Robert Lawrence Hanig

Celebrating the Vibrant Life of Robert Lawrence Hanig

Our hearts are broken by the sudden and unexpected passing of Robert Lawrence Hanig age 74, on September 6, 2026. To all who knew him, he was a beacon of health, humor, vitality, and endless energy making the shock of his absence felt even more deeply.

Robert's Early History

Born in the Bronx, NY, Robert was the son of the late Harry and Charlotte (Fischer) Hanig. Robert grew up as a great all-around wild NYC kid and lived a life defined by his energy and passions. He spent his childhood playing in the streets with neighborhood friends and enjoyed nature during summers in the Catskills. He celebrated his bar mitzvah in 1964. Around the age of fourteen, his grandma, Anna, took him to Brooklyn to learn how to scuba dive. This was life changing, and he wrote a college essay describing the new world he had discovered. In his early 20’s, Robert lived in the Chelsea Hotel and performed in an experimental dance company, the Multi-Gravitational Experimental Group. He moved to Boston where he immersed himself in the macrobiotic movement working and helping build the Erewhon brand, working with pioneers like Michio Kushi and Paul Hawken.

Robert's Career

In the early years of his career, Robert held senior manufacturing and IT management positions at companies including Apollo Computer, High Voltage Engineering, and Erewhon Natural Foods. Later he became President of D.M.A., Inc., an international consulting and training company working at the leading edge of individual and collective innovation.  He joined Innovation Associates, Inc (IA) in the mid-1980s where he later became Vice President and led the Leadership Practice. When Arthur D. Little (ADL) purchased IA, Robert became Vice President. Robert directed both the companies’ public training offerings and in-house programs for clients focused on Leadership and large system change. After leaving ADL, Robert joined Dialogos LLC International, as a partner. In his more recent years, he founded RLH Consulting, a network of close colleagues focused on leadership and organizational change.

Robert was a founding member of the Society for Organizational Learning and the Academy for Systems Change.  He worked extensively with Peter Senge for decades and was elected to the governing council of the Society for Organizational Learning. He consulted with companies throughout North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. Robert’s extensive client list included: The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, Prudential PLC, BP, Genzyme, AT&T, The Asian Development Bank, DuPont, SABIC, Kimberly- Clark, Leadership Development Centre of New Zealand, and the International Finance Corporation. His leadership development programs at the World Bank and the IMF were pioneering in bringing deeper personal development work into these institutions.

Robert’s Impact

Robert enjoyed a vast world of friends and colleagues who deeply respected him as a colleague, mentor and friend. He spent many years designing, writing, teaching, and helping lead systemic interventions in areas including individual and collective leadership, organizational learning and systemic change, innovation, and dialogue. 

He wrote various articles as well as contributed to books such as The Dance of Change co-authored by Peter Senge published by Doubleday. An article in the June 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review described his work with First Level Leaders, a highly impactful worldwide leadership development program created at British Petroleum. 

Robert approached life with an open heart and a generous spirit. He was a brilliant thinker with a deeply reflective soul, a brilliant facilitator who could command a room with his serious focus and penetrating wisdom. His knowledge of the creative process and its role in leadership was profound. Yet, he was simultaneously and unbelievably playful. He possessed a hilarious, razor-sharp wit that could dismantle a tense moment in seconds. He could lead a high-stakes professional meeting with absolute precision, and five minutes later, deliver a perfectly timed, incredibly funny joke without blinking.

Many, many people from senior leaders to his closest friends sought out Robert for his insight and profound ability to listen deeply and understand. He was a mentor, coach, and one of the wisest people many of us knew.

Robert loved nature and felt nourished by its silence and beauty. He was an accomplished nature photographer and spent many hours with his daughter wandering and capturing the beaches and wooded areas of the North Shore area near Boston.

Robert is survived by his daughter Eve Tyler-Hanig, sister Enid Isakoff and husband Stephen Isakoff, nephews Larry Hanig, Jody Isakoff, Scott Isakoff, and niece Robin Hanig Slamowitz, and a vast network of lifelong friends and colleagues who will miss his warmth and presence dearly.