By DeAnn Lubell
Photos submitted by Susan Murphy
To meet Dr. Susan Murphy for the first time, one will probably walk away thinking, “What an attractive, sweet, kind-hearted, friendly, and pleasant lady.”
Yes, she is all these things and more – much more.
Behind that pretty face and nice demeanor is an intellectual fireball, who processes a keen sense of humor and sagacity of people from all walks of life. Buckle your seatbelts as we learn all about this gifted dynamo.
Dr. Murphy, a long-time resident of the Coachella Valley, is a keynote speaker, author, and business consultant. Audiences everywhere appreciate her humorous style and useful techniques as she combines research and theory with real-life experiences. She thrives on catalyzing breakthrough performances. She is passionate about leadership, gender differences, and mentoring.
Her background includes 20-plus years of national and international experience with 300 organizations including many Fortune 500 companies. Her clients have included the U.S. Air Force, Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA), Stanford University, Caterpillar, Raytheon, Tenet Healthcare & Medical Group Management Association. She has served on the Graduate Faculties of the University of San Francisco & Vanderbilt University and has performed international consulting & speaking for 20 years to a variety of industries.
Susan has written 12 books including Maximizing Performance Management,” “LifeQ: How To Make Your Life Your Most Important BUSINESS,” and “Leading a Multigenerational Team, Conversations on Success” just to name a few. “In the Company of Women,” was co-authored with Dr. Pat Heim and selected as Harvard Business School’s Book of the Month. It was also featured on Good Morning America; reviewed in Time Magazine and has been translated into several languages.
“The fact that I’m an author is still a surprise to me,” said Dr. Murphy. “I didn’t mean to be an author.
When I was 15, I wrote a composition for my class about raindrops and called them “petite bundles of H2O.” The class laughed at me, and the nuns never forgot that description. It was even quoted in my Senior Yearbook. All my books have been written because there was a need for the information. My first book was written over 30 years ago. I was teaching in the MBA program at the University of San Francisco. The course was called ‘Quantitative Decision Making.’ It was all about statistics and mathematics. The textbook was 1,000 pages. So, for the benefit of my students, I rewrote those 1,000 pages and shortened the coursebook to 125 pages. USF asked to publish the book for all students who took that tough course. I wrote my book “In the Company of Women” because I wanted to understand women’s relationships. It didn’t make sense that women could be either best friends or worst enemies. Men are often not as intense about relationships as women. We found (in our research) that 95% of women have been sabotaged by another woman at least once in their career.”
Dr. Murphy received a Lifetime Achievement award from Vanderbilt University; Palm Springs Life named her “An Influencer,” Women’s Leaders Forum honored her as a “Woman Who Rules,“ and Kappa Delta honored her with “Order of the Pearl.” There are too many more to list. She has an M.B.A., an M.A. in Organization Development, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Systems.
Her mission in life is to joyfully catalyze the optimum development and performance of people and their organizations. Dr. Susan Murphy can be reached at Susan@DrSusanMurphy.com
Currently, Dr. Murphy is a speaker with Women of Wit & Wisdom which presents programs for clubs and organizations throughout the Coachella Valley. For information & to schedule a program allaboutbooks51@gmail.com or call 760.340.2598.
