Lucia Annunzio

Biography

Acclaimed Leadership Coach, Author, and President and CEO of the Center for High Performance (CfHP), Susan (Lucia) Annunzio is known by her clients as the “CEO-Whisperer.” She has spent over 25 years observing, analyzing, and coaching CEO, C-Suite, and Board dynamics. She has discerned that an organization is only as great as the team that leads it and that there is a direct correlation between the way an organization performs and the way its leadership team functions. 

Lucia’s  work is based on CfHP’s proprietary global research on the factors that accelerate or inhibit profitable growth.  It achieved critical acclaim and was presented at such prestigious venues as the World Economic Forum, The International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change at the University of Greenwich, and Vacature’s, “Talent Economy” launch event in Belgium. 

Lucia is the author of Contagious Success (Portfolio, 2004), a dynamic, best-selling management book that revealed the global standard for high performance. Contagious Success was voted Fast Company's Readers' Choice. Lucia also authored two additional prominent business books: Communicoding (Fine, 1990; Penguin USA, 1991) and Evolutionary Leadership (Simon & Schuster, 2001; Fireside, 2002). She is frequently quoted in the business press such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNBC.

Lucia is an Adjunct Associate Professor, Executive Education Programs at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she is teaches the most popular program, High Performance Leadership, as well as many custom Executive education programs across the globe.  She has been a guest lecturer at INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and Instituto De Empresa in Madrid. She also taught at General Electric’s Crotonville Corporate Training Center. 

She is a long-standing member of the Economic Club of Chicago as well as the Chicago Club and the Astor Club. She has sat on various not-for-profit boards including the Joffrey Ballet and the Museum of Contemporary Art.  She is currently devoting her philanthropy to National MS Society.