Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld

Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies & Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management
Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
Opinion

Tesla’s Turbulence Musk Be Explained

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
Yale’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld argues that Elon Musk’s recent performance demonstrates that he doesn’t get the importance of fulfilling expectations.
Opinion

Lost At C: Why Executive Titles Matter

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.  
Opinion

Asleep at the Wheel

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
Tesla's board needs to wake up and take the wheel of the auto manufacturer before it's too late, writes Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld.
Opinion

SEC Settlement Won’t Fix Tesla

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Opinion

At CBS, Less of Les Is More

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
Whoever replaces Les Moonves at CBS must look beyond picking hits, writes Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld.
Opinion

Five Lessons From A Rash Of Untimely CEO Departures

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Opinion

Women Leaders Ascend in the Aerospace and Defense Industry

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Video

When Should CEOs Take a Political Stand?

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Opinion

The CEOs Who Didn’t Deserve the Boot

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Opinion

How Wells Fargo's CEO Could Have Avoided His Senate Belly Flop

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Video

How Do Mayors Get Things Done?

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Richard Berry, Byron Brown, Madeline Rogero
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld talks with mayors from both parties about how they move past partisan combat to find solutions that work.
Opinion

How DuPont's Directors Failed

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
CEO Ellen Kullman's departure is one of many examples of dysfunctional corporate boards making rash decisions.
Q & A

What Can We Learn from Trump?

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Jacob S. Hacker
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.
Opinion

Why the ‘Dump Trump’ Strategy is Doomed

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Opinion

Women as Bosses Still Face Bias

Victoria L. Brescoll, Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Opinion

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld on Separating the Chairman and CEO Roles at JPMorgan

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Q & A

Are CEOs today's heroes?

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
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.
Q & A

The chief professional?

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?