Skip to main content

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld

  • Some of the Biggest Brands Are Leaving Russia. Others Just Can’t Quit Putin.

    Since the invasion of Ukraine, Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his team have been tracking which companies have withdrawn from Russia, which are making partial moves, and which are staying put.

    A Subway restaurant in Moscow.
  • Why the Business Retreat from Russia Matters

    Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that companies’ moves to disengage from Russia can make a difference, pointing to the withdrawal of businesses from apartheid South Africa in the 1980s.

    An empty Apple reseller store in Moscow on March 7, 2022. 
  • Temporary CEOs Can Introduce Permanent Problems

    Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that putting off a leadership transition is usually the consequence of governance failures—and can have negative repercussions long after a permanent leader is installed.

    An illustration of a clock pushing a man with a suit off the edge of a surface
  • Office Romance Policies Aren’t Working

    Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and author Joanne Lipman write that Jeff Zucker's departure from CNN illustrates the inconsistency and ambiguity of corporate policies on workplace relationships.

    A hand reaching toward a heart in a bear trap
  • A Year Later, Most CEOs Are Keeping Their Post-Insurrection Promises

    Recent news stories have asserted that corporate leaders are reneging on their pledges to withhold contributions to members of Congress who voted against certifying election results on January 6, 2021. But Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who hosted one of the meetings where those pledges were made, writes that CEOs remain deeply troubled by threats to democracy, and that campaign records show that most corporate PACs aren't giving to election objectors.

    Senator Josh Hawley gestures to demonstrators as he enters the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
  • GE’s Split Unravels a Massive Management Mistake

    General Electric CEO Larry Culp announced this week that the company would split into three separate firms. Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that Culp was acknowledging the failure of an approach—the highly diversified industrial conglomerate—that dates back to Jack Welch’s tenure in the 1980s.

    A General Electric facility in Belfort, France, reflecting in a body of water.
  • No, Machiavelli Did Not Say It’s Better to Be Feared Than Loved

    The leadership lesson attributed to Machiavelli’s The Prince is one of many truisms that are frequently distorted for ideological purposes, writes Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Such distortions can lead to flawed decision-making in the boardroom, according to Sonnenfeld.

    A distorted image of Machiavelli
  • How Leaders Can Fend Off Unwanted Email Introductions

    Leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld offers advice for CEOs who are repeatedly ambushed by former associates playing online matchmaker.

    A hand holding an envelope coming out of a computer screen
  • Soaring COVID Rates in the South Show Why We Need Vaccine Mandates

    The data shows that low vaccination rates in southern states are leading to thousands of needless deaths, write Albert Ko of the Yale School of Public Health and Anjani Jain and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale SOM.

    Nurses with a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in August 2021.
  • COVID Outcomes in Two States Show That Leadership Matters

    Yale SOM’s Anjani Jain and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld on how the rhetoric and policies of Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Ned Lamont of Connecticut have shaped their states’ responses to the resurgence of COVID-19—with profound implications for their constituents.

    A silhouette of a speaker at a podium in front of an American flag