Marilyn Loden is a leading authority on managing change to support and leverage diversity in the workplace. For over 25 years, she has consulted to corporations, government agencies, universities, law firms and management consulting firms conducting research and implementing programs to maximize the contributions of diverse employees. Her clients have included many of America’s most successful organizations from Charles Schwab, The Federal Reserve Bank, Genentech, Louisiana Pacific and Neiman Marcus Group to NASA, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Procter & Gamble, Rohm and Haas Texas, Solomon Brothers, the University of California and the United States Treasury Department.
Prior to establishing her consulting Firm in 1981, Ms. Loden directed the organization development function at New York Telephone where she was responsible for executive education, organization effectiveness surveys and consultation to senior managers on strategic change issues. Throughout her association with the Bell System, she played a pivotal role in AT&T's efforts to increase management career opportunities for women and people of color. In this role, she pioneered the development of awareness training as a strategy for accelerating personal and organizational change. Marilyn is also the originator of the term "glass ceiling" which she first used in a presentation at the Women's Action Alliance Conference in New York City in 1978 to describe the invisible barriers to advancement that many women managers still face.
Today, as an author and organization change consultant, Marilyn works with senior executives and their teams to increase innovation and enhance competitive advantage through the effective management of diversity. She also coaches executives -- developing strategies to enhance their mentoring, feedback and communications skills -- and provides counsel on diversity leadership issues.
Ms. Loden's first book , Feminine Leadership or How to Succeed in Business Without Being One of the Boys (Times Books, 1985) was the first business book to define the unique management style of many women and the glass ceiling issues they face moving up the career ladder into visible leadership roles. Selected as one of the 50 best business books of the year by The Library Journal, Feminine Leadership has been published in six languages. Ms. Loden was also the lead author of Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity As A Vital Resource (Irwin Publishing, 1991), the first comprehensive text about diversity management written for executives and human resources specialists. Workforce America! has been adopted as a principal text in executive development programs at many graduate business schools throughout the United States, and has been used as a companion text for diversity management training in numerous public and private organizations. Implementing Diversity (McGraw-Hill Publishing, 1996), outlines practical steps for leading a culture change effort aimed at valuing and leveraging diversity, and discusses how to avoid the classic missteps made in many organizations as they embark on this effort.
In addition to writing and consulting, Ms. Loden is sought after as a speaker at business, academic and professional conferences on the topics of managing workforce diversity, corporate social responsibility and gender differences in leadership style. Her work and writings have been featured in national news media such as the Boston Globe, New York Times, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and The Today Show.
Marilyn is a graduate of Syracuse University. She is a fellow of NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science and has served as an adjunct member of the graduate faculty at American University in Washington, D.C. In 1993, she was named Joyce Barnes Farmer Distinguished Guest Professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for her work and research on gender, leadership and diversity. Marilyn currently serves on the U.S. Navy’s Diversity Senior Advisory Group.
Marilyn is married to D. John Loden, a writer and former advertising executive. She and her spouse divide their time between their homes in Napa, California and Naples, Florida.
