Marilyn Gist
Organizational Psychologist · Author & Speaker
My work explores how we make the best use of the capacity and influence we have.
The High-Bandwidth Life™
There is much to love about having high capacity. It opens up options and the potential for a rich, meaningful, deeply satisfying life. But capacity is also a resource. And the more you have, the more it matters how you use it.
My work explores the strengths that make so much possible, the traps and motives that can quietly misdirect them, and the stewardship and self-command that help you aim your capacity at what matters most.
The goal isn't to carry less. It's to make the best use of what you have.
My Audience
I deeply admire the people I work with.
You have the bandwidth to carry more than most. You hold yourselves to high standards and keep delivering even when it's hard. You handle a great deal with grace, and often make it look easy.
You may be a leader, but what defines you is capacity: the complexity of your responsibilities, the people who count on you, the problems you can solve, and the influence you have.
Own It Before You Owe It™
My writing reveals what happens when you have a great deal of capacity: what strengthens it, what can quietly spend or misdirect it, and how to aim it toward what matters most.
Each month includes a long-form essay, shorter Echoes that build on ideas from earlier work, and In the Practice Room, where we bring those ideas closer to everyday life.
Come see what you recognize: Subscribe for free.
The Work Behind This
For more than 25 years, I've studied, taught, and worked with leaders and other highly capable people. As an organizational psychologist, I've spent my career interested in the less visible forces that shape how we lead, relate, choose, and perform.
That inquiry now takes shape in two closely related bodies of work.
My work on leader humility examines how leaders use power and influence in relation to others—and how deep regard for others' dignity creates the conditions for them to contribute at their best. It includes my book, The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility (Berrett-Koehler, 2020), along with assessment and training. For the book, I interviewed CEOs of organizations including Costco, Starbucks, Ford, Mayo Clinic, REI, and Alaska Airlines.
The High-Bandwidth Life™ turns the lens toward our own capacity: what it makes possible, what can quietly spend or misdirect it, and how we develop the stewardship and self-command to aim it toward what matters most.
Today, as founder and CEO of The Gist Leadership Group, I continue to develop both bodies of work through writing, speaking, assessment, and training.
About Me
I'm a leadership scholar, organizational psychologist, executive advisor, and professor emerita. My research has been cited more than 18,000 times, and I created and led a nationally ranked Leadership Executive MBA program. I'm also the author of the award-winning book, The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility.
Across those roles, I've always been drawn to the assumptions beneath our choices, the motives beneath our behavior, and the patterns that shape how we lead, work, and relate to others.
I bring that same curiosity to The High-Bandwidth Life™. My aim is to make the unseen more visible—because once we can see what's shaping our choices, we have more choice about what happens next.
Three Ways I Can Help You
The High-Bandwidth Life™
Make the best use of what you have
The more capacity you have, the more consequential your choices become—where you put your attention, what you take on, what you leave to others, and where you can make the greatest difference.
The High-Bandwidth Life™ explores what that capacity makes possible, what can quietly spend or misdirect it, and how to develop the stewardship and self-command to aim it toward what matters most.
Through essays, Echoes, and In the Practice Room, I bring those ideas to how we lead, relate, choose, and live. New webinars and learning experiences will bring the work into practice more directly.
leader humility
Bring out the best in others.
Winner of the Best Business Minds Book Award 2024
Leader humility isn't about thinking less of yourself. It's about the deep regard for others' dignity that enables people to feel worthy, capable, and valued—and to contribute at their best.
My award-winning book, The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility, provides the research-based foundation for this work. It is available for individual development or for group training.
For organizations that want to take the work further, an online Leader Humility Assessment helps leaders understand how their behavior impacts others. The Gist Leadership Group can also adapt our established leader-humility training for organizational use, prepare internal facilitators to deliver it, and license the program and supporting materials.
Speaking & Workshops
Ideas that change how people lead and use their capacity
I speak to companies, conferences, executive groups, and leadership teams about the human dynamics that shape how we use our capacity and influence.
Drawing from The High-Bandwidth Life™, my work on leader humility, and more than 25 years of leadership research and executive education, I tailor keynotes and workshops to the people in the room and the challenges they face.
Contact
For Keynote Addresses:
For Press Inquiries, Retreats, and Workshops:
Marilyn@marilyngist.com
Location:
Charlotte, NC - USA