Testimonials
Professor James Bailey is a unique source of energy and insight. His research amplifies his innovative learning experiences. He inspires the learning and change people seek.
During my 11 year NFL career, I had the privilege of being around some great leaders. James Bailey understands life and legacy and the obstacles and opportunities that all great leaders struggle with as they live out their career and calling. I am honored to call him as a great teacher and, more importantly, a true friend.
I thought I knew something about leadership, having run divisions with hundreds of millions of dollars P&L. But within an hour Bailey shattered everything. He then helped me and everyone in the room reconstruct our thinking and plotted a course to move on it. I hate to use this word, but he was downright “inspiring.”
I can’t say enough about Professor Bailey. He is a rare, true, pure, teacher. He’s the best I’ve ever had. He’s honest and has a great heart.
James Bailey develops truly innovative executive programs that combine leading ideas and creative delivery. He understands the practical needs program participants, and the knowledge to unlock new possibilities for them.
Professor Bailey was hands-down my favorite professor. The lessons taught apply to both my professional and personal life. He became more than just a professor, but also a mentor. I am grateful for the impact he had on my life, and know that he has had the same impact upon countless others.
James Bailey offers revolutionary insight regarding the many and varied nuances of leadership. He is a true thought leader with a rare gift that is the result of a career spent advising leaders around the world.
Dr. Bailey’s work with us became a revelation that is still paying dividends. Strategically and productivity-wise, it was a game changer, providing a crystal clear strategy and a plan to implement it. Personally, I use his counsel to open doors that I didn’t know existed. He has the gift of insight combined with implementation.
A brilliant and comprehensive introduction to the most seminal component of leadership: wisdom. The diversity of the readings and wisdom of the authors make this a most original and valuable addition to the management canon.
A brilliant and comprehensive introduction to the most seminal component of leadership: wisdom. The diversity of the readings and wisdom of the authors make this a most original and valuable addition to the management canon.
General
True thought leadership in today’s ever-changing, complex, global business landscape is very rare. Dr. James Bailey is the exception, he offers revolutionary insight regarding the many and varied nuances of leadership. His wisdom in this regard is only eclipsed by the magnificent clarity with which he delivers his perspective. He is a true thought leader in a world of aspirants who often provide a paucity of originality. Dr. Bailey’s rare gift is the result of a career spent advising leaders around the world and conducting original research into a topic more intricate and complex than almost any other in business.
Professor James Bailey is a unique source of energy and insight. His insightful research in ego development, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution amplifies his innovative learning experiences. In many countries and many programs, he inspires learning and change as the faculty member of choice people seek.
Personal
During my 11 year NFL career, I had the privilege of being around some great leaders. While there are many qualities that describe a great leader, I have found that the best ones are able to find a balance between hubris and humility. Dr. James Bailey is one of those leaders. His academic accolades speak for themselves, but it’s his intangibles that I have grown to respect more. During my two years of Executive Education at George Washington University, I was able to have numerous conversations with Dr. Bailey about life, leadership and legacy. I can tell you that without a doubt he understands both the tremendous amount of obstacles as well as opportunities that all great leaders will have to struggle with as they live out their career and calling. I am honored not only to refer to him as a great teacher, but more importantly as a true friend.
Several years ago, Dr. Bailey was referred to me when I was trying to find someone to help me with strategic planning for my office and to resolve some staff conflicts. It became a team building revelation that is still paying dividends as I write this. He was able to help me facilitate a strategic process that was a real game-changer and led to solid results. It became a line in the sand as far as productivity was concerned, going forward we had a crystal clear strategy and a plan to implement it. A side benefit in this process was the opportunity to utilize his expertise to help me create a personal learning plan that has made a big difference in my professional growth. I started a new career about two years ago and I have continued to use his advice and counsel and it has helped me open doors that I previously didn’t even know existed. His insight and ability to analyze tough issues and find realistic solutions is a gift, I continue to enjoy his analysis through his essays on Lessons on Leadership. These essays are easily accessible but profound. I look forward to reading the future ones and adding these lessons to my ongoing journey in professional growth. They really are spot on.
In contrast to other educators, James Bailey treated me like the business executive I wanted to become. So much more than just delivering a syllabus, his classroom was an immersion in how leaders communicate and learn. His course content was at the cutting edge of management theory, and he reinforced his own teaching with highly distinguished guest lecturers. His mastery of both the material and the classroom has earned him numerous awards for teaching excellence. It’s been 22 years since I’ve taken his class, but he remains a mentor to me, and the lessons from that long ago still resonate.
