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Dr Caroline Rook

Associate Professor in Coaching and Organisational Behaviour

Programme Director for MSc Coaching and Behavioural Change
Department Director of External Staff
Senior Fellow, UK HEA
Academic Member, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

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Specialisms

  • Healthy Workplaces, 
  • Mental Heath at Work, 
  • Executive Coaching, 
  • Resilience, 
  • Leadership Development

Location

Engine House building room 519, Greenlands campus

Dr Caroline Rook is an Associate Professor in Coaching and Organisational Behaviour at Henley Business School.

Her research relates to creating healthy and productive workplaces through exploring the links between leadership and wellbeing in organisations. She investigates in particular how to manage executive stress, how to maintain authentic functioning at work and the role of coaching for creating resilience for positive leadership. She has been involved in research and practice related to the topics of leadership, wellbeing, authenticity and coaching for some years at Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Institut Européen D'Administration des Affaires (France) and the University of Exeter Business School, Centre for Leadership Studies.

Caroline holds a degree in Psychology (majors: Clinical Psychology, Organisational Psychology, Communication Psychology) from Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena (Germany) and obtained her PhD from the University of Exeter.

She teaches on the Henley Business School MBA Programmes, MA Leadership, MSc Management for Future Leaders and MSc in Coaching and Behavioural Change. She is module convener for Finding your Leadership DNA (MSc Management for Future Leaders), Coaching and Mentoring for Leaders (MA Leadership), Dissertation module (MA Leadership) and Advanced Coaching Practice (MSc in Coaching and Behavioural Change). She is also the Programme Director of the MSc in Coaching and Behavioural Change and the Departmental Director of External Staff for Leadership, Organisations, Bheaviour and Reputation.

