
Peter Bregman
Founder of Bregman Partners, Author & Leadership Columnist, "Harvard Business Review"
Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, Inc., a company that strengthens leadership in people and in organizations. He is the host of the Bregman Leadership Podcast, short conversations with thought leaders focused on ideas that people can use to become more powerful and courageous leaders. He is the author of Four Seconds: All…
Categories :
Full Bio
Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, Inc., a company that strengthens leadership in people and in organizations.
He is the host of the Bregman Leadership Podcast, short conversations with thought leaders focused on ideas that people can use to become more powerful and courageous leaders.
He is the author of Four Seconds: All the Time You Need to Stop Counter-Productive Habits and Get the Results You Want, a New York Post top pick for your career in 2015. His previous book was the Wall Street Journal best seller 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, winner of the “Gold Medal” from the Axiom Business Book awards, named the best business book of the year on NPR, and selected by Publisher’s Weekly and the New York Post as a top 10 business book.
He is also the author of Point B: A Short Guide to Leading a Big Change and contributor to five other books. Featured on PBS, ABC and CNN, Bregman is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, and Forbes, and his articles and commentary have appeared frequently in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fast Company, The Financial Times, CNN, NPR and FOX Business News.
Bregman began his career teaching leadership on wilderness and mountaineering expeditions and then moved into the consulting field with the Hay Group and Accenture, before starting Bregman Partners in 1998. Bregman has advised CEOs and senior leaders in many of the world’s premier organizations, including Allianz, American Express, Brunswick Group, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, FEI, GE Capital, Merck, Clear Channel, Nike, UNICEF and many others.
Bregman bases his work on the notion that everyone—no matter their job or level—has the opportunity to lead. Unfortunately, most don’t. There is a massive difference between what we know about leadership and what we do as leaders. What makes leadership hard isn’t theoretical, it’s practical. It’s not about knowing what to say or do. It’s about whether you’re willing to experience the discomfort, risk and uncertainty of saying or doing it.
In other words, the critical challenge of leadership is, mostly, the challenge of emotional courage. Since 1989, Bregman has trained and coached all levels of management and individuals to recognize their leadership, exhibit leadership behaviors, model and stimulate change, and foster growth of their own emotional courage as well as that of their teams and colleagues.
Bregman earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and his Master of Business Association degree from Columbia University.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!

LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!

MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!

SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!

CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!

PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!

CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.

GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!

WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!

FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
Peter Bregman has successfully designed and executed major change efforts, involving thousands of people, at some of the world’s most prestigious companies of all sizes.
Peter’s experience proves that resistance is optional, an unintended consequence of the way most leaders try to execute change. His key insight: “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.”
Peter shows us how and why most change is executed poorly and most change management is counterproductive—creating stress in the leaders and resistance in everyone else.
In this speech, Peter teaches a simple mind shift, and a few basic, easily implementable strategies that can completely transform how managers and leaders lead—and how the whole organization perceives—change. Change instantaneously becomes an opportunity to deepen engagement and ownership; to create a workplace where everyone feels responsible for the success of the entire organization.
Peter illustrates this lively, participative speech with a case study of a successful change involving 2,000 people globally in a large financial services firm. He shares:
- Three change rules that must underlie any organization change effort
- How to use the “Engagement Continuum” to diagnose and describe their own change initiatives
- Seven strategies for engaging the workforce during a time of change that shift the responsibility of change from leaders to the people who must take the daily actions to make the change successful
Drawing from his most recent book, Peter points out the often funny places where our intuitive but counterproductive knee-jerk reactions get us in trouble, and he shows us how we can replace them with counterintuitive but productive ones.
Peter shows how a few small, individual changes can transform an entire organization—moving it from a silo mentality to collective leadership, and he offers practical ideas, tools and tips to help people work together in a way that they, and their entire organization, profits. Peter will show audiences:
- How to build a foundation of strength and inoculate themselves so they don’t get triggered by the things that other people do and say
- How and why we often they say the wrong things, and what to do and say instead to build relationships and get the most important things done together
- A three-step process for transforming poor habits into productive ones
Drawing from his book, 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, Peter sets out the new, simple rules for leading in a way that brings focus to an organization and makes the best use of everyone’s talents.
Organizations succeed when people use every part of who they are to take care of their top priorities in the most efficient way possible. In this counterintuitive speech, Peter shows us how getting people to fit in or fix their weaknesses works against us. Instead, he tells leaders to help people embrace their weaknesses, assert their differences, leverage their strengths, and pursue their passions.
In this engaging, story-based and very practical talk, Peter offers ideas, practices, tips, mind hacks and gentle nudges to help leaders bring focus to their people and their organization. Peter will show audiences:
- An 18-minute plan to manage their day—empowering them to get the right things done
- How to get traction, stick to their focus, ignore non-priorities, avoid the allure of unproductive busyness, and master their boundaries so they can resist distractions
- How to build a plan that places people at the intersection of their strengths, weaknesses, differences and passions, maximizing their success and impact on the organization
In other words, the critical challenge of leadership is, mostly, the challenge of emotional courage.
Emotional courage distinguishes powerful leaders from weak ones. It means standing apart from others without separating yourself from them. It means speaking up when others are silent and remaining steadfast, grounded and measured in the face of uncertainty. It means responding productively to political opposition—maybe even bad-faith backstabbing—without getting sidetracked, distracted or losing your focus.
In this engaging and interactive talk, Peter not only shares real-life stories of emotional courage in action, he gives audiences a taste of it. Peter shows audiences:
- Why emotional courage is so important, and examples of its power
- What it feels like—experientially—to have emotional courage through fun and effective exercises
- How to grow emotional courage to take bolder moves in their work, their lives and the world
Videos
TEDxMillRiver - Peter Bregman - I Don't Know
A Question of Change: Peter Bregman at TEDxKingStreetEast
Books
News
Testimonials
GET IDEAS

1 HOUR OR LESS