Organizational Psychologist / Author / Keynote Speaker / Professor / Consultant / Advisor / Architect of Alignment

Arlington, Virginia, United States
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About

Laura Morgan Roberts, Ph.D. is an organizational psychologist who cultivates strength-based practices with current and aspiring leaders seeking extraordinary performance and personal fulfillment in diverse organizations. She is the founder of a boutique consulting firm, The Alignment Quest Enterprise, LLC. Laura is also Frank M. Sands Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.

As a professor of organizational behavior, Laura has previously served on the faculties of the Harvard Business School, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, Antioch University, the University of Michigan, the Wharton School, Simmons School of Management, and Georgia State University. Laura engages her students and clients in designing personal practices and organizational systems that enable people to contribute maximally from a position of strength. She has published her research on authenticity, identity, diversity, and strengths in over 50 journal articles, book chapters and in her edited books: Race, Work and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience (2019) - Folio Award winner; Positive Organizing in a Global Society (2015); , Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations (2009). Author of The Alignment Quest Toolkit, based on Laura's co-authored Reflected Best Self Exercise, which has been used by hundreds of thousands of leaders in companies and schools around the world. You can find the latest edition of The Alignment Quest toolkit here: https://www.amazon.com/Alignment-Quest-Toolkit-Activating-Selves/dp/1688606963.

Specialties: When you enter the workplace, do you leave a piece of yourself behind? My work helps people to uncover their deepest passions and core strengths, which is the key to full engagement and personal fulfillment. My research, teaching, consulting and public speaking are designed to help people learn more about the aspects of identity that we value and embrace, and to develop strategies for drawing upon identity-based resources and experiences to create value.

Articles by Laura Morgan

  • Ph.D.O.N.E!! A moment of gratitude for a 30-year adventure.

    December 10th is always an important day of reflection for me, because it is the date when I successfully defending my…

    27 Comments
  • The Road Ahead

    My dear, well-intentioned, diversity, inclusion, equity, belonging, culture, workforce engagement, worker dignity…

    17 Comments
  • One of One

    Dear Choir, It's BHM 2024, and the theme is African Americans and the Arts. https://asalh.

    9 Comments
  • My 7-generation + 20 yr journey to TENure.

    This week, I saw the words with my own eyes: [Laura Morgan Roberts] “associate professor of business administration…

    233 Comments
  • Finding your Zone of Excellence for Leading Race Work

    FINDING YOUR ZONE OF EXCELLENCE FOR LEADING RACE WORK Laura Morgan Roberts, Ph.D.

    19 Comments
  • A Message to Black Women Scholars and Our Allies

    A Message to Black Women Scholars and Our Allies BY PATRICIA FAISON HEWLIN and LAURA MORGAN ROBERTS AUGUST 13, 2020…

    19 Comments

Activity

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Experience

  • CEO and Founder

    The Alignment Quest Enterprise, LLC

    - Present 5 years 8 months

    United States

    "Providing strength-based systems and practices that promote vitality and value creation at work."

    Our Approach:
    We offer a unique brand of evidence-based inspiration that guides individuals and groups toward excellence. Accomplished thought-leader Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts infuses cutting-edge social science research into transformational systems and practices that align strengths, values and differences. Our work with clients enhances authentic engagement and generates extraordinary…

    "Providing strength-based systems and practices that promote vitality and value creation at work."

    Our Approach:
    We offer a unique brand of evidence-based inspiration that guides individuals and groups toward excellence. Accomplished thought-leader Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts infuses cutting-edge social science research into transformational systems and practices that align strengths, values and differences. Our work with clients enhances authentic engagement and generates extraordinary outcomes in diverse workplaces and communities. We invite individuals and organizations to reflect upon their own practices, evaluate the extent to which they are maximizing their potential, and develop action plans for strategically aligning with their best selves. Our approach blends the philosophical with the practical. We validate the beauty and challenge of organizational life, while we guide our clients in co-creating the conditions in which they --- and those around them---can thrive. We value the preservation of dignity even in the face of life's hardships, through the cultivation, restoration, and maintenance of positive identities and the building of more equitable systems at work.

    Our offerings include: online courses, keynote speeches, videoconferences, coaching sessions, on-site workshops, virtual discussion forums, assessments, toolkits and books. Currently, we are only able to accept virtual engagements due to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

  • University of Virginia Darden School of Business Graphic

    Frank M. Sands Associate Professor of Business Administration

    University of Virginia Darden School of Business

    - Present 6 years 9 months

  • University of Michigan Graphic

    Faculty Affiliate, Center for Positive Organizations

    University of Michigan

    - Present 19 years

    University of Michigan Ross School of Business

    Laura Morgan Roberts’s research focuses on how to construct, sustain and restore positive identities at work. She became interested in POS through her doctoral dissertation research on social identity-based impression management among medical professionals. Her interests in the social construction of positive identities now include: the reflected best-self, diversity, authenticity, strengths, leadership, and talent management.

  • CEO & Co-founder

    RPAQ Solutions, Inc.