Reference: Surma, M. J., Nunes, R. and Rook, C. (2025) ‘Engaging’ workplace ecosystem post-pandemic: a real estate industry perspective. Journal of Corporate Real Estate. ISSN 1463-001X doi: 10.1108/JCRE-10-2024-0036
Henley faculty authors:
Richard Nunes - Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Kets de Vries, O. J. B. and Rook, C. (2024) Coaching the narcissistic leader. In: Passmore, J. , Bajaj, B. and Oades, L. G. (eds.) The Wellbeing Coaches Handbook. Taylor & Francis, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032333007 doi: 10.4324/9781003319016-25
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. , Leroy, H., Zhu, J. and Anisman-Razin, M. (2024) The different ways of being true to self at work: a review of divergence among authenticity constructs. Human Relations. ISSN 1741-282X doi: 10.1177/00187267241288109
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Gilani, P., Rook, C. , Razeghi, Y. and Carr, M. (2022) Swimming against the current: negotiating leadership challenges for women in Iran. Leadership, 18 (1). pp. 162-185. ISSN 1742-7150 doi: 10.1177/17427150211047102
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook - Dr Melissa Carr
Reference: Kets de Vries, M. F.R. and Rook, C. (2022) The "authentizotic" organisation: creating best places to work. Organisational and Social Dynamics, 22 (2). pp. 220-225. ISSN 2044-3765 doi: 10.33212/osd.v22n2.2022.220
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Kets de Vries, M. F. R. and Rook, C. (2022) The “authentizotic” organisation: creating best places to work. Organisational and Social Dynamics, 22 (2). pp. 220-225. ISSN 2044-3765 doi: 10.33212/osd.v22n2.2022.220
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Korzynski, P., Rook, C. , Florent-Treacy, E. and Kets de Vries, M. (2021) The impact of self-esteem, conscientiousness and pseudo-personality on technostress. Internet Research, 31 (1). ISSN 1066-2243 doi: 10.1108/INTR-03-2020-0141
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Kets de Vries, M. F. R. and Rook, C. (2021) Executive group coaching: interventions not for the faint of heart. Organisational and Social Dynamics, 21 (1). pp. 134-151. ISSN 2044-3765 doi: 10.33212/osd.v21n1.2021.134
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Vriend, T., Rook, C. , Garretsen, H., Stoker, J. I. and Kets de Vries, M. (2021) Relating cultural distance to self-other agreement of leader-observer dyads: the role of hierarchical position. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. ISSN 1664-1078 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.738120
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Surma, M. J., Nunes, R. J. , Rook, C. and Loder, A. (2021) Assessing employee engagement in a post-COVID-19 work-place ecosystem. Sustainability, 13 (20). 11443. ISSN 2071-1050 doi: 10.3390/su132011443
Henley faculty authors:
Richard Nunes - Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Senarclens de Grancy, M. and Rook, C. (2020) Working with the symptom — a new perspective on dealing with low well-being in organisations. Organisational & Social Dynamics, 20 (1). pp. 101-105. ISSN 2044-3765
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. , Adarves-Yorno, I. and O'Brien, A. (2020) What are key components of workplace well-being? - examining real life experiences in different work contexts. In: Dhiman, S. (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Wellbeing. Palgrave, pp. 1-26. ISBN 9783030300265 doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-02470-3_68-1
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. , Hellwig, T., Florent-Treacy, E. and Kets de Vries, M. (2019) Workplace stress in senior executives: coaching the “uncoachable". International Coaching Psychology Review, 14 (2). pp. 7-23. ISSN 2396-8753
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Kets de Vries, M. and Rook, C. (2018) Coaching challenging executives. In: Passmore, J. , Underhill, B. and Goldsmith, M. (eds.) Mastering Executive Coaching. Routledge. ISBN 9780815372912
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. , Smith, L., Johnstone, J., Rossato, C., Guillermo Felipe, L. S., Arturo, D. S. and Roberts, J. (2018) Reconceptualising workplace resilience - a cross-disciplinary perspective. Annals of Psychology, 34 (2). pp. 332-339. ISSN 1695-2294 doi: 10.6018/analesps.34.2.299371
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Florent-Treacy, E., Korotov, K. and Rook, C. (2017) Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries: playing the morosoph. In: Szabla, D. B., Pasmore, W., Barnes, M. and Gipson, A. N. (eds.) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319528779
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. , Hellwig, T. and Florent-Treacy, E. (2016) Executive stress - Taboo or opportunity for change? In: Korotov, K., Florent-Treacy, E. and Kets de Vries, M. F.R. (eds.) Coach and Couch. The Psychology of Making Better Leaders. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230506381
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Kets de Vries, M. F. R., Rook, C. and Engellau, E. (2016) Coaching across the gender divide – creating women-friendly or people-friendly organisations? In: Korotov, K., Florent-Treacy, E. and Kets de Vries, M. F.R. (eds.) Coach and Couch. The Psychology of Making Better Leaders. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230506381
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. (2016) Introduction: A psychodynamic approach to leadership development. In: Korotov, K., Florent-Treacy, E. and Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (eds.) Coach and Couch. The Psychology of Making Better Leaders. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230506381
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. , Hellwig, T., Florent-Treacy, E. and Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2016) Leveraging findings from neuroscience and psychodynamic theory to tackle senior executive stress. In: Thriving in Turbulent Times. British Academy of Management. (Proceedings of the British Academy of Management Conference 2016)
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Rook, C. , Vriend, T., Garretsen, H., Stoker, J. and Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2016) Are there differences in how leaders lead across the globe? A dynamic approach to cross-cultural influences on the leadership process. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference, University of Liverpool.
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Kets de Vries, M. F. R., Korotov, K., Florent-Treacy, E. and Rook, C. (2016) Coach and couch: the psychology of making better leaders. In: Coach and couch: the psychology of making better leaders. 2nd edition. INSEAD Business Press. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK. ISBN 9781137561596
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook
Reference: Agrawal, A. and Rook, C. (2014) Global Leaders in East and West: do all global leaders lead in the same way? In: Osland, J. S., Li, M. and Wang, Y. (eds.) Advances in Global Leadership. Advances in Global Leadership, 8. Emerald, pp. 155-179. ISBN 9781783504794
Henley faculty authors:
Dr Caroline Rook

Coaching and mentoring skills for leaders

This module is specifically aimed at developing coaching and mentoring skills in the programme members. It is delivered by a combination of face-to- face workshops, small group and coaching supervision...

