Overview

Brenda Ellington Booth is a Clinical Professor of Leadership and an executive coach. She joined Kellogg in 1999 as an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations and Associate Academic Director of Executive Programs. In 2009, she was promoted to Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations. From 2007-2012, she held the role of Academic Director of Kellogg Leadership Coaching Programs in which she collaborative created with faculty coaching components into Kellogg's MBA and executive education curriculum.

Education & Certifications

Professor Booth holds a A.B in Economics from Stanford University, an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Kellogg's Graduate School of Management.  Since 2008, Professor Booth has been a certified executive coach and has the designation of a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).  

MBA Teaching & Coaching

At the MBA level, Professor Booth teaches two courses: Personal Leadership Insights (PLI) and Leader as Coach.  She created and designed these courses in collaboration with a team of clinical Kellogg and NU faculty. She serves as mentor coach for new faculty teaching PLI.  Professor Booth is a Leadership Coach in Kellogg's Zell Fellows Program and teaches the PLI in Northwestern's Master of Science for Leadership in the Creative Enterprises and Master's in Analytics Program.  In 2010, 2012 & 2016, Kellogg students awarded Professor Booth with the Certificate of Impact in recognition for her outstanding contribution to their Kellogg experience. Each year, she provides numerous webinars and workshops for students' organizations, conferences and staff groups at Kellogg and Northwestern University on topics on Leadership. She also hosts an annual panel on mental health for Kellogg students.

In previous years at Kellogg, Professor Booth was awarded the Doctoral Teaching Award for Exceptional Teaching Performance, authored case studies on leadership and change management for the not-for-profit sector, and taught MBA courses including People for Competitive Advantage, Management and Organizations, Negotiations, Change Management and Leadership of Non-Profit Organizations.

Executive Education - Academic Director, Teacher & Coach

At the executive level, Professor Booth designs curriculum, teaches, conducts webinars and coaches in numerous executive programs.  She was the co-creator of Kellogg's longstanding Energizing People for Performance programs.  For ten years, she was the co-academic director of Kellogg's flagship Executive Development Program (EDP) and for five years, she was the co-academic director of the Kellogg Management Institute (KMI).  She designed coaching modules, hired coaches and served as an executive coach for numerous Kellogg executive programs including: Sphere of Leadership, Energizing People for Performance, Leading the Family Institute, EDP, KMI, and Kellogg's degree Executive MBA (EMBA) program.  Also, she has taught topics in leadership and/or has served as an executive coach for numerous custom programs including the Cup Africa Program, Chicago Public School Cabinet, Chicago Cubs organization, Eisai Pharmaceuticals, Ernst & Young, Jefferson Wells, Baxter International, the U.S. Intelligence Community, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Chicago Public Schools, Alaine Locke Charter Schools, and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists. In prior years, Booth served as academic director of programs for USG, International Paper, Baloise Insurance, Aon Financial Services and Baker & McKenzie law firm.

Prior to Kellogg

Before joining Kellogg, Brenda taught elective seminars at Stanford University and wrote a case study on change management for the University of Michigan's Graduate School of Management.  Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Brenda accumulated several years of work experience in corporate settings in the functional areas of accounting, finance and marketing. She started her career at Home Box Office as a financial analyst and went on to publish an investors' report on the insurance industry for the former investment bank Salomon Brothers while obtaining her MBA from Stanford University. She also was an account executive with the advertising agency Leo Burnett.

• PhD, 1998, Organizational Behavior, Northwestern University
• MBA, 1986, Stanford University
• AB, 1982, Economics, Stanford University

• Clinical Professor of Management & Organizations, Management & Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2009-present
• Director of Kellogg Leadership Coaching Programs, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2007-2012
• Associate Academic Director of Executive Programs, Kellogg, Northwestern University, 1998-2008
• Assistant Professor of Management & Organizations, Northwestern University, Northwestern University, 1998-2008
• Instructor (Doctoral Candidacy), Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1994-1998

• Account Executive, Leo Burnett USA, 1986-1991
• Financial & System Analyst, Home Box Office, Inc., 1982-1984

• Kellogg Student Impact
• Kellogg Student Impact
• Student Impact Award

Personal Leaderhip Development, Leader as Coach, Emotional Intelligence, The Coach Approach to Inclusive Conversations in Diversity Organizations

