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About the Author

Karen Dillon, former Editor of Harvard Business Review and New York Times best-selling author
Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva

Karen Dillon the co-author of the three books with Clayton Christensen, including New York Times best-seller, How Will You Measure Your Life? and the forthcoming (April 2023) The Microstress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems--and What to Do about It with Rob Cross. She is also co-author of Wall Street Journal business best-seller Competing Against Luck: the Story of Innovation and Customer Choice and The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty (Thinkers50 finalist, Breakthrough Idea, 2019). A former editor of Harvard Business Review, Karen is also a current member of the faculty of Intermountain Healthcare Leadership Institute.

 

A popular keynote and workshop speaker:

"Karen Dillon spoke last week at my team's virtual offsite about "How You Will Measure Your Life?", the book she co-authored with Clay Christensen and James Allworth. And nearly a week later, we all are still talking about it and the impact it had, especially at a time in all of our lives when we are questioning everything and looking for ways to establish or re-establish normalcy. She seamlessly tied together the two biggest ways many of us will measure ourselves – personal lives and career success. And she provided tools and tactics for how to think about the impact each has on the other, as well as the false notions many of us chase when we put title, salary and prestige ahead of purpose, respect and growth. Most of us probably would've been in tears if she'd presented live, so I'm relieved we had the barrier of virtualness to keep the crying jags at bay."

--Anne Marie Squeo, Chief Communications and Brand Officer at Xerox

 

"The lessons you shared on mastering office politics informed and inspired VA employees, who continue to face great challenges as a result of the events of the past year. I've received many messages from staff members today wanting to express their appreciation. Please accept theirs along with mine. It was such a great pleasure to work with you, Karen. You have the unique ability to engage anaudience with your warmth, authenticity and wisdom. That's a rare skill and I'm grateful VA employees were able to listen in as you outlined some of the valuable insights you presented in your book. I also appreciated your willingness to answer questions from the audience. You addressed sensitive issues spontaneously with great diplomacy and creativity."

--Moira Shaughnessy, Office of Talent Management, US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Distinguished Speaker Series