I'm the Al Thani Professor of Communication at Northwestern. I study what makes teams and leaders effective. My research runs from NASA astronaut crews to human-AI teams to the Medici bankers of Renaissance Florence. I've spent fifteen summers returning to Italy, and now I'm deep into writing about them. Italy has been my mentor and companion, and I love sharing the insights I've gleaned about leading and living well. Someday soon there will be a book. For now, there is a Substack.

I’ve spent my career studying what happens when different kinds of people think together. My latest passion project puts that into practice. I’m reviving the intellectual salon, born in Renaissance Italy, in the most beautiful places I know. These gatherings are small, deliberately composed, and highly generative. Not a research conference. Not a vacation. Each spring I host a salon at Villa La Foce in the Val d'Orcia, in the tradition of the gatherings convened in the hills above Florence. In fall 2027, a second begins in Umbria: the Bottega, a week of painting, sculpting, and writing. The first one filled. The second opens soon. Join my list to be the first to know.