Linda Brimm
Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour
Biography
Linda Brimm is Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD, teaching both in the MBA and Executive Education programmes. Along with her teaching responsibilities, Dr Brimm created and ran the psychological service for the MBA programme at INSEAD. Trained as a clinical psychologist, she also works with both individuals and families at a centre, which she co-founded in Paris.
She received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Psychoanalysis from the Université of Paris. Her undergraduate degree is from Cornell University, her master's degree is from Northeastern University, and she completed a postgraduate program in clinical psychology at Hebrew University in Israel.
Identity development, diversity, and change have been an interest in her research, consulting and teaching over the years. Her initial research focused on managing workforce diversity and the development of people’s lives and careers. Dr Brimm's research and consulting interests currently focus on Global Cosmopolitans. Her groundbreaking book, Global Cosmopolitans, The Creative Edge of Difference, published in September 2010, combines her study of identity development and change in the lives of the next generation of global leaders and the use of narrative writing and analysis. Her work has been described as presenting 'a whole new concept of careers, and thereby, becomes one of the most important career development books published in the last decade'.
While her earlier work focused on competence and challenges affecting identity for people in relatively early career and life stages, her current research focuses on people that are in a different life stage and have experienced significant success in their professional lives. Her current research examines the lives of Global Cosmopolitan senior executives and entrepreneurs. Using a narrative approach she is pulling together, through their stories and analysis, the impact of different life stages on the lives of Global Cosmopolitans and the impact of growing up in a different generation and in a different global context. This work should also afford an understanding of the ways people find to manage what appear to the outsider to be seamless transitions from one world to another.
She received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Psychoanalysis from the Université of Paris. Her undergraduate degree is from Cornell University, her master's degree is from Northeastern University, and she completed a postgraduate program in clinical psychology at Hebrew University in Israel.
Identity development, diversity, and change have been an interest in her research, consulting and teaching over the years. Her initial research focused on managing workforce diversity and the development of people’s lives and careers. Dr Brimm's research and consulting interests currently focus on Global Cosmopolitans. Her groundbreaking book, Global Cosmopolitans, The Creative Edge of Difference, published in September 2010, combines her study of identity development and change in the lives of the next generation of global leaders and the use of narrative writing and analysis. Her work has been described as presenting 'a whole new concept of careers, and thereby, becomes one of the most important career development books published in the last decade'.
While her earlier work focused on competence and challenges affecting identity for people in relatively early career and life stages, her current research focuses on people that are in a different life stage and have experienced significant success in their professional lives. Her current research examines the lives of Global Cosmopolitan senior executives and entrepreneurs. Using a narrative approach she is pulling together, through their stories and analysis, the impact of different life stages on the lives of Global Cosmopolitans and the impact of growing up in a different generation and in a different global context. This work should also afford an understanding of the ways people find to manage what appear to the outsider to be seamless transitions from one world to another.
Latest posts
Creating a Meaningful Life in Turbulent Times
How can accessing our sources of personal meaning help us manage mounting insecurity in our lives, families and work?
Composing a Life of Complex Change
Linda Brimm
Firms can benefit greatly from helping experienced global professionals transition to headquarters and a geographically settled life.
The Challenges Faced by Global Cosmopolitan Women
Linda Brimm
To tap the full potential of these agents for change, organisations must listen and push beyond assumptions.
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The Skills That Global Cosmopolitans Bring to the Table
Linda Brimm
Professionals versed in several cultures have an exceptional ability to learn from experience.
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The Gift of a Global Cosmopolitan Mindset
Those who live global lives develop a psyche that enables them to tackle complex challenges.
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Embracing the Complexity of Global Mobility
Understanding their own experience of change can help globally mobile executives deal with it.
Sustaining a Global Life
Global Cosmopolitans are often pigeon-holed by organisations as mobile and adaptable people, standing ready to be parachuted into the next market. But they should push back when they want to go “home” or stay put for a while and companies should listen.
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How to Learn from a Global Life
Global Cosmopolitans adapt to new situations so seamlessly they often don’t realise how they did it. Learning from your global life can help you define a creative edge of difference from your international experiences.
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The Two-Edged Swords of Global Cosmopolitans
People who live in many countries develop adaptive strengths that can also be weaknesses if not understood.
The Hidden Skills of the Well-Travelled
The strength and skills developed by a global cosmopolitan lifestyle can, if identified and used correctly, provide a significant competitive advantage in any marketplace. Employers should seek to unearth them.
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How to Unveil Your Inner Global Cosmopolitan
Your own life story is more interesting than you think. Learning how to tell it right can open new opportunities.
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When Global Cosmopolitans ask, “should I stay or should I go?”
They often ask the question when they are feeling underappreciated at work. Since they are not afraid to change, many global organizations are losing some of their best.