Zweifel, Thomas D. 1962–

PERSONAL:

Born 1962, in Paris, France. Education: Western Illinois University, B.A., 1993; Columbia University, M.A., 1996; New York University, Ph.D., 2001.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—tdz2@columbia.edu; ceo@swissconsultinggroup.com.

CAREER:

Academic, consultant, and author. Global campaign manager for an international organization, beginning 1986; The Hunger Project, New York, NY, director of global operations, 1992-96; Swiss Consulting Group, New York, NY, cofounder and chief executive officer, 1997—; Columbia University, New York, NY, adjunct assistant professor of international and public affairs, Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MAOL) program, faculty member. Speaker on global leadership challenges for the International Speakers Bureau, Brooks International Speakers Bureau, Gail Davis & Associates, Vistage, and TEC. Has taught leadership and cross-cultural management courses at various schools across the globe, including St. Gallen Business School, Haute École de Gestion, Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, European Center for Pharmaceutical Medicine/University of Basel, Sydney University, and Jones International University. Member of several boards, including the Fondation Arthemis, the Lama Gangchen International Foundation, the Paramount Business Jets, the Leadership in Public Affairs Program at the College of New Jersey, the American Political Science Association, and the Manhattan Ensemble Theater.

MEMBER:

International Coach Federation, Association of Professional Communication Consultants.

WRITINGS:

Democratic Deficit? Institutions and Regulation in the European Union, Switzerland, and the United States, Lexington Books (Lanham, MD), 2002.

Culture Clash: Managing the Global High-Performance Team, SelectBooks (New York, NY), 2003.

Communicate or Die: Getting Results through Speaking and Listening, SelectBooks (New York, NY), 2003.

International Organizations and Democracy: Accountability, Politics, and Power, L. Rienner (Boulder, CO), 2006.

The Rabbi and the CEO: The 10 Commandments for 21st-Century Leaders, SelectBooks (New York, NY), 2008.

Also author of several articles.

SIDELIGHTS:

Thomas D. Zweifel is a consultant with over twenty years' experience coaching Fortune 500 companies and government and nongovernment organizations on how to be effective leaders in the twenty-first century. Some of the clients he has worked with over the years include Aventis, Banana Republic, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, GE Capital, Novartis, the United Nations Development Program, and the U.S. State Department. Zweifel has also taught leadership and cross-cultural management at several schools around the world, including St. Gallen Business School, Haute École de Gestion, Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, European Center for Pharmaceutical Medicine/University of Basel, Sydney University, and Jones International University. Some of his professional affiliations include membership in the International Coach Federation and the Association of Professional Communication Consultants. He also serves on numerous boards, including the Fondation Arthemis, the Lama Gangchen International Foundation, the Paramount Business Jets, the Leadership in Public Affairs Program at the College of New Jersey, the American Political Science Association, and the Manhattan Ensemble Theater.

In addition to teaching and consulting, Zweifel has written several books and articles on leadership, management, communication, and international politics. He also frequently speaks in the media and at corporations and international organizations. According to his profile on the International Speakers Bureau Web site, Zweifel "inspires audiences with a unique blend of leadership theory, international affairs, management performance and executive coaching—an interdisciplinary approach sorely missing in this era of specialists who don't connect the dots."

Zweifel holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in international relations from New York University. In the 1980s, he was put into a leadership role in his job as a global campaign manager for an international organization associated with the United Nations. In this role, he was responsible for campaign results in over twenty countries, but he lacked the actual authority to impose decisions. Through this challenging experience, he became adept at coaching and cross-cultural leadership. In 1997, Zweifel put his hard-won knowledge to use as cofounder of Swiss Consulting Group, a multinational global performance management firm.

Zweifel's first book, Democratic Deficit? Institutions and Regulation in the European Union, Switzerland,and the United States, published in 2002, is a comparative examination of the European Union and the federal democracies of Switzerland and the United States. His 2003 book Culture Clash: Managing the Global High-Performance Team "serves as a crash course on dealing with the ever-growing effects of globalization," as Christie Casalino put it in her review of the book for PR Week. In the book, Zweifel uses his own experiences and costly mistakes by global companies to illustrate the necessary steps to take when working within a global business arena.

Also published in 2003, Communicate or Die: Getting Results through Speaking and Listening instructs readers on how to become highly effective communicators through improved speaking and listening skills. For his 2006 book International Organizations and Democracy: Accountability, Politics, and Power, Zweifel evaluates whether international organizations represent the interests of humanity as a whole. Looking at organizations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, he analyzes the extent to which these organizations and others like them are regulated by democratic rules, and, if not, how they can work towards becoming more democratic. According to Steven Bernstein in his review of International Organizations and Democracy for the Political Science Quarterly, Zweifel's assessment of all the organizations he looks at in this book "is harsh." He also remarked about the book that "students will undoubtedly find it provocative, and will also appreciate the useful primers on the organizations it assesses." He went on to add that "engaging skeptics outside the classroom will be a tougher challenge."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, June 1, 2003, review of Democratic Deficit? Institutions and Regulation in the European Union, Switzerland, and the United States, p. 1822; May 1, 2006, D.P. Forsythe, review of International Organizations and Democracy: Accountability, Politics, and Power, p. 1676.

Meetings & Conventions, May 1, 2004, "Better Yet: Lend Me Your Ears," p. 19.

Political Science Quarterly, December 22, 2006, Steven Bernstein, review of International Organizations and Democracy, p. 745.

PR Newswire, March 1, 2004, "Columbia's Dr. Thomas D. Zweifel to Discuss International Culture Clash at American Swiss Business Council Luncheon."

PR Week, March 1, 2004, Christie Casalino, review of Culture Clash: Managing the Global High-Performance Team, p. 24.

Reference & Research Book News, February 1, 2003, review of Democratic Deficit?, p. 151; August 1, 2004, review of Democratic Deficit?, p. 182; May 1, 2006, review of International Organizations and Democracy.