Sharon Birkman began her role as Birkman International’s President and CEO in 2002, becoming Chairman & CEO in 2019. As the daughter of company founder and influential industrial-organizational psychologist, Dr. Roger W. Birkman, Sharon cultivated her deep expertise in human perception and organizational behavior through her lifelong interest in The Birkman Method. Before succeeding Dr. Birkman as CEO, Sharon served in several roles including Vice President of Corporate Relations, Training, and Career Coaching.
Sharon’s leadership has been instrumental in ushering into a new era of product development, technology, and training initiatives during a time of unprecedented growth. In this period, Sharon and the business have been recognized with a multitude of awards. These include EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016, the Women President’s Organization’s Mary Lehman MacLachlan Award for Economic Empowerment in 2017, Houston’s Best and Brightest Places to Work For from 2014-2020 and 2022, National Best and Brightest Places to Work For (2014-2020), the Houston Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award in 2017 and 2018, and as a Houston Power 50 Woman Leader in 2018.
In addition to her responsibilities at Birkman, Sharon volunteers her services as a Board Member of Houston Public Media (NPR and PBS), Goodwill Industries of Houston, and as a lay-leader for Chapelwood United Methodist Church. She also served as a long-time Board member for ESCAPE Family Resource Center.
Sharon has an M.A. from the University of Texas and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s OPM (Owner/President Management) program. She co-authored the book “The Birkman Method: Your Personality at Work” (2013) and authored the book “Creatures of Contact” (2020) by ForbesBooks.
In her personal life, Sharon confesses to collecting “too many” books and loves to recharge with long walks, classical music, NPR and theater. She is the mother of three grown daughters and along with husband, Richard, treasures time with their grandchildren Morgan, Declan, Lyla, and Emerson.
