BIOS

PETER KOESTENBAUM, Ph.D.,
AHMED YEHIA
LAURIE YEHIA
ROLF FALKENBERG

PETER KOESTENBAUM, Ph.D., founder and Chairman of PiB and the Koestenbaum Institute, brings leadership philosophy to business people globally. He has been close to business executives and their deepest concerns, sharing with them insights and feelings, new perspectives and more serviceable adaptations.

Peter Koestenbaum is presently active in establishing the Leadership Diamond® globally through the Koestenbaum Institute, headquartered in Stockholm and Los Angeles. Koestenbaum's Leadership Diamond® is a complete program of leadership awareness.

The Leadership Diamond® focuses on the power of depth, which leads to emphasizing the power of free will, the ubiquitous presence of polarity and paradox, analyzing the structure of courage, and the critical importance of understanding systems and strategy. This leadership philosophy leverages the power of negative experiences for clues to breakthroughs. Koestenbaum talks about the development of the leadership mind as the key for achieving business results. And he spends much time on the tough issues of implementation.

Peter Koestenbaum¹s education was in physics, music, and above all philosophy, having earned degrees from Stanford (physics and philosophy), Harvard (philosophy), and Boston University (philosophy) -- (B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. respectively), but also attending the University of California (Berkeley, in music and philosophy).

He taught for 34 years in the Philosophy Department of San Jose State University, in California, having received the Statewide Outstanding Professor Award. While a professor of philosophy, Peter Koestenbaum spent 25 years working with psychologists and psychiatrists, in seminars, lectures, and books, exploring the relationship between psychiatry and the healing potential of philosophy.

Peter Koestenbaum founded in California an accredited institute for teachers, nurses, physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists. It taught the uses of philosophy in education, psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Over twenty five years ago (some overlapping with teaching) Peter Koestenbaum decided to apply the insights he gained in philosophy and psychiatry to business: management, strategic thinking, marketing, but above all to leadership. This journey has taken Peter Koestenbaum to over thirty-six countries in five continents. Among the firms where he worked with intensity are IBM, Electronic Data Systems, Ford, Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis), Citibank, Volvo, Amoco, Xerox, American Medical International (now Tenet HealthSystem), Warner Cosmetics, Statoil (Norway), Sparbanken Gruppen (Sweden), etc. He is an active faculty member in the School for Managing and Leading Change.

His business books, available for sale in Leadership Offerings are Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness (also, in Spanish, Swedish, French), The Heart of Business (also in French) and Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World. Some of his philosophic books are The Vitality of Death, The New Image of the Person, Managing Anxiety, Choosing to Love and Is There an Answer to Death?

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AHMED YEHIA is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quantum Leadership Solutions, LLC (Santa Monica, California), strategic partner of Koestenbaum Institute and PiB for development of website content, workshops and tools based on the Leadership Diamond®. Quantum creates, integrates and delivers innovative leadership products and consulting services for world-class organizations.

A respected corporate strategist and systems thinker, Mr. Yehia has previously served as chairman of Billboard Entertainment Marketing, Inc., senior vice president and chief marketing officer of American Medical International, Inc. and as product manager for Procter & Gamble.

Mr. Yehia is a director of Xenel International, Inc. (Westlake Village, California). He served a three year term on the Policy Committee of the American Hospital Association.

He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College.

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LAURIE YEHIA is President of Quantum Leadership Solutions, LLC (Santa Monica, California), strategic partner of Koestenbaum Institute and PiB.Net for development and delivery of content for Leadership Diamond®-based seminars, workshops, website and tools. Quantum creates, integrates and delivers innovative leadership products and services for world-class organizations.

Ms. Yehia, a member of the State of California Bar, previously served as General Counsel for Billboard Entertainment Marketing, Inc. and as Senior Counsel for American Medical International, Inc. (now Tenet HealthSystem).

An active supporter of education in her community, Ms. Yehia co-chairs the legislative committee of PTA Council for the Santa Monica - Malibu School District, and has served on the site governance board for Franklin Elementary School and the board of directors of the Santa Monica Waldorf School.

She received her J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School and graduated Magna Cum Laude with University Honors from Wesleyan University. Ms. Yehia also majored in studio art as an undergraduate at Stanford University.

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ROLF FALKENBERG is founder and President of the Koestenbaum Institute (Stockholm, Sweden). He is also President of RMG Falkenberg Associates AB, which specializes in management and international business development.

Mr. Falkenberg has previously served as president of GSE Systems, Inc. (Columbia, Maryland), as executive vice president of Vattenfall AB, president of SwedPower AB and director of industrial programs at Systecon AB (all in Sweden). GSE Systems is a software company and a solution provider specializing in control, client server, training simulators and SCADA systems for the power and process industry, with business in 30 countries. Vattenfall is the largest power company in Scandinavia with 30,000 MW installed capacity.

Mr. Falkenberg is a director of ManTech International Corp. (Washington, D.C.) and Altech, Ltd. (Reyjkavik, Iceland).

He received his M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Chalmers Institute of Technology (Gothenburg).

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