Dr. Tim Irwin

Drawing from more than twenty years as a corporate psychologist who has consulted with, interviewed and studied thousands of high performing individuals, executives and teams, Tim Irwin, Ph.D., shares practical insights and strategies to help you and your team avoid Derailment and stay on track.


Tim Irwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker, and leading authority on leadership development, organizational effectiveness, and executive selection. For more than twenty years, he has consulted with many of America's most well-respected organizations and top Fortune 100 companies. He has also served in a senior management post for a US-based company with more than three hundred offices worldwide. Presently, he is managing partner of IrwinInc.

Dr. Tim Irwin has consulted with a number of America's most well-known and respected companies including SunTrust Banks, Chick-fil-A, Bank of America, Corning, Inc., IBM, Hoechst-Celanese, Gerber Products Company, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, and Turner Broadcasting Systems. He is a frequent speaker on leadership development and other topics related to organizational effectiveness.

As a consultant for twenty years, Dr. Irwin has assisted corporations in diverse industries including fiber optics, real estate, financial services, baby products, information technologies, news and entertainment, insurance, hotels, high-technology research, chemicals, floor covering, bottling, quick service restaurants, fibers and textiles, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. He assisted in founding and served for a number of years as the facilitator for the Regional Leadership Institute. His work has taken Dr. Irwin to over twenty-five foreign countries in Europe, Latin American, Canada and the Far East.

Dr. Irwin served from 2000 to 2005 as Managing Vice President of Right Management Consultants, a firm specializing in organizational effectiveness, talent management and leadership development. Right is a Philadelphia-based company with over 300 offices worldwide. He currently is Managing Partner of IrwinInc-Psychologists to Business, and is writing a book to be released by Nelson Business in January, '07.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

Dr. Irwin received his A.B. and M.A. from the University of Georgia. His Ph.D. training included a dual major in industrial/organizational and clinical psychology from Georgia State University. He is a licensed Psychologist and an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Georgia and at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.  

Speaking Topics 

 Tim speaks frequently on leadership development, employee engagement, organizational effectiveness and executive selection. From one-on-one’s with CEOs and key business leaders to executive roundtables, management sessions and large conference eve nts, Dr. Ir win’s combination of practical insight and masterful story-telling enable him to connect with an audience and impart knowledge that leads to results.

While being good at what we do is essential, more people fail because of some issue related to character. Many  of the leaders studied by Dr. Irwin were ultimately fired not because of a lack of competence but rather a failure of character…not character in the sense of being dishonest and defrauding the organization. Rather, the absence of one or more of four dimensions of character is clearly tied to derailment: authenticity, self-management, humility, and courage. The full expression of the dark side of these qualities nearly always dooms us. Understanding and recognizing the warning signs is key for leaders to avoid their own cataclysmic derailment. During this keynote, Dr. Irwin will outline the warning signs and what can we do to avoid going off track.

What Leaders Must Do to Inspire Exceptional Performance

Effective leaders must set direction, gain alignment among diverse constituencies, risk change, build high-performing teams, achieve results, go the extra mile and endure ungodly stress; however, a leader’s real job is to inspire exceptional performance on the part of followers. Why are most people far more passionate about some interest outside of work than their jobs? Many studies show that compensation drops fairly low on the list of top ten motivators, when an employee is fairly paid. So what ignites the fires of intrinsic motivation? This keynote gives the answer.

Being a Person of Disproportionate Influence

Many people, if asked, will say they want to be a person of disproportionate influence—to have that significance for which we all yearn. People who have disproportionate influence usually discover what provides significance and pursue it with abandon. Sometimes being a person of disproportionate influence involves simply a change in perspective, while in other cases, courageous decisions are required. So why don’t more people become a person of disproportionate influence? It often requires that we go against the gravitational pull of many around us in particular and our society in general. Ultimately, this is truly about leadership. During this keynote session Dr. Irwin will help you discover how to become a person of disproportionate influence and how to bring it out in others.