Ting Zhang

Ting Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School, where she teaches the Leadership and Organizational Behavior course (LEAD) in the Required Curriculum.

Professor Zhang’s research examines how leaders can be more effective at developing people through feedback, advice, mentoring, and coaching. In particular, she studies the critical role that leaders play in cultivating developmental ecosystems by managing the interplay amongst leaders’ own beliefs and behaviors, the kinds of relationships they form with those whom they develop, and the talent management processes within which development is embedded. 

In terms of beliefs and behaviors, her research finds that shifting leaders’ traditional notions of learning (e.g., by learning from junior people or rediscovering their beginner’s mind) enables them to develop others more effectively. In her recent work, she has been exploring how leaders manage complex organizational processes such aggregating and interpreting feedback across multiple perspectives.

Professor Zhang's research has been published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, Psychological Science, and Research in Organizational Behavior and covered in media outlets including The Atlantic, New York Times, and The Washington Post. She has received awards for her research, teaching, and service, including the William H. Newman Award, Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Division Best Paper based on Dissertation Award, Student Association Faculty Award for teaching excellence, Charles M. Williams Award for teaching excellence, and Robert F. Greenhill Award.

Professor Zhang earned an A.B. in Economics and Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University. Prior to joining HBS, she was a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the Management Division at Columbia Business School, where she taught Managerial Negotiations.