Helio Fred Garcia

President

For more than 45 years Helio Fred Garcia has helped leaders build trust, inspire loyalty, and lead effectively. He is a coach, counselor, teacher, writer, and speaker whose clients include some of the largest and best-known companies and organizations in the world.

He is the author or co-author of seven books (so far). His most recent book, co-authored with his mentor of 40+ years, is Influencing Leaders: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor, published by Wiley in August 2026.

His prior books include The Trump Contagion: How Incompetence, Dishonesty, and Neglect Led to the Worst-Handled Crisis in American History, 2024. He is also the author of Words on Fire: The Power of Incendiary Language and How to Confront It, 2020, and The Agony of Decision: Mental Readiness and Leadership in a Crisis, 2017. That book was named one of the Best Crisis Management Books of All Time (#2 of 51) by Book Authority, the leading non-fiction recommendation site. A Chinese language translation was published in 2020 by the Posts & Telecom Press in Beijing. Prior to this, Fred wrote The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively, 2012. That book was one of eight Leadership titles on the United States Marine Corps Commandant’s Professional Reading List from 2013 to 2017. It was published in Chinese in 2014 by Pearson Education Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong and Publishing House of Electronics Industry in Beijing. A second edition is now in process, co-authored with Katie Garcia, and due in November 2026.

Fred is president of Logos Consulting Group and executive director of the Logos Institute for Crisis Management & Executive Leadership. He is based in New York and has worked with clients in dozens of countries on six continents.

Fred has more than 45 years of experience counseling securities firms, banks, insurance companies, specialized financial and professional service firms, corporations, not-for-profits, and governments. He has particular expertise in crisis, change, and risk management; crisis communication; international security issues; international financial transactions; corporate governance; business ethics; and executive leadership.

Fred has coached more than 450 CEOs of major corporations, plus thousands of other high-profile people in other complex fields, including doctors, scientists, lawyers, financial executives, military officers, and government officials. These executives, on six continents, were in industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, heavy manufacturing, biotechnology, computer software, financial services, law firms, advertising agencies, religious denominations, universities, and not-for-profit advocacy groups. In the 1980s he worked at leading public relations firms and served as head of public relations for a global investment bank and for a large public accounting firm. Through the 1990s Fred headed the crisis practice of a leading strategic communication consulting firm.

Fred is a highly sought keynote and motivational speaker. He has delivered keynote addresses at major conferences and events in the North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Fred speaks about leadership communication, crisis management, business ethics, journalist/source relationships, disinformation, and ways to maintain trust in difficult situations.

Academic Affiliations

Fred has been on the New York University faculty since 1988. He is an adjunct professor of management in NYU’s Stern School of Business, where in 2016 he was named Executive MBA Great Professor. He teaches crisis management in NYU’s Executive MBA programs in New York and Washington DC, as well as the TRIUM Global Executive MBA, a joint program of NYU Stern, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and HEC Management Paris.

Fred is also an adjunct associate professor of management and communication in NYU’s School of Professional Studies, MS in Public Relations and Corporate Communication program, where he twice received the Dean’s award for teaching excellence, in 1990 and in 2017. He also received awards for outstanding service and for 35 years’ service in teaching. In that program he has taught courses in communication strategy; in communication ethics, law, and regulation; and currently teaches crisis communication.

Fred is an adjunct professor of industrial engineering and operations research at Columbia University, where he teaches ethics, crisis, and leadership in the Professional Development and Leadership program of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

For eight years until 2015 Fred served on the leadership faculty of the Center for Security Studies of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland, where he taught an intensive seminar in the Master’s in Advanced Studies in Crisis Management and Security Policy. He has also served on the adjunct faculty of the Starr King School for the Ministry, where for six years he taught a seminar on religious leadership for social change.

Since 2000, Fred has been a contract lecturer at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. From 2012 to 2025, he was a contract lecturer at U.S. Defense Information School. He also has been a frequent guest lecturer at the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College, U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, U.S. Air Force Air War College, the Brookings Institution, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and other universities around the world.

In 2011 Fred was designated an International Distinguished Scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he gave a series of lectures and workshops on effective crisis response for graduate students and senior government, corporate, and NGO leaders. In 2015 he conducted an extensive teaching and speaking tour of China, teaching in more than a dozen leading universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nankai University, Communication University of China, and Nanjing University, plus delivering keynotes at major corporate events.

Published Books

Fred is the author of seven books:

Influencing Leaders: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor, co-authored with James E. Lukaszewski, Wiley in August 2026.
The Trump Contagion: How Incompetence, Dishonesty, and Neglect Led to the Worst-Handled Crisis in American History, Logos Institute for Crisis Management and Executive Leadership Press, 2024.
Words on Fire: The Power of Incendiary Language and How to Confront It, Radius Book Group, 2020.
The Agony of Decision: Mental Readiness and Leadership in a Crisis, available in both paperback and as an e-book from Kindle here. It is also available as an audiobook at Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. A Chinese language translation was published in 2020 by the Posts & Telecom Press in Beijing.
The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively, Pearson, 2012, and its two companion videos (Nine Principles of Effective Leadership Communication and The Physicality of Audience Engagement). A second edition is under development with co-author Katie Garcia, due in November 2026.
Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communication, Routledge and Taylor Group. Fifth Edition, 2026; fourth edition July 2020; third edition 2015; second edition 2011; first edition 2007 by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group; Korean language edition 2016 by Alma Books, Seoul, Republic of Korea as 명성 경영 전략; Vietnamese edition, FTP Polytechnic University, 2023, as Quản lý danh tiếng: Chìa khóa để thành công quan hệ công chúng và truyền thông doanh nghiệp.
Crisis Communications, AAAA Publications, 1999 (currently out of print).

Recognition

Fred is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council. He is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America and has received the Society’s New York Chapter’s Philip Dorf Award for mentoring; its John W. Hill award for lifetime achievement; and its President’s Award for “the highest standards of ethical conduct and outstanding service within the public relations profession.”

In 2022, Fred participated in the U.S. Army War College National Security Seminar and received a certificate in Leader Development – National Security and Strategy.

Education

Fred has an MA in philosophy from Columbia University and two graduate certificates in classical Greek language and literature from the Latin/Greek Institute of the City University of New York Graduate Center.

He has a BA with honors in politics and philosophy from New York University, where he was named a University Honors Scholar and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

He received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Mount Saint Mary College.

Philanthropy
Fred’s philanthropic work focuses largely on multi-faith and social justice causes. From 2011 to 2020, Fred was on the Board of International Trustees of Religions for Peace. From 2020 to 2023, he served Religions for Peace as an International Goodwill Ambassador. He served as Board Chair of the Interfaith Alliance Foundation in Washington, DC. from 2014 to 2017, and as a member of the board of trustees from 2007 to 2020. Fred is a former board chair and member of the board of trustees of the Starr King School for the Ministry. For 15 years he served on the board of trustees of the New York-based human rights organization Freedom to Marry. For ten years he served on the board of trustees of Disaster Chaplaincy Services in New York, and for three years on the board of trustees of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Fred is a past chair and a former member of the board of directors of the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art and a former trustee of the Purchase College Foundation. He was named Westchester County (NY) Arts Patron of the Year for 2006 by the Westchester Arts Council.