Danny Gutknecht has spent his career in pursuit of understanding the role of meaning in our lives and, especially, in our work. He’s devoured volumes of research by experts from Carl Jung to Abraham Maslow to E.O. Wilson. He has collected thousands of hours of recorded interview data from hundreds of teams discussing how they saw the connection between their work and what mattered to them personally.

Danny is the CEO of Pathways and the author of Meaning at Work: And Its Hidden Language in which he explains that meaning is a fundamental human drive that has profound and practical applications in business and society.

His research spans three decades and consists of the most extensive dataset on the relationship we have to work. He has collaborated with academics and research teams from the University of Texas, Arizona State University, and the University of Washington. Forbes, Huffington Post, Fast Company, and many others have quoted and interviewed him. He has been a featured speaker at major events organized by Capital One, Interim Healthcare, SHRM, Crossroads, Global Co-Working Association, Global Innovations Summit, and SXSW.

He has worked as an executive coach and a cultural turnaround advisor, and he’s designed programs that have helped people find and wield Meaning at work. He’s worked with companies like Expedia, BE Aerospace, Interim, Capital One, The Mayo Clinic, Riverbed Technologies, OSI Soft, the University of Michigan, Premise Health, Crossroads, NFP (National Financial Partners), and Fairview. In addition, Danny teaches practical approaches and tools for Meaning in seminars at The University of Texas.

He is co-founder and CEO of Pathways, a firm that helps people and organizations use the right tools and approaches to deal with Meaning at work. 

He resides in Phoenix, Arizona.