A principal and cofounder of CareerLeader, LLP, Tim Butler is director of MBA Career Development Programs at the Harvard Business School, where he has worked since 1984. Together with Dr. James Waldroop, he developed the internet-based interactive career assessment program CareerLeader (www.careerleader.com). CareerLeader is currently used by over 400 MBA programs and corporations around the world, and includes the Business Career Interest Inventory, the Management and Professional Reward Profile, and the Management and Professional Abilities Profile, all instruments designed by Butler and Waldroop.
Tim’s work focuses on two areas of interface between psychology and the world of business: individual management development (executive coaching) and career development assessment and counseling. He has worked with a wide range of organizations in both the manufacturing and service sectors, from Fortune 50 corporations to smaller high-growth firms. CareerLeader, LLP’s clients include McKinsey & Company, Fidelity Management Research Company, GTE, General Electric, Citibank, Andersen Consulting, Sony Music Entertainment, KPMG Peat Marwick, BankBoston, Gillette, Boise-Cascade, Hewlett-Packard, Genuity, PA Consulting, Premier Health Care, AMS, Spaulding & Slye, Bolt Beranek Newman, JAFCO Ventures, Boston Edison, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Mercer Management Consulting, Maximus, Philip Morris, Boston Communications Group, Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath, and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
Publications (co-authored with Jim Waldroop unless noted otherwise) include:
Getting Unstuck: How Dead Ends Become New Paths, sole author (HBS Press, 2007); “The Hidden Flaws of Top Executives: How to Find Them Before You Hire Them” (HR Professional, in press); “Understanding ‘People’ People” (Harvard Business Review, June 2004); “A Function-Centered Model of Interest Assessment for Business Careers” (Journal of Career Assessment, August 2004); “What a Star—What a Jerk” (with Sarah Cliffe) (Harvard Business Review, September 2001); “Redefining Roles, Customizing Careers” (Pathways: The Novartis Journal, July 2001); The Twelve Bad Habits that Hold Good People Back (Currency Doubleday, 2000, foreign language editions in Arabic, Korean, Mandarin and Taiwanese Chinese, Portuguese, and Thai); “Managing Away Bad Habits” (Harvard Business Review, September–October 2000); “Guess What? You’re Not Perfect” (Fortune, October 16, 2000); “The Art of Work” (Employment Relations Today, October 2000); “Job Sculpting: The Art of Retaining Your Best People” (Harvard Business Review, September–October 1999); “Eight Failings That Bedevil the Best” (Fortune, November 23, 1998); “Finding the Job You Should Want” (Fortune, March 2, 1998); Discovering Your Career in Business (Addison-Wesley, 1997, foreign language editions in Dutch and Mandarin Chinese); “The Executive as Coach” (Harvard Business Review, November–December 1996).
“Managing Your Career” and “Retaining Valued Employees” (Harvard ManageMentor, Harvard Business School Press).
Tim has lectured at business schools, corporations, and other organizations throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. He appears frequently as a keynote speaker and is often interviewed in various popular media on topics related to attracting and retaining talent and maximizing performance.