Sandra J. Sucher

Sandra Sucher, professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, is an internationally recognized trust researcher. The Power of Trust, her third book, is based on two decades of global research on how companies build stakeholder trust and how, if lost, they can restore it. Sandra studies trust in action and how it affects the success of leaders and companies in innovating with AI and new technologies, restructuring and leading turnarounds, managing sustainability and ecosystems, entering and exiting markets, and navigating controversy.

Sandra is a member of the Edelman Trust Institute Advisory Board, advising them on Trust Barometer research. She also collaborates with Deloitte on TrustIQ™, a proprietary tool that measures key elements of trust in major corporations and public sector organizations. 

At Harvard, Sandra studies how organizations become trusted and the vital role leaders play in building and restoring trust. She also studies workforce change and best practices in managing layoffs and restructuring. She has authored 110 business cases, technical notes, video interviews, teaching notes, and three books.

Sandra was a business executive for 20 years before joining Harvard. As a senior executive at Fidelity Investments, she measured customer loyalty, redesigned back-office operations, and improved the quality of service. In retailing, she helped build new businesses. Sandra has served on corporate and nonprofit boards and as Chair of the Better Business Bureau.

Sandra’s research has been featured in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, Barron’s, Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC, NPR, and Marketplace.