Professor Bailey was hands-down my favorite professor in college. Professor Bailey’s classes were insightful, thought-provoking and motivational. As a graduate of the George Washington University School of Business and current professional in the Financial Services Industry, the “Organizational Behavior” and “Conflicts Management & Negotiation” classes I took with Professor Bailey apply to both my professional and personal life every day. The lessons taught me how to emphasize my strengths, improve upon and downplay my weaknesses, and to constantly grow and develop into my full potential as a leader. After many strong dialogues and interactions both inside and outside of the classroom Professor Bailey became more to me than a Professor, but also a mentor. I went to him for advice on career direction, choices between internships, and general advice on life decisions. I am very grateful for the impact Professor Bailey has had on me and I have no doubt that he has had the same impact upon countless others.
Research
Praise for Organizational and Managerial Wisdom (co-authored with E. Kessler)A brilliant and comprehensive introduction to the most seminal component of leadership: wisdom. The diversity of the readings and wisdom of the authors make this a most original and valuable addition to the management canon.
This wonderful compilation proves that management is as much art as science, and that deep thinking can inform and inspire practice to be more humane, ethical, and, yes, wise.
If you’ll forgive a pun, this is a wise book about organizational and managerial wisdom. It shows what’s possible when some of our best thinkers turn their collective attention to such timely subjects as EQ, negotiation, global politics, and individual and organizational ethics.
Research
Praise for the International Encyclopedia of Organizational Studies (co-authored with S. Clegg)The International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies is the definitive description of the field, spanning individual, organizational, societal, and cultural perspectives in a cross-disciplinary manner. The old model of a North American core exporting its domain assumptions to the rest of the world, while by no means absent, is less marked than it used to be. Thus, editors Stewart R. Clegg and James R. Bailey have captured much of the cutting-edge thinking that characterizes the best scholarship—in the United States and elsewhere. The Encyclopedia is thoroughly cross-referenced, and entries are based on a series of broad themes.
Executive Program Management
James was essential to launching the most comprehensive leadership program we’ve executed at Nestle. He was part of the team from day one. He worked with a great number of constituencies, including all of us here in corporate, the field country officers we had involved, and London Business School, who was responsible for delivery and at which James was at at the time. We had operations in London, Singapore, and Miami (for the Americas). James was responsible for the Americas. He recruited faculty to teach when he couldn’t do so, oversaw all ground operations and instructional delivery. He coordinated with the London and Singapore operations. We put about the top 2000 officers of Nestle through this program. The reviews were stupendous. James was a large part of the success. He worked hard to make it work. Great to work with.
Dr. James Bailey develops truly innovative executive programs that combine excellent faculty, leading ideas, and creativity in the classroom. In working with Dr. Bailey in the GW WEMBA program, I found him to be a hands-on partner who called for the best from our team — and actively worked with us to ensure alignment with the goals of the program and the unique needs of the student cohort. He is highly attuned to the practical needs of adult students — and the knowledge that will unlock new possibilities for them.
The Masters in Law Firm Management here at GWU is an executive program focused entirely on the legal profession/industry. Dr. Bailey teaches leadership development. I have worked with him for eight years. When we started working together in class, he was not especially well informed about this industry. But he is a very quick read and adapted his teachings and approach in class to make them highly relevant to the dynamics of legal world. Of the 18 members of our faculty, Dr. Bailey continually gets the highest marks from our students; his course is our most popular one in the program. He is also a skilled consultant for law firms in the DC area.
Executive MBA and MBA Student Comments
(representative, verbatim and anonymous)This is one of the top courses I’ve had in my MBA experience. The skills and tools are relevant and applicable to most facets of my professional career and personal life. Professor Bailey is excellent. His Socratic style challenged me to think more critically about the world around me. I’m grateful for this class.
The Professor is great! He really brings the material to life. He keeps students motivated by challenging them. Excellent course. Highly recommended.
I can’t say enough about Professor Bailey. He is a rare, true, pure, teacher. He’s the best I’ve ever had. He’s honest and had a great heart.
Professor Bailey informed, lively, and charismatic. When he talks, people listen.
The professor was unbelievable and the class was amazing and fun. Best course I’ve ever taken.
Bailey is an enormous asset to GWU. Smart, funny, engaging, and thoughtful.
