Robert Cooper is a strategic advisor to CEOs and their leadership teams. His pioneering work draws on global peak performance research with more than one million leaders, professionals and teams.

Praised as “a national treasure” by Stanford Business School Professor Emeritus Michael Ray, for 20 years Cooper has studied how exceptional leaders and teams achieve what everyone else thinks they can’t. He is also recognized for his pioneering work on the practical application of emotional intelligence.

His scientifically based insights, ultra-practical tools, counterintuitive wisdom, and disciplined metrics have enabled leaders and teams in many industries and fields to produce breakthroughs while everyone else is struggling just to compete or keep from falling behind.

For five years he was the highest-rated faculty member in the Lessons in Leadership Distinguished Speaker Series sponsored by over 100 universities and business schools.

Cooper was voted one of HR magazine’s Most Influential international thinkers in both 2010 and 2011 for those with the greatest influence on people strategy. This peer-based ranking—from industry nominations, experts, and an independent panel of judges who interview business leaders/CEOs—is a definitive list of the top influencers who challenge conventional thinking, are visionary and transformational, bring credibility both inside and outside the business, command the respect of peers and key stakeholders, and add real value to the business.

He has lectured at the Stanford Business School, Stanford Executive Program, Management Centre Europe, Ruling Companies Association (Italy), Leadership Trust (U.K.), and IMD. He graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota.
In a survey of managers and professionals from more than 90 organizations, his work was compared to 20 widely known leadership authorities. Cooper rated highest on every scale, including value, usefulness, applicability, delivery, and overall results.

In an independent rating by the Global Senior Management Interchange, the value of Cooper’s work was rated at 4.9 out of 5.0.

Cooper’s articles have been published in Strategy & Leadership Journal. His books, including Executive EQ: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership & Organizations, The Performance Edge, and Get Out of Your Own Way have sold over 4 million copies. The Other 90%: How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership and Life has been a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Business Week Bestseller. Forthcoming books include The Vital Number: One Metrics Matters Most to Profitable Growth, The Habit of Execution, The Habit of Winning, and Accelerated Growth  Leadership: What’s Different Today and Why It Matters.

Cooper is founder of Cooper Strategic LLC, an advisory firm with methodologies for hitting higher-than-expected targets in less time. For over a decade he has served as a Fellow at the Silicon Valley World Internet Center providing insights on the future of technology and performance. For five years he was Chair of the Board for Q-Metrics, a San Francisco-based firm specializing in the metrics of star performance and applied intelligence in leadership and organizations.

With his colleagues, Cooper has designed and delivered leadership development programs for many executive teams and organizations With his colleagues, Cooper has designed and delivered leadership development programs for many executive teams and organizations, including: 3M, Barclays Bank, Deutsche Bank, Apple, Nike, Virgin, Google, Amazon, Audi, BMW, Cisco, Morgan Stanley, American Express, Verizon, Coca-Cola, CalPERS, AC Nielsen, Capitol One, Diageo, TIAA-CREF, Samsung, Novartis, Hilton, Deloitte, Qualcomm, Ford, Wells Fargo, Methodist Hospitals, FedEx, Department of Veterans Affairs HealthCare System, Idaho National Laboratories, HP, Hyatt, Seagate Technology, BSB Design, MetLife, McCann Erickson, Rexam, Kohl’s, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, and Infosys.

He was a U.S. Marine during the Vietnam War and is a jet pilot. An All-American swimmer, he won the University of Michigan’s Honor Trophy Award for “outstanding achievement in scholarship, athletics, and leadership.” He lives with his wife and children in Michigan.

Contact Us