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Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld

  • How Leaders Finally Walk Away

    In analyzing President Joseph Biden’s decision not to run for reelection, Yale leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sees the underlying quest for heroic mission and stature that drives many epoch-shaping leaders—and often makes succession a tricky affair.

    President Joe Biden
  • Why Many Business Leaders Are Worried about Trump’s VP Pick

    Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and two Yale SOM colleagues write that the selection of J. D. Vance as vice presidential nominee reflects Trump’s worst anti-business instincts.

    Images of J. D. Vance on video screens at the Republican National Convention
  • Biden Should Go on Offense—Without Being Offensive

    Yale leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his co-author Steven Tian argue that President Joseph Biden has a strong record of economic accomplishment, and he should tout that at the first presidential debate rather than rely on populist attacks on big business.

    Empty lectern
  • How AI Is Already Transforming Fortune 500 Businesses, According to Their CEOs

    At a recent Yale CEO Summit, Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld talked to business leaders about the AI tools and other new technologies appearing everywhere from back offices to fast-food kitchens. Sonnenfeld and co-author Steven Tian outline the looming changes in a variety of sectors.

    A Chipotle chef with Chippy, an autonomous kitchen assistant that makes tortilla chips
  • The Coming MAGA Assault on Capitalism

    Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that former president Trump and his followers have made no secret of their hostility to business or their plans to intervene in markets.

    People holding "Making America Great Again" signs at a Trump rally
  • Use Russia’s Frozen Assets to Rebuild Ukraine

    Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Ambassadors John E. Herbst and William B. Taylor argue that $300 billion of frozen Russian assets in Western banks should be transferred to Ukraine to help reconstruct its devastated infrastructure.

    Emergency services workers at the site of a drone attack in February in Odesa, Ukraine. 
  • CEOs Need More Face Time, Not FaceTime

    Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld explains how effective business leaders make the best use of face-to-face meetings with employees around the world.

    A business jet on a runway at twilight
  • Speaker Mike Johnson’s ‘Profiles in Courage’ Moment

    Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and co-author Steven Tian write that the House Speaker displayed rare courage in learning on the job and defying extremists in his own party—and draw historical parallels to an ideological conversion that changed the course of the Cold War.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking to the press, in a wide image from behind
  • Who Is the Leader to Put Boeing Back on Course?

    Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a longtime observer of the company, and co-author Steven Tian consider five likely candidates to succeed CEO Dave Calhoun, who will step down at the end of the year.

    A plane over a runway
  • What Bob Iger’s Critics Get Wrong about His Performance at Disney

    Disney is embroiled in a proxy fight with activist investor Nelson Peltz ahead of its annual shareholder meeting next week. Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and co-author Steven Tian write that Peltz and other critics of CEO Bob Iger are relying on a series of myths that don’t hold up to scrutiny.

    Bob Iger