Maureen Metcalf

Maureen Metcalf is the chief author of the Innovative Leadership book series — eleven active titles in an international award-winning series used as curriculum in universities worldwide. The series spans leadership development for executives, healthcare leaders, nonprofit executives, physician leaders, global leaders, emerging leaders, college students, and leaders navigating the age of AI. The series received the International Book Award, and individual titles have been recognized by faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine and organizational leadership scholars worldwide.

Maureen is the Founder and CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute. She holds an Honorary Doctorate in Community Leadership from Franklin University and is a Fellow of the International Leadership Association — recognized in the inaugural class of ILA Fellows for outstanding contributions to the field of leadership through scholarship, practice, and commitment to the ILA mission. She is a Forbes Coaches Council member and regular contributor to Forbes.com, with more than 50 published articles on leadership, organizational transformation, and strategy. In 2025, she received the Stevie® Award for Female Executive of the Year and Female Thought Leader of the Year.

Maureen’s published works have accumulated 95 citations in Google Scholar (h-index 6, i10-index 4), reflecting sustained engagement with her scholarship across academic and professional literature. Her academic publications include a chapter in Leadership 2050 (Emerald Group Publishing, 2015) and Circular Economy Leadership in The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy (Routledge, 2022), commissioned by the German Federal Environment Agency.

As editorial sponsor of the ILI Think Tank, Maureen leads applied research on leadership systems and executive decision-making, including the Decision Velocity research initiative. She hosts “Innovating Leadership: Co-creating Our Future,” ranked in the top 1% of podcasts globally and recognized as the FeedSpot #1 Best Innovative Leadership Podcast. The podcast reaches listeners in 121 countries and generates approximately 8,000 listeners per episode. She has taught in MBA programs at The Ohio State University and Capital University, among others, and serves as Chair of the James Madison University School of Strategic Leadership Studies Advisory Board.

Her clients span Fortune 15 companies, the U.S. Armed Forces, and organizations including the American Heart Association. Before founding ILI, she held roles at Unisys, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Accenture.

Academic Publications

Metcalf, M., Cannon, S. & Morrow-Fox, M. (2015). “The Strategist Competency Model: The Future of Leadership Development.” Chapter 12 in Leadership 2050. Emerald Group Publishing.
Metcalf, M. & Hinske, C. (2022). “Circular Economy Leadership.” Chapter 12 in The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy. Routledge (open access). Commissioned by the German Federal Environment Agency. DOI: 10.4324/9781003244196-12

Maureen Metcalf, MBA

Maureen Metcalf

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Academic Publications

The Complete Active Book Series