Daniel Lerner
Passionately Successful
Saturday, January 11, 2020, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

A psychology professor, strengths-based performance coach, and expert on all things positivity, Dan Lerner studies the ways happiness influences our success.  His two decades as a talent agent, working at some of the world’s top firms, prepared Lerner for his current vocation as a sought-after coach. Today, he works with everyone from Fortune 500 executives to Metropolitan Opera Singers, helping them manage stress, rediscover their strengths, and realize their individual potential. With charisma and wit, Lerner shares just how important a healthy psychological state is for increasing performance and fulfilling your goals. His talks build on his impressive body of work to reveal best-practices on thriving under pressure, avoiding burn-out, and reaching peak levels of success without sacrificing well-being.

Lerner co-authored the book U Thrive: How to Succeed in College and in Life alongside his teaching partner Dr. Alan Schlechter, a leading child and adolescent psychologist. A comprehensive guide through the often-unforeseen demands of college life, U Thrive is filled with fascinating research and real-life anecdotes to help students build life-long positive habits that will endure past graduation. Angela Duckworth, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit, praises the book for its insights and practical tips, saying, “It's a user's guide to the mind and body, written for young adults on the cusp of mastering both!”

Lerner consults for companies like Deutsche Bank, Oppenheimer Funds, UBS Switzerland, and Jet.com, where he works with staff ranging from new hires, to high potentials, to senior executives, optimizing opportunities for them as individuals and for the firm as a whole. Following a decade at International Creative Management and at 21C Media Group, where he was a co-founder and the director of artist development, Lerner studied closely with renowned sports psychologist Dr. Nathaniel Zinsser—a Director of The Center for Enhanced Performance at the United States Military Academy at West Point—focusing on coaching and performance enhancement techniques employed by professional and Olympic athletes. He holds a Masters from, and is on the teaching staff for the graduate program in Applied Positive Psychology, at the University of Pennsylvania.