Kets de Vries is a Dutch management scholar and psychoanalyst, consultant, and professor of leadership development and organizational change at INSEAD.

His research focuses on leadership and the dynamics of individual and organizational change, exploring the interface between management theory, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, evolutionary psychology, and executive coaching.

[citation needed] In addition to writing, he has held professorships at McGill University, the École des Hautes Études Commerciales, Montreal, and Harvard Business School, and has lectured at management institutions around the world.

[citation needed] He is the professor of leadership development and organizational change at INSEAD and also works as a business consultant and executive coach.

His purpose has been to educate management scholars on applied research-stems for improving performance of organizations and the quality of life for their employees.

[8] Kets de Vries is known for introducing the idea of the clinical paradigm based on four premises: 1) There is a logical explanation for the way people act—even for actions that seem irrational.

In 2010 the Dutch Psychoanalytic Institute in the Netherlands presented him with the Freud Memorial Award, in acknowledgement of his work on the interface between psychoanalysis and organizations.

In October 2011, Kets de Vries was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title from IEDC Bled School of Management for his "outstanding contribution to creation and integration of knowledge and leadership development for a better world".

[15] In October 2012, Kets de Vries received an Honorary Doctorate from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) at IBS-Moscow.