Module code: MQM1CMSL

Leadership study/dissertation

The leadership study/dissertation is a major research-based project in which you investigate a significant business problem and recommend solutions. It will develop and build on key elements of the learning...

Module code: MQM3DISS

Most recent news & media

From technostress to friction-maxxing

  • Leading insights
19 February 2026

Hellwig, T. and Rook, C. (2025, 13 December). Friend or Foe? Stress and Post-Traumatic Growth; What is Success in Executive Coaching? [Conference presentation]. European School of Management and Technology Coaching Colloquium, Berlin, Germany

Anfinsen, O., Kakabadse, A., and Rook, C. (2023, July 11). The Handling of Discontinuity and its Influence on Psychological and Physiological Wellbeing in the Context of C-Suite Executives of Large International European-Based Organisations [Conference paper]. Developing Leadership Capacity Conference, Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom.

Suganda, W., Graca, A., Rook, C., and Parkinson, A. (2023, July 12). Taking it Inter-Personal: The Cross-Level Mediational Role of Team Interpersonal Processes on the Relationship Between Team Functional Leadership and Employee Engagement [Conference paper]. Developing Leadership Capacity Conference, Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom.

Gilani, P., Rook, C., and Razeghi, Y. (2019, December). The Persian Paradox: Exploring the Enactment of Gender Stereotypes Towards Women Leaders in Iran [Conference paper]. International Studying Leadership Conference, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Rook, C. (2019, June 21). Building Blocks of Effective Leadership Practice: The Role of Personal Resilience [Developmental paper]. European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Small Group Meeting: Leadership and Health/Well-being.

Rook, C. (2018, August 14). Implementing Well-Being Interventions in Organisations: Organisational Identification as a Key Context Factor for Success [Symposium paper]. Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.

Rook, C. (2017, December 15–16). Narcissistic Leaders: a HR Taboo? [Conference presentation]. European School of Management and Technology Coaching Colloquium, Berlin, Germany.

Rook, C., Vriend, T., Garretsen, H., Stoker, J. I., and Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2016, September 6–8). Are There Differences in How Leaders Lead Across the Globe? A Dynamic Approach to Cross-Cultural Influences on Leadership Process [Discussion paper]. British Academy of Management Conference, Newcastle, United Kingdom.

Rook, C. (2015, December). The New Frontier of Stress: Technostress [Conference presentation]. European School of Management and Technology Coaching Colloquium, Berlin, Germany.

Rook, C., and Hellwig, T. (2015). Stress - Taboo or Opportunity for Change? Using Psychodynamic Insights to Evaluate Executive Stress [Conference proceedings paper]. International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO) Annual Meeting, Rome, Italy.

Leroy, H., and Rook, C. (2014, August 1-5). On Being True to a Multi-Facetted Self: Using Identity Theory to Resolve Tensions of Authenticity [Conference proceedings paper]. Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Rook, C. (2013, December). Exploring Stress in Coaching: The Stress Appearance Pulse Grimace Activity Respiration Effort (APGAR) Framework [Conference presentation]. European School of Management and Technology Coaching Colloquium, Berlin, Germany.

Rook, C. (2013, July 24-25). What are Components of the Workplace Well-Being Experience? Using Descriptions of People Who Work to Build a Comprehensive Definition of Well-Being in the Workplace [Conference proceedings paper]. Well-Being 2013: Second International Conference Exploring the Multi-Dimensions of Well-Being, Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Rook, C. (2013, June). Preparing Leaders for Sustainable Performance in an Age of Austerity: Should Executive Stress and Work-Life Balance Be Considered in Leadership Development? [Conference proceedings paper]. Developing Leadership Capacity Conference (5th).

Rook, C. (2013, September 10-12). Do Women See Themselves as Great Leaders for the 'Organisation of the Future'? [Conference proceedings paper]. British Academy of Management Annual Conference, Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Rook, C. (2012, December). Why Well-Being Interventions Fail [Conference presentation]. European School of Management and Technology Coaching Colloquium, Berlin, Germany.