Hannes Leroy

Hannes Leroy is a Professor in Leadership Development at the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management, Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University Rotterdam. He maintains significant additional roles including Distinguished Research Professor at Exeter Business School (2022-2025), advisory positions at EMPATHOS BVBA (2022-2025) and BOLD expeditions (2025-2028), and executive education activities at RSM BV.

Leroy's research critically examines authentic leadership and leadership development, exploring outcomes like safety and work engagement, antecedents like mindfulness training, and relationships to concepts like behavioral integrity. His work challenges simplistic notions about authenticity, demonstrating through research like his 2024 paper with Choi that 'Honesty Is Not Always the Best Policy' in leadership contexts. He investigates how leadership development programs can move beyond superficial approaches to create genuine change, arguing in his 2024 MIT Sloan Management Review article that 'Leadership Development Is Failing Us. Here's How to Fix It.'

His publication record shows consistent high-impact contributions, with recent work spanning authentic leadership (2025), configural leadership approaches (2025), social-symbolic work (2025), and mindfulness in leadership development (2025). These publications reveal a research trajectory focused on understanding the nuanced, context-dependent nature of effective leadership rather than promoting one-size-fits-all solutions.

Leroy's scholarship has generated significant media attention, with coverage in CHRO.nl, IMD.org, Talent Canada, The Conversation, and Workplace Insight. His research on authenticity at work received widespread coverage in late 2019 across numerous international outlets, demonstrating the practical relevance of his academic work to organizational practitioners.

His teaching at RSM aligns closely with his research interests, focusing on global leadership and professional competencies. Through both his scholarship and teaching, Leroy emphasizes that genuine leadership development requires moving beyond comfort zones and developing leaders who can strategically apply authenticity based on contextual understanding rather than following simplistic 'just be yourself' advice.