High-level global audiences turn to best-selling author and educator Michele Wucker for her clear, compelling insights on risk management, economic trends and policy, decision making, operational and strategic challenges, and navigating uncertainty. She coined the term “gray rhino” to focus attention on leaders’ surprising vulnerability to obvious, probable, impactful risks. The metaphor has been applied around the world to improve business strategy, national security, and macro-prudential policy. Michele holds unique insights into China’s financial risk policies, which incorporate her ideas. She applies the versatile analytical framework she developed to help firms and policy makers to prioritize and strategize their responses around climate risk, ESG, corporate governance, cyber security, digital disruption, and human capital. Her goal is to end the all-too-common use of risk analysis as a mere “box-ticking” exercise and instead to create motivation and provide tools that catalyze effective action.
Michele’s four books include the influential global bestseller THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore (2016) and the sequel, YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World (2021). Her popular 2019 TED Talk on gray rhino theory has attracted more than 2.5 million views.
A former media and think tank executive, Michele founded the Chicago based strategic advisory firm, Gray Rhino & Company, which helps decision makers ask difficult questions and develop, communicate, and implement effective risk responses. She is on the faculty of the DCRO Institute, which brings risk governance expertise to the boardroom and C-suite. She is an advisor to IRM India and the think tank Preventable Surprises.
The World Economic Forum named Michele a Young Global Leader in 2009. She remains active leading the YGL Board Service Initiative and as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network and Global Futures Council on Frontier Risks. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Through a keynote address, breakout session, or executive education workshop, Michele would love to help your organization improve its decision making, identify your gray rhinos and discover simple but effective tools to help manage these highly obvious but under-recognized challenges to companies, industries, people, and the planet. She can talk your audience through an overview of the gray rhino framework with examples relevant to your industry, do a deep dive into one of the stages, or put global gray rhinos and their potential impact into context.
Does your organization need to develop better alarm signals and decision making systems to make sure your people recognize and speak up when they see a gray rhino? Do you know what the gray rhino is in your organization or industry but can’t seem to get past muddling? Do you need help developing an action plan to get key stakeholders on board?