He was extremely enthusiastic, tying the lessons to his own life so that students could do the same. The course felt like a casual conversation–though it was often a heated debate–in which you just happened to learn something new every day.
Professor Bailey is articulate, entertaining, and knowledgeable. He tells it like it is; honest.
Simply amazing. Provokes thoughtful reflection through a skillful mix of humor. His enthusiasm for our education is infectious.
Clearly the best in the field. His teaching method is precisely tailored to stimulate executive students.
Dr. Bailey’s great. He brings real world experience with time tested best practices. His use of practical application keeps things moving along and the students engaged. Top shelf all around.
Executive Development Program Participant Feedback
(representative, verbatim and anonymous)I’ve never had a presenter come up to my table, look me in the eye, and ask “why would you say that?” I was offended, but he wasn’t trying to challenge me. He was just asking. I felt comfortable answering a tough question.
I’ve been to so many of these types of programs, and generally found them to be flat. But this one grabbed my interest. Professor Bailey, the instructor for the two days of leadership content, made it more than interesting. He opened my eyes in a lot of ways.
He’s a hysterical guy. His program was informative and will be of real use during the crisis we’re facing.
I’ve never seen the qualities of bombast and humility combined so well. It was so unusual, yet it worked perfectly. We’re not an easy audience to present to, having panned many who tried to fill this role. But Bailey struck a chord. He didn’t bow when we said he didn’t understand what we do. Instead, he asked “I’d be interested in what you do do. Not your job description, but what you really do.” That shocked people. I’d never been asked what I really did. Made me think about my career, in a good way.
Thought I knew everything about leadership. This guy turned that all upside down.
Clever fellow. Infectious energy.
Bailey is quite funny, which makes 5 days of sitting on your hind end easier. But that seemed to be what he was doing, making me laugh when I didn’t ever know I was learning. I came away from two days with him feeling a bit refreshed and a lot more informed about what I need to get busy doing.
The stuff about legacy was silly at first, until Bailey make me write it down. Wow. I’m nowhere near the leader I want to be. I get it and will do something about it.
I learned more about myself in this program than I did in therapy!
Who does this guy think he is? He knows nothing about XXX companies. But he did. He knew more about our industry and our company than we know. Clearly does his homework.
Bailey referred several times to what our CEO was thinking in the middle of our restructuring. It seemed so false that I finally asked what could you possibly know what our CEO was thinking. Apparently, he’d insisted that he speak to him before running a program so important. I thought that he’d gone to such lengths was impressive.
My thinking was “please, another motivational speaker?” We need business updates, not some goon asking us about our feelings. Thankfully, that’s not what we got. Bailey knew what he was talking about. He had great stories to make great points. Lots of what he talked about made sense in my job. I was pleasant surprised.
Impeccable and timely. Just what we needed right now.
I thought I knew something about leadership, having run divisions with hundreds of millions of dollars P&L. But within an hour Bailey shattered everything I thought I knew. He then proceeded to help me and everyone in the room to reconstruct our thinking about leadership and plotted a course to move on it. I hate to use this word, but he was downright “inspiring.”
The leadership instructor, James Bailey, arranged for a Q&A session with our chief financial officer. We all feared her. She’s known as “the hard-boiled egg.” Bailey facilitated a 3 hour discussion with her. Turns out she’s way more personable and understands way more about what we’re doing down here in the trenches than I thought. Bailey challenged her to answer questions straightly when she strayed. How he pulled this off I’ll never know.
Most fun I’ve ever had at one of these retreats. One of the best sessions ever.
This was a miserable affair. The entire week program was in shambles and everyone was complaining and unhappy. Dr. Bailey showed up and all the anger of the last week got thrown on him. It was completely unfair. But the guy sat down and asked us what was wrong. He seemed to care. For an hour he listened to our griping and asked what he could to to make this week valuable. He listened, and responded, and though it wasn’t a great week, he made it an awful lot better.
Made me think about who I was which was uncomfortable. But it was something I needed to do.
I’d never thought about what it meant to be a leader. This course really challenged me to do that. Bailey said over and over again that we have to start being a leader now or we never will be. He also said that small steps make a big difference. He’s right.
So entertaining that the day went by fast. Most valuable day in the retreat.
Mr. Bailey was very well organized, connected dots the whole two days. He connected back to what he’d said or what one of us said the entire time. He kept a lot in his head and brought it out at the rights times. Great couple of days.
James knew his stuff. I’m not an easy person to satisfy. But his program was pretty satisfying. It made me think what it meant to be a leader.