Tal Ben-Shahar, is an American and Israeli teacher, and writer in the areas of positive psychology and leadership. As a lecturer at Harvard University, Ben-Shahar created the most popular course in Harvard's history. He has subsequently written several best-selling books and in 2011 co-founded Potentialife with Angus Ridgway, a company that provides leadership programs based on the science of behavioral change to organisations, schools and sports organisations globally.
Ben-Shahar consults and lectures around the world to executives in multinational corporations, Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, and the general public. Topics include leadership, education, ethics, happiness, self-esteem, resilience, goal setting, and mindfulness.
In 2011, Ben-Shahar co-founded Potentialife to "bring the science of flourishing to the world" and uses behavioral science and technology to allow anyone to embed the scientifically proven behaviors of positive psychology in their daily lives. It has proven particularly popular with organizations who wish to develop leadership behaviors in many of their people quickly - while the company also runs several not-for-profit programs including with school and communities. Potentialife now operates in twelve countries and, because of the innovative way in which it tracks behavioural change data, is allowing businesses and researchers alike to see the impact of positive psychology first-hand.
He is the author of the international best sellers Happier and Being Happy, which have been translated into 25 languages. Ben-Shahar taught at Harvard, where his classes on Positive Psychology and The Psychology of Leadership were among the most popular courses in the university's history.