    - 13 years

    Greater Atlanta Area

    RPAQ Solutions, Inc., an Atlanta-based research and consulting firm that brings strength-based practices to leaders who seek extraordinary performance and personal fulfillment. Dr. Laura’s distinctive approach toward leadership development uses her Alignment Quest™ framework - a scientifically grounded, action-oriented approach for strategically maximizing best-self engagement in workplaces and communities. She specializes in sparking self-reflection, guiding action planning, facilitating group…

    RPAQ Solutions, Inc., an Atlanta-based research and consulting firm that brings strength-based practices to leaders who seek extraordinary performance and personal fulfillment. Dr. Laura’s distinctive approach toward leadership development uses her Alignment Quest™ framework - a scientifically grounded, action-oriented approach for strategically maximizing best-self engagement in workplaces and communities. She specializes in sparking self-reflection, guiding action planning, facilitating group discussion, and surfacing evidence-based practical wisdom.

  • Antioch University Graphic

    Faculty affiliate

    Antioch University

    - 10 years

    www.phd.antioch.edu

  • Georgetown University - The McDonough School of Business Graphic

    Teaching Professor

    Georgetown University - The McDonough School of Business

    - 2 years

    Washington, District Of Columbia

    Teaching Professor, Management, Georgetown MSB. FT appt teaching daytime MBA, evening MBA, executive leadership courses. Scholarly research, executive coaching, training and consulting on cultivating positive identities and activating best selves in diverse work settings, organizations, communities.

  • Harvard Business School Graphic

    Visiting Research Scholar

    Harvard Business School

    - 2 years 9 months

    Greater Boston Area

    Visiting Research Scholar with HBS Gender Initiative

  • Professor

    Antioch University PhD in Leadership and Change

    - 7 years

    Mentor scholar-practitioner Ph.D. students with extensive leadership experience in designing and executing research studies that will promote social justice through inclusion, relational practice, human dignity and equity.

  • AVT Business School Graphic

    Associate Faculty

    AVT Business School

    - 6 years

    Copenhagen Area, Denmark

    Taught executive leadership courses

  • Georgia State J Mack Robinson College of Business Graphic

    Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Managerial Sciences

    Georgia State J Mack Robinson College of Business

    - 2 years

    Taught courses in Organizational Behavior and Negotiations for undergraduate and graduate level business students. Maintained an active program of scholarly research.

  • University of Michigan, Ross School of Business Graphic

    Visiting Professor, Faculty Affiliate Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship

    University of Michigan, Ross School of Business

    - 2 years

  • Harvard Business School Graphic

    Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior

    Harvard Business School

    - 7 years

    Taught courses in Leadership & Organizational Behavior, Human Capital Management, Self-assessment & Career Development for MBA Students and Executive leaders at Harvard Business School. Maintained an active program of scholarly research, consulting, mentoring (Ph.D. students), and civic engagement. Taught in programs and worked on initiatives for Harvard School of Education, Harvard Medical School, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Administrative Fellows Program, Harvard Divinity School…

    Taught courses in Leadership & Organizational Behavior, Human Capital Management, Self-assessment & Career Development for MBA Students and Executive leaders at Harvard Business School. Maintained an active program of scholarly research, consulting, mentoring (Ph.D. students), and civic engagement. Taught in programs and worked on initiatives for Harvard School of Education, Harvard Medical School, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Administrative Fellows Program, Harvard Divinity School, and Harvard Law School.

  • Visiting Professor

    Simmons College - Simmons School of Management

    - 1 year

    Taught an advanced course in Authentic Leadership Development. Collaborated with faculty through Center for Gender in Organizations on research initiatives related to gender, race and leadership.

  • The Partnership, Inc. Graphic

    Research consultant

    The Partnership, Inc.

    - 2 years

    Designed and implemented research projects on Diversity and Leadership in Health Care, Racial dynamics in employee engagement, and Leadership development among underrepresented minorities. Presented annual workshops on "Becoming Extraordinary" to Partnership Fellows for six consecutive years.

Education

  • University of Michigan Graphic

    University of Michigan

    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Organizational Psychology

    -

    Activities and Societies: Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Center for Research on Teaching and Learning, Teaching assistant - Organizational Psychology (Intro & Advanced), Organizational Behavior (Ross School of Business), Psychology of Groups and Teams, Diversity in the workplace (Ross School of Business), Black Student Psychological Association (President), Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Delta Psi Omega chapter (FA'96)

  • University of Virginia Graphic

    University of Virginia

    BA Psychology

    -

    Activities and Societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Office of African American Affairs Peer Advisor, Black Voices, Raven Society

Publications

  • How to achieve racial justice in the workplace: reconnecting with 4 basic rights

    World Economic Forum Blog

    Imagine a workplace in which all people – especially Black and brown people – could be truly free. How would this be measured? Black and brown people – and their colleagues – will experience racial justice at work, and by extension in society, when they can exercise four fundamental workplace freedoms.

