Rich Lesser, CEO of the Boston Consulting Group, and Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld write that when government fails to address the threat of climate change, businesses must lead.
This week, the Business Roundtable declared a commitment to the interests of customers, employees, and local communities—not just shareholders. Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld says the change in position reflects an understanding among many business leaders that doing good is not antithetical to doing well.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that WeWork founder Adam Neumann’s sale of $700 million of his ownership indicates a lack of faith in his own company as it heads toward an IPO.
Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld says the positive nature of discussion at the recent economic summit in Bahrain was a welcome sign of new optimism in the region.
The proposed merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler would create the world's third-largest automaker and could reshape the future of electric and self-driving cars. But Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that the merger is a fundamentally human drama.
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld points to research on the strengths of older people and the accomplishments of politicians and business leaders in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Today’s C-suite is crowded with executive titles, Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes. The result, he argues, is a dilution of leadership and confusion about who is really in charge.
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that the the arrest of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi chief reveals much about Japan’s system of business-government central planning.
Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, an expert on leadership, writes that events of the last few years have helped illuminate which top executives have the courage to take a stand based on principle.
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld argues that business leaders have to speak out about the U.S. government shutdown and create a path out of the political stalemate.
CEO Elon Musk is clinging to his image as an irreverent, self-promoting disrupter, when the company needs him to demonstrate stability and reliability.
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and journalist Roya Hakakian write that continued business activism can help bring about positive change in the Middle East.
Tesla may have reached a settlement with the SEC, Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes, but the company's board still needs to address the problems created by its brilliant, self-destructive CEO.
Since Facebook's stock structure guarantees CEO Mark Zuckerberg control, Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes, its only hope is some brutally honest feedback from his star-studded board.
More than a dozen prominent CEOs have ushered out of the executive suite in recent weeks. Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that their sudden departures offer lessons on how to survive—or at least make a graceful exit.
When Kathy Warden was named CEO of Northrop Grumman this week, she became the third woman CEO among the top five aerospace and defense contractors. Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that this welcome trend has an echo in the early history of the industry.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld says the CEOs of AT&T and Novartis were right to respond swiftly and directly to their companies’ connection to the scandal around Michael Cohen.
The CEO of Facebook is apologizing to Congress for the company’s misuse of user data. But real contrition, Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes, means explaining what you did wrong and making sure it doesn’t happen again.
With legislators demanding answers from Facebook and users deleting the company's app, its top leaders have been silent. We asked Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld how they should be responding to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Should for-profit corporations be taking a stand on a hot-button political issue like guns? Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld argues that businesses need to not just respond but to lead.
In the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes, a wave of outrage is prompting CEOs to acknowledge their duty to the public and stand up to the NRA.
After a group of top business leaders resigned from presidential advisory panels, Yale SOM’s Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld discussed the conundrum faced by leaders of public corporations who take seriously their role as citizens.
Yale’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld calls on business leaders to meet the test of character and civic leadership by following through on their stated convictions.
In a Wall Street Journal commentary, Prof. Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld writes that short-term thinking has led a number of companies to oust valuable leaders.
In a Politico commentary, Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld asks if there are reasons to be optimistic about the responsibilities given to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld recently assembled a group of business and political leaders from Mexico and the United States to discuss the state of the strained but critical relationship between the two countries.
The recent performance by Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf before the Senate Banking Committee has been widely panned. Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld explains how CEOs can do better when faced with a crisis.
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that business leaders are increasingly embracing a larger societal mission and using their public statements to comment beyond deals and products.
Leadership scholar Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and political scientist Jacob Hacker, who recently sat down for an hour-long conversation with Donald Trump, discuss their impressions of the man and the current moment in political history.
In a Fortune magazine article, Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld suggests that political rivals who underestimate Donald Trump—and the myth surrounding him—do so at their own peril.
In a Chief Executive magazine commentary, Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld applauds McDonald’s for being forthright about recent performance problems at the company and their plan to address them.
In a Fortune magazine op-ed, Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld says that in order to make a comeback, NBC anchor Brian Williams will need to find a new, public mission.
In a New York Times op-ed, Professors Victoria Brescoll and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld write about the gender bias and discrimination that persist for powerful women in corporate America.
In a New York Times op-ed, Senior Associate Dean Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes about the call to separate the chairman and CEO roles at JPMorgan Chase. “While the model can work on occasion, it is surely no panacea that ensures good economic results or good governance,” he argues.
All cultures and all eras have their heroes—individuals who set out on a quest and overcome great adversity to attain a glorious end. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld suggests that CEOs today are living out this age-old narrative. He explains why society is looking for its heroes in the corner office.
Austin Ligon, Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, E. V. "Rick" Goings, Nell Minow, John C. Bogle
With their power, their prominence, and their pay packages, CEOs are cynosures in the business universe. Could the structures of a management profession take in these corporate chiefs? Or should CEOs of publicly traded companies be treated as members of a separate profession, with its own rules and responsibilities?
