Leslie John

Leslie K. John
John during podcast appearance
Alma materCarnegie Mellon University (M.Sc. Ph.D.)
University of Waterloo (B.A.)
OccupationsProfessor and Author
EmployerHarvard Business School
Scientific career
FieldsBehavioral economics Behavioral science
Doctoral advisorGeorge Loewenstein
Websiteproflesliejohn.com

Leslie K. John is a Canadian and American academic, behavioral scientist, and popular science author of Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing.[1] She is the James E. Burke Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where she studies how people make decisions.[2][3]

Early life and education

John was a professionally trained ballet dancer prior to embarking on her academic career. She trained at the National Ballet School of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and John Cranko Ballet School in Germany.[2]

When she retired from ballet, John earned a B.A. with Honors in Psychology & Arts and Business from the University of Waterloo in 2006. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with an M.Sc. in Psychology & Behavioral Decision Research and a Ph.D. in Behavioral Decision Research in 2011.[2]

Career

John joined the faculty of Harvard Business School in July 2011 as an assistant professor.[2] She was promoted to associate professor in 2016 and awarded academic tenure and promotion to professor in 2021.[2]

John is a frequent keynote speaker and consultant, working with clients such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Weight Watchers International, McKinsey & Company, and PepsiCo.[4][5] Her work has been published and cited in many selective[6] academic journals and popular media sources.[7][8][9]

John's work and research has been featured in The Wall Street Journal,[1][10][11] Harvard Business Review,[12] Wired Magazine,[13][14] The New York Times,[9][15] Financial Times,[16] NPR,[17] The Economist,[3] Bloomberg Businessweek,[18] Business Insider[19] and Los Angeles Times[20] as well as popular media shows including: Hidden Brain,[21] Harvard Business Review IdeaCast Podcast,[22]10% Happier with Dan Harris (journalist)[23], and others.[4][24]

John's debut book, Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing, was published on February 24, 2026.[25] In advance of publication, Revealing received praise from Arthur C. Brooks, Adam Grant, Katy Milkman, and others while being cited by The Wall Street Journal[1], Time (magazine)[26], The Independent[27], The Guardian[28], making Grant's list of new books for 2026, and the "Must Read Books for February 2026" list from the Next Big Idea Club.[29]

Research

John's research focuses on how people make decisions and the result of those decisions.[2] She studies privacy decision making, examining the factors that influence when individuals choose to share or protect personal information, and how they respond to organizations' and employers' use of their data.[2]

John's research has been published in academic journals including, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied,[30] Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,[31] Psychological Science,[32] Journal of Marketing Research,[33] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,[34] Management Science,[35] JAMA Network Open,[36] and many others.[2] She was previously the co-editor of Current Opinion in Psychology (Elsevier): Privacy and Disclosure, Online and in Social Interactions[37] and has sat or is presently on the editorial boards of Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, and Social Psychological and Personality Science.[5]