    See publication
  • The Alignment Quest Toolkit for Activating Best Selves

    Laura Morgan Roberts

    Are you bringing your best self to your work? Are you actively developing your strengths, weaknesses and principles so that your best self will become even better? Do you deliberately and consistently bring out the best in others? Sadly, the vast majority of workers across the world will respond to these questions with a resounding “no.” Instead of activating their best selves, most people bring their average, mediocre, or even worst selves to work. The Alignment Quest™ is a process of bringing…

    Are you bringing your best self to your work? Are you actively developing your strengths, weaknesses and principles so that your best self will become even better? Do you deliberately and consistently bring out the best in others? Sadly, the vast majority of workers across the world will respond to these questions with a resounding “no.” Instead of activating their best selves, most people bring their average, mediocre, or even worst selves to work. The Alignment Quest™ is a process of bringing coherence, purpose and joy to your life by learning how to create the most value in your daily living and working. The Alignment Quest™ Toolkit will help you to understand why it is critically important to bring your best self to life and how to do so in a more compelling way. This Toolkit contains the most impactful organizational psychology frameworks and practices that Dr. Roberts has developed from her research, teaching and consulting with thousands of global executives and emerging leaders. This Alignment Quest Toolkit will help you: ~ Harness the power of your strengths and expand your impact. ~ Learn how to understand and embrace your strengths so you can better focus your energy. ~ Increase your capacity to accept your limitations so your attempts to be superhuman (or, all things to all people) don’t lead you to make choices that are out of alignment with your best self. ~ Optimize your engagement and deepen your fulfillment at work. ~ Begin to craft a life that is filled with extraordinary growth, vitality and value creation.

    See publication
  • Positive Organizing in a Global Society: Understanding and Engaging Differences for Capacity-building and Inclusion

    Taylor & Francis

  • Out of the box? How managing a subordinate's multiple identities affects the quality of a manager-subordinate relationship.

    Academy of Management Review (published online ahead of print)

    Positive manager-subordinate relationships are invaluable to organizations because they enable positive employee attitudes, citizenship behaviors, task performance, and more effective organizations. Yet, extant theory provides a limited perspective on the factors that create these types of relationships. In this paper, we highlight the important role that subordinates also play in affecting the resource pool and propose that a subordinate's multiple identities can provide him or her with access…

    Positive manager-subordinate relationships are invaluable to organizations because they enable positive employee attitudes, citizenship behaviors, task performance, and more effective organizations. Yet, extant theory provides a limited perspective on the factors that create these types of relationships. In this paper, we highlight the important role that subordinates also play in affecting the resource pool and propose that a subordinate's multiple identities can provide him or her with access to knowledge and social capital resources that can be utilized for work-based tasks and activities. Yet, a manager and a subordinate may prefer similar or different strategies for managing the subordinate's multiple identities, which can affect resource utilization and the quality of the manager-subordinate relationship. Our variance model summarizes our predictions about the effect of managers'​ and subordinates' strategy choices on the quality of manager-subordinate relationships. In doing so we integrate three divergent relational theories (i.e., leader-member exchange theory, relational cultural theory, and a positive organizational scholarship perspective on positive relationships at work) and offer new insights on the quality of manager-subordinate relationships.

    See publication
  • Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation

    Routledge

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Honors & Awards

  • Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Societal Impact Award

    Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Division

    The award for societal impact requires that a nominee translate their academic insights to the world of practice for the betterment of people’s lives. Laura Morgan Roberts’ work has achieved this by helping to shape how individuals can (re)construe their social identities to be seen more fully and holistically at work. She brings a powerful combination of top-notch academic work that tackles issues of structural injustice, racism and sexism, and widespread impact on the world of practice…

    The award for societal impact requires that a nominee translate their academic insights to the world of practice for the betterment of people’s lives. Laura Morgan Roberts’ work has achieved this by helping to shape how individuals can (re)construe their social identities to be seen more fully and holistically at work. She brings a powerful combination of top-notch academic work that tackles issues of structural injustice, racism and sexism, and widespread impact on the world of practice. Beyond her professional achievements, she seems to embody the spirit of this award. Her developmental focus and collaborative endeavors have inspired junior and senior scholars alike, both personally and professionally.

    Laura Morgan Roberts clearly straddles the worlds of practice and research in a way that amplifies her impact in both realms. Her practitioner-oriented writing, podcasts, and training materials puts her scholarship into the hands of people who can make immediate use of her work. She provides research-backed, practical tools to further conversation about identity and diversity. And her work strikingly inspired mobilization by a wide range of colleagues to recognize her contributions. [This last sentence refers to her nomination letter which was jointly submitted by a large group of people.]

    Professor Laura Morgan Roberts is the most deserving of the OB Division’s Inaugural Societal Impact Award due to her work on intersectionality, positive psychology and how to bring one’s full self to the workplace. Given the polarization in the US, particularly on matters of race and gender, research on understanding those intersections and creating pathways for success are critical for effective employee engagement. Centering on intersectionality is a relatively new emerging area of focus, particularly in the workplace. Dr. Roberts efforts are helping unearth and elevate the discussion on challenges women color face and provides tools that can be deployed.

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