Leadership
A Very Un-American Response to the Murder of Brian Thompson
Disturbingly, a vocal fringe has cheered the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, write Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and co-author Steven Tian, but most Americans admire business leaders and see them as a stabilizing force.
What I Learned Debating Vivek Ramaswamy
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who has tangled on cable news with the entrepreneur turned GOP candidate, says the key is to avoid following him down diversionary rabbit holes.
Reinventing the Way We Work—Again
The pandemic changed where we work and how we work, how we think about the place of work in our lives and vice versa—all against a backdrop of rapid technological change, economic upheaval, and a reckoning with racism. We talked with Yale SOM's Heidi Brooks about how to have necessary conversations about a new experience of work.
Horatio Alger Is a Hoax, But We Can Still Celebrate the American Dream
Horatio Alger, the 19th-century writer whose name became shorthand for self-improvement, is in the news because of Justice Clarence Thomas’s connection to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. But Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld says that Alger’s story says more about mythmaking than it does about the American dream.
We Put Aside the Hype and Asked CEOs What They’re Actually Planning for AI
The headlines are full of grand and sometimes terrifying speculation about the potential of artificial intelligence. At Yale SOM’s CEO Summit recently, Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld asked business leaders for some real talk about how their companies are using the technology.
Is It Smart to Be a ‘Stupid Genius’ Like Elon Musk?
Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld asks if the CEO’s eccentricities and forgotten promises are undermining his leadership of Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX.
Remembering Oz Nelson, Who Reinvented UPS
In the 1990s, Nelson modernized the shipping company and gave it a new focus on the customer. Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld remembers the former CEO, who died on April 6.
How Disney’s Bob Iger Outmaneuvered Ron DeSantis
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld writes that Iger offered a master class in standing up to bullies when he undercut the Florida governor’s attempt to impose new oversight on Walt Disney World.
Why Accountability Needs an Upgrade
In an excerpt from their new book, Conscious Accountability, Yale SOM’s David Tate and his co-authors Marianne Pantalon and Daryn David argue for looking beyond blame and punishment and embracing a form of accountability based on clear communication and mutual trust.
Activist Investor Nelson Peltz’s Track Record Doesn’t Back Up His Bluster
Peltz, the founding partner of Trian Fund Management, is demanding a seat on Disney’s board. Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian found that more than half of the companies with Peltz on their boards have underperformed the market.
The U.S. Has Thwarted Putin’s Energy Blackmail
Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian write that the Biden administration’s balanced approach has helped Europe maintain its natural gas supply while protecting U.S. interests.