Awards and honors

Books

References

  1. ^ a b c John, Leslie (February 20, 2026). "I Thought Oversharing Was Career Suicide. Then I Tried It". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Leslie K. John – Faculty & Research – Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
  3. ^ a b "About". Leslie John. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Leslie John – Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau". Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Leslie, John (March 1, 2025). "Leslie K. John HBS CV" (PDF). Harvard Business School.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Baker, Neal. "Research Guides: Top-Tier Management Journals: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management". guides.lib.purdue.edu. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  7. ^ John, Leslie K. "Why telling the truth 'warts and all' could help you find love". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  8. ^ John, Leslie K. (December 6, 2017). "The Value of a Facebook Fan: Does "Liking" Influence Consumer Behavior?". American Marketing Association. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  9. ^ a b "When the Revolution Came for Amy Cuddy (Published 2017)". October 18, 2017. Archived from the original on January 18, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  10. ^ Munk, Cheryl Winokur (March 17, 2022). "Websites' Privacy Notices Are Supposed to Be Reassuring. They Often Aren't". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  11. ^ Zweig, Jason (March 25, 2011). "Want To Retire Wealthier? Start by Scanning Your Photo". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  12. ^ John, Leslie K. (September 18, 2018). "Uninformed Consent". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  13. ^ Manthorpe, Rowland. "Ever suffered from selfie regret? Why some people share when they shouldn't". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  14. ^ WIRED UK (November 23, 2016). WIRED2016: Ever suffered from selfie regret? Why some people share when they shouldn't. Retrieved January 26, 2026 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Cherelus, Gina (June 23, 2025). "I Snoop, You Snoop, We All Snoop on Each Other's Phone Screens". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
  16. ^ "Client Challenge". www.ft.com. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  17. ^ Vedantam, Shankar (February 4, 2016). "Research Explores Consequences Of Revealing Embarrassing Details". NPR. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  18. ^ "Research Fraud Allegations Trail a German B-School Wunderkind". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  19. ^ Schlossberg, Mallory (October 10, 2015). "An emerging trend in retail should scare everyone from Michael Kors to Macy's". Business Insider. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  20. ^ "On job applications and dating websites, it's better to reveal than to hide". Los Angeles Times. January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  21. ^ Vedantam, Shankar (February 4, 2016). "Research Explores Consequences Of Revealing Embarrassing Details". NPR. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  22. ^ "How To Talk Yourself Up (Without Turning People Off)". Harvard Business Review. May 11, 2021. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  23. ^ "Harvard Business School Professor on Building Trust, Reducing Regret, and the Underrated Power of Oversharing | Leslie John". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  24. ^ "Building Trust Through Vulnerability". The Brainy Business. January 22, 2026. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  25. ^ "Revealing by Leslie John: 9780593545386 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  26. ^ John, Leslie (February 27, 2026). "In Defense of Oversharing". Time.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ "How oversharing became the secret to getting ahead". The Independent. February 25, 2026. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  28. ^ John, Leslie (March 1, 2026). "Should you overshare more?". www.Theguardian.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ Gianopoulos, Panio. "The Next Big Idea Club's February 2026 Must-Read Books". Next Big Idea Club. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
  30. ^ Jiang, Li; John, Leslie K.; Boghrati, Reihane; Kouchaki, Maryam (December 1, 2022). "Fostering perceptions of authenticity via sensitive self-disclosure". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 28 (4): 898–915. doi:10.1037/xap0000453. ISSN 1939-2192. PMID 36201838. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  31. ^ John, Leslie K.; Blunden, Hayley; Milkman, Katherine L.; Foschini, Luca; Tuckfield, Bradford (September 1, 2022). "The limits of inconspicuous incentives". Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 172 104180. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104180. ISSN 0749-5978.
  32. ^ Prinsloo, Emily; Barasz, Kate; John, Leslie K.; Norton, Michael I. (September 26, 2022). "Opportunity Neglect: An Aversion to Low-Probability Gains". Psychological Science. 33 (11): 1857–1866. doi:10.1177/09567976221091801. ISSN 0956-7976. PMID 36154337.
  33. ^ Brough, Aaron R.; Norton, David A.; Sciarappa, Shannon L.; John, Leslie K. (February 18, 2022). "The Bulletproof Glass Effect: Unintended Consequences of Privacy Notices". Journal of Marketing Research. 59 (4): 739–754. doi:10.1177/00222437211069093. ISSN 0022-2437.
  34. ^ "Correction to Supporting Information for Milkman et al., A megastudy of text-based nudges encouraging patients to get vaccinated at an upcoming doctor's appointment". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 122 (43) e2527439122. October 22, 2025. Bibcode:2025PNAS..12227439.. doi:10.1073/pnas.2527439122. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 12582327.
  35. ^ Kim, Tami; John, Leslie K.; Rogers, Todd; Norton, Michael I. (November 1, 2019). "Procedural Justice and the Risks of Consumer Voting". Management Science. 65 (11): 5234–5251. doi:10.1287/mnsc.2018.3181. ISSN 0025-1909.
  36. ^ Bachireddy, Chethan; Joung, Andrew; John, Leslie K.; Gino, Francesca; Tuckfield, Bradford; Foschini, Luca; Milkman, Katherine L. (August 23, 2019). "Effect of Different Financial Incentive Structures on Promoting Physical Activity Among Adults". JAMA Network Open. 2 (8): e199863. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.9863. ISSN 2574-3805. PMC 6714021. PMID 31441936.
  37. ^ "Current Opinion in Psychology | Privacy and Disclosure, Online and in Social Interactions | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  38. ^ "WIRED2016: Innovation Fellows". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  39. ^ "MSI Young Scholars". MSI - Marketing Science Institute. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  40. ^ "Sage Journals: Discover world-class research". Sage Journals. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  41. ^ Brooks, Alison Wood; John, Leslie K. (May 1, 2018). "The Surprising Power of Questions". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  42. ^ "2018 HBR McKinsey Awards". Harvard Business Review. May 1, 2019. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  43. ^ "MSI Scholars". MSI - Marketing Science Institute. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  44. ^ "Revealing by Leslie John: 9780593545386 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
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