Theo Compernolle MD., PhD. - About me CV/BIO

My drive: curiosity leading to a deep understanding and simplicity in teaching as the ultimate sophistication. As a scholar, as well as a consultant, trainer, coach, and speaker I am driven by the curiosity to understand complex issues by studying the research, and finding the underlying mechanisms, which when really understood often are simple.

I deeply distrust mere opinions, including my own, and especially those from experts in one domain who venture into other domains without really knowing the subject.

I am a translator. Very high on my list of priorities is finding practical applications of this scientific knowledge and burning the midnight oil to find ways to share these insights in lectures, workshops and writing for students, professionals, managers, and the public at large.

I like the description of this process that Steve Jobs borrowed from Leonardo Da Vinci: “If you read the Apple’s first brochure, the headline was ‘Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.’ What we meant by that was that when you first attack a problem it seems really simple because you don’t understand it. Then when you start to really understand it, you come up with these very complicated solutions because it’s really hairy. Most people stop there. But a few people keep burning the midnight oil and finally understand the underlying principles of the problem and come up with an elegantly simple solution for it. But very few people go the distance to get there”

Short Bio

Dr. Theo Compernolle, MD, PhD, is a highly respected independent international consultant, executive (team) coach, trainer, and keynote speaker. He is engaged in instructing and coaching within executive programs at esteemed business schools, and he also provides consultancy, instruction, and coaching to professionals, managers, and executives across a diverse range of (multi)national companies, professional services firms, and training institutions spanning various cultures and countries. Dr. Compernolle is proficient in delivering his services in English, Dutch, and French.

Previously, he held positions such as the Suez Chair in Leadership and Personal Development at the Solvay Business School (Belgium), Professor at the Free University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), Adjunct Professor at INSEAD, Visiting Professor at IMD (Switzerland), the Vlerick School for Management (Belgium), and TIAS (Netherlands). He has also served as the director of multiple inpatient and outpatient departments.

Dr. Compernolle's journey into the world of business began with the publication of his groundbreaking Ph.D. on stress in secondary schools, which garnered significant media attention. Subsequently, he became a leading authority on the emotional and relational facets of leadership, specializing in bolstering the resilience of executives, executive teams, organizations, and families involved in business, particularly during periods of conflict, stress, and change. His fascination with the transformational impact of technologies like the BlackBerry and Smartphone on executive information management has fueled his commitment to exploring the intersection of these fantastic innovations and our amazing human brain.

With a background encompassing medical expertise as a doctor, neuro-psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and business consultant, Dr. Compernolle engages in extensive cross-disciplinary research spanning medicine, biology, psychology, neurology, physiology, and management. He diligently synthesizes this diverse knowledge to offer practical and memorable insights to a wide spectrum of professionals, often delivering his sessions with a touch of humor. His clients frequently describe his presentations as "Science made simple and useful."

Dr. Compernolle boasts an impressive publication record, including several non-fiction books and over a hundred scientific articles. Notably, three of his books, including "STRESS: FRIEND AND FOE. Vital Stress Management at work and in the family," "(24th edition) have achieved bestseller status and maintained their popularity over 25-30 years.

His book "BRAINCHAINS: Discover your brain and unleash its full potential in a hyperconnected multitasking world," has received outstanding reviews on Amazon.com, with a 4.5-star rating. It has been translated into Russian and Chinese and achieved a place on the top-10 best-sellers list in its Dutch translation "Ontketen je brein" Lannoo (12th edition). To cater to those with time constraints, Dr. Compernolle has also released a concise version with 50 pages, each dedicated to a single subject, complete with 50 illustrations, available in Russian, Korean, Chinese, English, French, and Dutch.

In Dutch Dr. Compernolle's contributed 3 bestsellers and long sellers and more recent books like "Van Brokkelbrein naar focus"(for teachers, "Ontketen het brein van je kind" (for parents), "A guide to being successful as a family with a business,"

He holds a Ph.D. in medecine from the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), and is certified as a medical specialist in neuropsychiatry and psychotherapy. He received training at the universities of Amsterdam and Leiden (Netherlands) and the University of Pennsylvania (USA), where he was a fellow. Dr. Compernolle obtained his Medical Doctor degree from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium).

Click here for a more extensive narrative biography: My professional story

Scientific biography and bibliography (through 2000)