired her to look at the world through a new lens and the Advancing Women in Leadership programme she facilitates.
Read More08 May, 2019
Manfred Kets de Vries, a Harvard University alumnus and Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organizational Change at INSEAD will be sharing his views on leadership and provide insights on questions such as “Are you addicted to Power?”, “Do you accept your shadow side?” or “What epitaph would you like to have?”, all part of his latest book.
The conference is hosted by the Harvard Club of Belgium & INSEAD, and with will be followed by a walking dinner.
For more information on tickets, pricing and location, please follow this link.
For more information on his book, follow this link.
Read MoreA Leadership Paradox - How leaders can gain more influence by letting go of some decision power
KDVI Research Lab, 04 December 2018
06 Nov, 2018
In the previous book in this series, Manfred Kets de Vries observed the experiences of leaders on a rollercoaster ride through their professional and personal lives. Now, he follows them down the rabbit hole into the unknown, where, like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, they find a dystopian Wonderland in which everyone seems to have gone mad and life functions according to its own crazy logic, throwing up all kinds of obstacles in the search for truth.
Read MoreHow Early Life Experiences Could Play For and Against Us in the Executive Boardroom
KDVI Research Lab, 14 June 2018
10 May, 2018
This May, we held our first Leaders’ Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur, the morning after a historic general election, which has resulted in Malaysia’s first change in government since gaining independence in 1957.
Read MoreThe Four Types of Dysfunctional Executives and How to Handle Them
INSEAD Knowledge, 09 April 2018
Vulnerability as the key to transition from youngness to gravitas
KDVI Research Lab, 19 March 2018
Too feminine or not feminine enough? How to leverage your difference as a woman leader
KDVI Research Lab, 07 February 2018
16 Dec, 2017
9th ESMT/KDVI Coaching Colloquium
The dark triad of leadership: How narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy play out in executive coaching
December 15–16, 2017 at ESMT Berlin
We are delighted to be co-hosting the 9th ESMT KDVI in Berlin. Manfred Kets de Vries is presenting and provoking discussions around the enigma of change in organisations.
Read More50 Shades of Coaching - How tough does coaching have to be?
KDVI Research Lab, 13 December 2017
01 Dec, 2017
This December we have prepared 24 little treats for you. Each day you'll get a glimpse of KDVI’s insights into the undercurrent of organisational life. We've prepared blog posts and video casts for you to explore how to create best places to work.
Read More04 Jul, 2017
The day after becoming the CEO of a company facing turbulent times, David had a dream. In it, while walking on a beach he discovered a bottle. On opening, a genie appeared offering him a wish in exchange for her freedom. Eschewing riches, fame or a long life, David chose the gift of wisdom.
In today’s hyperactive digital age, attaining wisdom is a challenge. With tablets and phones and their apps constantly vying for our immediate attention, it is increasingly difficult to find the time and mental space for making meaningful connections or engaging in the deep conversations, reflection, emotional awareness and compassion, necessary in the pursuit of wisdom.
Read More30 May, 2017
With the election of Emmanuel Macron, his relationship with his wife, Brigitte Trogneux, has been thrust into the world media. In this blog, we examine what makes power pairs so successful and what steps you can take to create higher impact through working in power pairs in your organisation.
Read More04 May, 2017
Continuing on from 'Meetings: A matter of life and death', in part 2, we reflect on group role identities and the way they can affect underlying dynamics in meetings.
Read More02 May, 2017
Most people, if they are honest, will admit that they don’t always like meetings. In this two part blog series, we explore what might be going on under the surface in meetings. In Part One, we look at the fact that in meetings, people are not always able to tackle the real challenges the group faces, and may not even be aware that as a group, they are off course. In Part Two, available Thursday 4th May, we explore group role identities and how they influence meetings in hidden ways.
Read More27 Apr, 2017
Stress causes absenteeism and burnout; but how can you tell if a colleague or an employee is at risk from severe stress? You can use a checklist based on the APGAR scoring system, a method introduced in 1952 by Dr. Virginia Apgar to quickly summarize the health of a newborn baby. Rather than being a test, survey, or assessment tool, the Stress-APGAR provides a set of guidelines that help executives quickly recognize and articulate factors that may lead to burnout.
Read More07 Mar, 2017
As International Women's Day is celebrated today across the globe, we asked ourselves what we would pledge to drive ground-breaking action within organisations to truly drive the greatest change for women.
Read More20 Feb, 2017
In his new book entitled 'The Malay Leadership Mystique' (inspired by his mentor Manfred Kets de Vries' 2006 book, “The Leadership Mystique”), Dr Vaseehar Hassan explores why, despite their success in Government and the professions, Malays have underperformed as business leaders in comparison to other ethnic groups in Malaysia.
Read More10 Feb, 2017
Manfred Kets de Vries visited the campus of SKOLKOVO Business School, where he received a Certificate of Recognition from the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management, for his contribution to leadership development and organisational change in a global context. Marat Atnashev, the Dean of the school, presented this certificate to Manfred during his visit.
Read More26 Jan, 2017
For many first time consultants and coaches, and even experienced ones, the first encounter with a client, organisation and its members can be unnerving yet exciting. Like anthropologists, they are entering into a new and unfamiliar dynamic system with its particular set of explicit practices and a host of subtle but powerful underlying dynamics. How does one go about diagnosing and assessing what is going on in the individual, team or organisation and what the real issues are? How does the organisation organise itself, what are the cultural practices in which they engage, what is the energy which drives the organisation, and what are the unspoken but deeply embedded understandings and arrangements which affect their capability to get things done, to control their environment, to adapt to change, and to effectively meet the organisation’s goals and purpose?
Read More09 Jan, 2017
As top executives move up the organisational ladder, they are increasingly surrounded by people who tell them what they want to hear. In most instances, their subordinates do not have the courage to speak critically or to confront anyone with their concerns.
Read More13 Dec, 2016
Human beings are intensely social animals and we seek and invent ways to connect. Empathy is one way to achieve effective and satisfying interpersonal relationships. It is the ability to share and understand the feelings of another person, their pain, joy, fears and anger in oneself.
Read More01 Dec, 2016
Join our Diagnosing and initiating Change workshop and try our latest leadership development tool, the GELM® for free!
Read More17 Nov, 2016
Although few would readily admit it, many business leaders are a bit like the mythical Narcissus: Standing in front of a mirror in the morning, they see the person they love most in the world.
Read MoreSociology of Leadership in Organizations
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 24 April 2015
Vision without action is a hallucination: Group coaching and strategy implementation
Organizational Dynamics, 07 March 2015
The Hedgehog Effect: The Secrets of Building High Performance Teams
Jossey-Bass, 15 November 2011
