Keyhan Shamsi Yousefi

Keyhan Shams is a research assistant professor at the Staley School of Leadership, Kansas State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and design from the University of Tehran and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Iran’s National University. Recently, he earned his PhD in leadership communication from Kansas State University.

Keyhan lived in Iran for over 30 years, starting his career as an intern and later as a consultant for the United Nations Human Settlements Program in Iran (UN-Habitat). He also spent three years as a researcher and leadership coach in Iranian slums and informal settlements. His interest in evaluating the impact of leadership development and community-based efforts led him to pursue his PhD in the US.

Currently, he works as the assistant director of Third Floor Research, a joint initiative between the Staley School of Leadership and the Kansas Leadership Center, designing and managing impact assessment projects. His latest co-authored publication, “Bridging the Assessment Gaps: The Engaged Validation of Adaptive Leadership Behavior and Self-Awareness Scales" was recently published in the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. Shams’ dissertation entitled "Bridging the Gap Between Learning & Practicing Leadership: Developing New Instruments to Evaluate Leadership & Adaptation" received the Fredrick M. Jablin Doctoral Dissertation award in 2024. In this research, Shams developed four new instruments to measure people’s leadership competencies and mindsets from an adaptive leadership perspective. He also outlines people’s decision-making process to exercise leadership.