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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.

Police at the site of the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on December 04, 2024.
  • Advice for a Better 2021—According to the Research

    We asked faculty with expertise in psychology, entrepreneurship, healthcare, economics, and more for their best ideas to bring the lessons of the last year to the next.

    A crocus growing out of snow
  • Trump’s Reluctant Goodbye

    In the final act of Donald Trump‘s presidency, Yale SOM's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sees echoes of “monarchical” CEOs who purge truth-tellers and surround themselves with sycophants—and invariably make an involuntary exit from the C-suite.

    Marine One departing the South Lawn of the White House
  • CEOs Urge Respect for Election Integrity

    In a hastily assembled call on November 6, corporate leaders agreed on the importance of smooth transition process and encouraged GOP leaders to endorse the integrity of the election.

    President-Elect Joe Biden speaks to the media on November 9, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images.
  • Building Blocks for Change

    We talked to Judith Scimone ’00, chief talent officer at MetLife, about her path into workforce management and what she has learned in a year shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

    An illustration of a woman sitting in front of her computer having a Zoom meeting.
  • Business Leaders Mobilize for a Fair Vote

    As the U.S. approaches a divisive election, writes Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, business leaders are calling for patience while ballots are counted and a peaceful transfer of power.

    Ballots in a sorting machine at the Santa Clara County registrar of voters office in October 2020. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.
  • Can We Talk about Politics at Work?

    We asked Heidi Brooks, who studies organizational behavior and pioneered the course Everyday Leadership, for her advice on how organizations can respond positively to strong opinions and emotions around political issues—both during election season and after the votes have been cast.

    An illustration of people reading newspapers with election news.
  • Getting Corporate Diversity Programs Wrong

    Yale SOM leadership expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who studied a previous wave of diversity initiatives, describes how such well-intentioned initiatives can go awry—and how to get them back on track.

    Protests sparked by the arrest of two Black men at a Starbucks location in Philadelphia in April 2018. Photo: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
  • Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont

    A year into his term as governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont ’80 found himself with a new agenda: responding to the state’s outbreak of COVID-19, one of the first and most severe in the country. We talked with him about the partnerships he formed to bring down Connecticut’s infection rate and the risks that lie ahead.

    An illustration of Governor Ned Lamont speaking to the press wearing a mask on the beach
  • Please Mr. Postman

    Some have defended cutbacks to the United States Postal Service, weeks ahead of the election, by citing the USPS’s financial struggles. But the postal service was created to provide a public service, writes Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, not to turn a profit.

    A USPS worker wearing a mask puts envelopes in a mailbox while driving past
  • Departures from Convention

    With the Democratic National Convention taking place online, Prof. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld reflects on other conventions Americans have abandoned, and the traditions we’ve let go of, during this tumultuous time.

    The Statue of Liberty at night