Nick Chatrath
Nick is an Intellectual Forum Senior Research Associate.
Nick Chatrath is an expert in leadership and organizational transformation. A former McKinsey & Co. consultant, he now serves as a partner in Agnus Consulting, a global firm that equips leaders to navigate complexity and flourish, and that equips organizations to thrive through strategy, leadership development and transformation.
Nick holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford, and a dozen leadership development certifications, including The Leadership Circle Profile, and Hogan Assessment Systems. Previously, he co-founded the tech startup Coachify and the social reform advocacy group The Shaftsbury Partnership Ltd. A bestselling author, his most recent book is The Threshold: Leading in the Age of AI. He is an avid cook and triathlete.
What are you working on now?
Throughout my life, I have been interested in multiple fields. The golden thread has been helping others be all they can be. That currently finds expression in helping bridge the gap between what it means to be human in a new world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and in creating environments where others can do their best thinking.
How has your career to date led to this?
After graduating from Cambridge University, I began my career at Andersen as a Management Consultant and then moved to McKinsey & Co., working mainly in the UK, Europe and the USA.
After leaving McKinsey in 2003, I became an Executive Coach and established my own coaching practice, eventually gaining the Master Executive Coach accreditation with the Association for Coaching. Coinciding with this, I became the Managing Director of Artesian – a consultancy that brings soulful leadership to large and medium-sized organisations worldwide. Along the way, I did two additional Master’s degrees and a doctorate, wrote a book, co-wrote a bestseller and founded two tech start-ups.
I have dedicated my professional life to helping leaders flourish. I have spent 20,000+ hours coaching executives, educators, celebrities, politicians, diplomats, military leaders, home-makers, students and others and I have seen leaders from all sectors, and from all walks of life, as they have struggled and claimed great victories.
Every one of these walks of life are now affected by the advent of AI. I realised that if I was serious about helping leaders then I needed to help my clients navigate these changes, and orient themselves in the spaces they share with artificial intelligence. My career in leadership development, innovation and technology has led to this: working to create leaders who can flourish in the age of AI with optimism and emotional intelligence.
What one thing would you most want someone to learn from what you’ve done or are doing now?
I most want leaders to learn about the power of paying magnificent attention in a loving way. Here are two questions that catalyse this: If you knew that you lead from hope and love, not from fear, what would change? What if you cultivate more fascination with what your team mate will say next, than with what you could say to them? Across this threshold of courageous action lies a less polarized, less homogenised world in which beautiful independent thinking predominates.
What do you think of Jesus College and the Intellectual Forum?
I have been passionate about Jesus College since I commenced my undergraduate studies there in 1993. I have a stake in the future of Jesus College and am committed to its continued flourishing. Over the years I have continued to support the College and retain a vested interest in its development. The Intellectual Forum plays a key role in that development, creating spaces where students, researchers and practitioners can come together to explore the issues and ideas that are of utmost importance to our current age.
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