Leading with Empathy: Enhancing Your Emotional Intelligence to Lead in Diverse Settings (LDEV-965-5)
The goal of this course is to increase your level of emotional intelligence with an emphasis on empathy such that you can become more effective when interacting with and leading others in diverse settings. This class provides you with the opportunity to gain deeper insights of yourself and diverse others through a variety of experiential learning activities. We will start off with in-class exercises and discussions on social identity theory. Then we will discuss how understanding social identities (yours and others) will enhance your level of emotional intelligence – with a strong focus on empathy, critical component of emotional intelligence. Finally, we will make the concepts of social identity and emotional intelligence come to life in class through facilitated, interactive “in-group/out-group” discussions whereby you will share and learn from your peers. In tandem with these discussions, outside of class, you will self-select into diverse, small groups of peers and be challenged to educate and discuss with your lived experiences through the lens of your social identities. Grading for this class will be a combination of class participation, regular reflection papers and a final group project.

Leader as Coach (LDEV-462-0)
Coaching or "the coach approach" (using elements of coaching in day-to-day interactions), is a critical skill set for successful leaders. Research shows that coaching is a proven method for engaging employees - and that engaged employees produce superior business results. This is an experiential class that teaches you how to have effective coaching conversations. As part of the course, you are matched with two NU students in which you will have four one-hour coaching conversations with each NU student throughout the quarter to practice your coaching skills. In the full-time program, the assigned NU students are undergraduates usually in leadership roles and PhD students. In the part-time program, the assigned NU students are typically medical, law school and Kellogg MSMS students. The first four weeks of class is dedicated to teaching you coaching skills and frameworks through interactive discussions, coaching demonstrations, peer coaching and other experiential exercises. During weeks five through nine, we conduct supplemental activities: practicum labs, one-on-one, and small group mentor coaching sessions to provide you with more personalized opportunities for you to ask questions, experience being coached, and receive feedback on your coaching skills. We return to the classroom in week ten to discuss how to apply coaching in the workplace. Grading in the course consists of attendance and preparation for class and supplemental activities and an instructor evaluation of your coaching skills via a recording you will submit of yourself coaching a peer in the class.

Prerequisite: MORS 430-0.

Personal Leadership Insights (LDEV-461-5)
This course is a unique opportunity for students who are highly motivated and committed to their personal development and growth as a leader and who value the chance to do this work in a group setting. The Kellogg faculty leader serves as coach and facilitator to guide students through a process that explores who they are (strengths, needs, values), reveals how others experience them (feedback), examines who they want to be (vision/purpose) and identifies actions for moving forward (development planning). Individual reflective exercises will be further explored and shared in small group meetings, full class discussion, and individual coaching appointments with the faculty. Students complete a paper integrating their personal insights. There is no final exam.

Because the course focuses on self-awareness and relationships with others, students rely on interactions with each other to experience vulnerability and growth within an environment of safety and trust. Therefore, students will not receive a letter grade, but rather a "Pass" with 0.5 credits or a "No-Credit" on their transcript. The "Pass" designation will be given if the following requirements are met: 100% attendance (non-negotiable), completion of all assignments, honoring confidentiality, and active participation in class activities and discussions.

Please note that the 100% attendance policy is non-negotiable across all sections and instructors. Only bid on a section for which you are sure you can attend every class session. Review the abbreviated syllabus for that section to confirm the precise meeting dates.

Personal Leadership Insights (KACI-461-5)
This course is a unique opportunity for students who are highly motivated and committed to their personal development and growth as a leader and who value the chance to do this work in a group setting. The Kellogg faculty leader serves as coach and facilitator to guide students through a process that explores who they are (strengths, needs, values), reveals how others experience them (feedback), examines who they want to be (vision/purpose) and identifies actions for moving forward (development planning). Individual reflective exercises will be further explored and shared in small group meetings, full class discussion, and individual coaching appointments with the faculty. Students complete a paper integrating their personal insights. There is no final exam.

Because the course focuses on self-awareness and relationships with others, students rely on interactions with each other to experience vulnerability and growth within an environment of safety and trust. Therefore, students will not receive a letter grade, but rather a "Pass" with 0.5 credits or a "No-Credit" on their transcript. The "Pass" designation will be given if the following requirements are met: 100% attendance (non-negotiable), completion of all assignments, honoring confidentiality, and active participation in class activities and discussions.

Please note that the 100% attendance policy is non-negotiable across all sections and instructors. Only bid on a section for which you are sure you can attend every class session. Review the abbreviated syllabus for that section to confirm the precise meeting dates.