Announcing the New Thinkers50 Ranking and Distinguished Achievement Awards 2025

We are thrilled to unveil the prestigious new Thinkers50 Ranking along with the recipients of the 2025 Distinguished Achievement Awards! The announcement of the new Ranking and Awards took place 4 November at the Thinkers50 London Summit & Awards Gala in London’s historic Guildhall – culminating a captivating two days of discussion and debate with leading management thinkers and business practitioners from around the world. 

For the first time, the Thinkers50 Ranking is topped by Paul Polman & Andrew Winston, authors of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take.

“Paul and Andrew’s work has profound resonance and impact,” says Thinkers50 co-founder Des Dearlove. “The idea that business must embrace regenerative practices is not a passing trend – it’s an imperative, and Paul and Andrew explain what that means in practice. 

At Thinkers50 we believe management should be a force for good – one that tackles society’s greatest challenges and shapes a regenerative future. Paul and Andrew challenge leaders with the ultimate question: ‘Is the world better off because your business is in it?’”

 The 2025 Thinkers50 Ranking Top 10:

1. Paul Polman & Andrew Winston (3)
2. Amy Edmondson (1)
3. Amy Webb (4)
4. Linda Hill (-)
5. Scott D. Anthony (9)
6. Rita McGrath (7)  
7. Frances Frei & Anne Morriss (-)
8. Adam Grant (2)
9. Ranjay Gulati (-)
10. Sheena Iyengar (6)

VIEW FULL RANKING

The 2025 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards:

Breakthrough Idea Award
dedicated to the legacy of C.K. Prahalad
in partnership with Michigan Ross Executive Education
Kate Vitasek

Coaching & Mentoring Award
in partnership with coaching.com
Jeff Hull & Margaret Moore 

Digital Thinking Award
in partnership with VARGROUP
Hamilton Mann

Future Readiness Award *NEW*
presented by Royal Academy of Management
Amy Webb

Innovation Award
in partnership with Shimizu Corporation
Aidan McCullen

Leadership Award
sponsored by Amplify Publishing Group
Ranjay Gulati

Radar Award
in partnership with London Speaker Bureau
Neri Karra Sillaman

Regenerative Business Award *NEW*
sponsored by Deloitte
Paul Hawken

Strategy Award
in partnership with Origina
Sangeet Paul Choudary

Talent Award
in partnership with Randstad
Ludmila Praslova

Lifetime Achievement Award
Lynda Gratton

Founders’ Award
sponsored by the International Coaching Federation
Henry Stewart

VIEW ALL AWARDS & SHORTLISTS

ABOUT THINKERS50

Thinkers50 is the world’s most reliable resource for identifying, ranking, and sharing the leading management ideas of our age. Since 2001, the prestigious Thinkers50 Ranking of Management Thinkers has been published every two years. The Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards were added in 2011 to recognise outstanding contributions in particular fields of thought leadership. The Thinkers50 London Summit & Awards Gala has been described by The Financial Times as the “Oscars of management thinking.”