Eric McNulty

Eric J. McNulty is Associate Director and Program Faculty at Harvard’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI). Called a “crisis leadership expert” in the Financial Times and New York Times, his work centers on helping leaders navigate high-stakes, high-stress situations and motivate their organizations through turbulent times. He has particular expertise working with subject matter experts such as engineers, physicians, and public safety leaders as well as executives in industries with high risk profiles such as aviation, energy, healthcare, and travel/hospitality.

He is the co-author of You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When it Matters Most (PublicAffairs, 2019) and the second edition of Renegotiating Health Care: Resolving Conflict to Build Collaboration (Jossey-Bass, 2011). McNulty writes a regular online column for Strategy + Business He has written multiple articles for the Harvard Business Review (HBR), Sloan Management Review, CNN.com, and others as well as numerous academic journals.

McNulty is the principal author of the NPLI’s case studies on leadership decision making in the Boston Marathon bombing response, innovation in the response Hurricane Sandy and the professional/political interface in the Deepwater Horizon response drawing upon his firsthand research as well as extensive interviews with leaders involved in the responses. He was on the core team that developed the NPLI’s “swarm” model of highly collaborative leadership.

In addition to his work with the NPLI, McNulty has spoken at conferences and symposia worldwide. McNulty teaches in executive education programs as the Harvard Chan School, Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California/San Diego, and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He has led executive trainings in North and South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. McNulty is a member of the Leadership Communications Council at the Darden School and the Advisory Board of the Crisis Response Journal. 

A generalist as well as a specialist, McNulty draws on examples from nature and urban design to provide insight into organizational behavior. He integrates applied neuroscience and behavioral economics to reveal opportunities for leaders to amplify their impact. Each concept is accompanied by a practical tool for putting the idea to work right away.

McNulty holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics (with honors) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master of Arts degree in Leadership from Lesley University.