Leonard J. Marcus, PhD

Biography

Dr. Marcus’ 30-year career at Harvard University has followed two tracks.

The first is leadership, negotiation, and conflict resolution for health care and public health. He is founding Director of the Initiative for Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Marcus is lead author of Renegotiating Health Care: Resolving Conflict to Build Collaboration (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995 and in its Second Edition, 2011). The book was co-recipient of the Center for Public Resources Institute for Dispute Resolution “Book Prize Award for Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution.” It also won the Book of the Year award from the Journal of the American Nursing Association. Lenny is co-author of Mediating Bioethical Disputes: A Practical Guide (New York: United Hospital Fund, 1994). 

In the health care field, Lenny has mediated, consulted, and trained nationally and internationally, including projects to facilitate the consolidation and merger of health system networks. He has worked with physician groups on compensation models, between health insurers and health systems to negotiate reimbursement rates, and with licensing boards to enhance professional practices.

His second track is in the field of crisis leadership. Shortly after 9/11, the federal government asked him and David Gergen – at the time the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government – to establish a platform at the University devoted to crisis leadership. This at a time when the country faced new and emerging threats. Together they established the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI) at Harvard University. The purpose: to study critical homeland security and emergency management leadership challenges facing the country and then to develop leadership strategies, analysis and methodologies to meet new contingencies.

Dr. Marcus is lead author of the book, You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most (New York: PublicAffairs Press, In paperback, March 2021). Over the years, Dr. Marcus and his co-authors have been given rare access to senior national leaders during crucible times of emergency: Hurricane Katrina, Deep Water Horizon, Boston Marathon bombings, H1N1, Ebola, Hurricane Sandy, the COVID-19 response, and others. The book presents findings of that research along with original and innovative problem-solving strategies – including Meta-Leadership, Swarm Leadership and the Walk in the Woods – adopted by government, corporate and non-profit leaders around the world. 

Through the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Marcus actively worked with government and business leaders. Shortly after the national emergency was declared and FEMA was placed in the lead of the U.S. response, Lenny met each evening with FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor to discuss and advise on the work and leadership of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. In July 2020, Dr. Marcus established the Aviation Public Health Initiative at Harvard, sponsored by Airlines for America and involving major international aircraft manufacturers, domestic airlines, airports and government agencies. The project’s intent was to assess and reduce risks of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the aviation system. 

Lenny’s work has been applied extensively to complex organizational transformation, stakeholder negotiation and conflict resolution. His breadth of analysis and capacity to translate complex problems into workable solutions has allowed him to engage a wide range of leaders and constituencies. Among his many post-9/11 activities, he has lectured on crisis leadership for senior leaders at the White House during the Bush, Obama, Trump and the Biden administrations. 

Dr. Marcus received his Ph.D. in 1983 from the Heller School at Brandeis University, studying policy and organizations. In his spare time, Lenny is an avid traveler, a cartoonist, and a flamenco enthusiast.

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