Adam W. Barney

Advisory Board Member, Chinese Culture Connection

Adam W. Barney works with transitioning leaders at pivotal moments – career shifts, leadership inflection points, and identity resets – helping them regain clarity, direction, and sustainable momentum.

After more than 20 years in senior leadership roles across global organizations, Adam reached a breaking point: he could no longer build or lead inside systems that burned people out while calling it success. He stepped away, rewrote the rules, and built a practice centered on EnergyOS, a practical framework that helps leaders redirect their energy toward work and lives that actually fit.

As the author of Make Your Own Glass Half Full: The Path to Empowered Optimism and Autonomy, Adam has supported hundreds of leaders (from microbusiness owners to executives) in navigating change with clarity, resilience, and self-trust. His work blends strategy, optimism, and accountability, grounded in the belief that energy isn’t something to recover; it’s something to deploy with intention.

Adam lives in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston with his wife, two young daughters, and their two dogs. Life is loud, full, and beautifully imperfect. Music keeps him grounded, so there’s a good chance you’ll find him at a live show when he’s not helping leaders design their next chapter.