The biennial Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards were created in 2011 to recognise the exceptional contributions of individual thinkers.
Distinguished Achievement Award Categories:
In addition to the category awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual thinker in recognition of an outstanding body of work over an entire lifetime; and a Founders’ Award is given to individuals in the world of business ideas who provide industry leadership and inspiration.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Recognising an outstanding body of work over an entire lifetime.
The Thinkers50 Lifetime Achievement Award is given to someone who has had a long-term impact on the way people think about and practice management. The first-ever award in this category was given to Charles Handy in 2011. Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award gain automatic entry into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.
See the complete list of Lifetime Achievement Award recipients
FOUNDERS’ AWARD
For an individual who has paved the way for thought leadership to flourish.
The Thinkers50 Founders’ Award, introduced in 2019, recognises individuals in the world of business ideas who provide industry leadership and inspiration. It acknowledges the invaluable contribution of the architects who lay the foundations for ideas to flourish. The first Thinkers50 Founders’ Award recipient was Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, President of IE University.
Nominations for the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Category Awards are open from May to July in Thinkers50 Awards Gala years (odd-numbered years), and shortlists are announced in late summer. Awards are conferred in November at the biennial Thinkers50 Awards Gala event.
All nominations for the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards are considered by the Thinkers50 Panel of Advisors.
Public participation is an important part of the Awards process. In Thinkers50 Awards years (odd-numbered years) all interested parties are invited to participate in the nomination process by submitting online the names and qualifications of thinkers they wish to put forward for consideration. Nominations from across the globe are accepted – and encouraged.
for the 2023 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards.
The Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award celebrates a eureka moment in management thinking. It is given to a thinker whose radical ideas and insights have the potential to change the way we think about business forever. From Taylorism to The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, new ideas have challenged what we know about the business world. Where will the next management breakthrough come from?
Digital technology has transformed the world. It has also changed the way we work and even the way we understand ourselves as human beings. Which thinker’s research and insights shed the most original and valuable light on the new digital reality of business? The Thinkers50 Digital Thinking Award celebrates the thinker who has done the most to transform the digital revolution into useful management insights.
There is nothing so practical as a great idea. At Thinkers50 we value practical thinking that makes a valuable contribution in the real world. Equally, we admire organisations that are open to new ideas no matter what their source. The Thinkers50 Ideas into Practice Award celebrates the individual whose ideas have successfully led organisational change, putting new ideas to work.
If necessity is the mother of invention, then innovation is its nurturing father. The word innovate comes from the Latin to “make new.” The need for innovation has never been more pressing—in society as well as in organisations. The Thinkers50 Innovation Award recognises the thinker who has contributed the most to our understanding of innovation in every sphere over the last two years.
Teams, corporations, and organisations of every kind demand and require leadership. Yet the nature of leadership and how we understand the role of the leader is constantly evolving and being reappraised. The Thinkers50 Leadership Award acknowledges thinkers who shed powerful and original new light onto this perennial and yet classic subject.
The Thinkers50 Radar Award identifies a new emerging thinker with the potential to change the world of theory and practice. The recipient of this Award is drawn from the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2022 and 2023. The Radar list itself showcases new talent and ideas, and provides an early alert system for managers, publishers, speaker bureaus, and others in the thought leadership industry.
Where are you going and how do you intend to get there? This question lives at the heart of management and leadership. Strategy is arguably the intellectual and inspirational lifeblood of every organisation. The Thinkers50 Strategy Award celebrates the very best of strategic thinking. If you were running a corporation, to whom would you turn for strategic advice?
In ancient Greece, talent was a unit of currency. Today, human talent has become the global currency, with organisations competing for the very best people from around the world. With changing attitudes toward work and new generations entering the workforce, the challenge now is to better understand how talented individuals work best and how they can be effectively trained, attracted, motivated and employed. The Thinkers50 Talent Award recognises the thinker who has done the most to advance our understanding of the changing talent landscape.
The public is invited to participate in the online nomination process for both the Ranking and the Distinguished Achievement Awards by submitting the names and qualifications of thinkers they wish to put forward for consideration. Nominations are accepted and encouraged from individuals and organizations across the globe.
The new Ranking and Award recipients will
be announced at the
Join us in celebration of the best in business and management thinking.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Thinkers50 Lifetime Achievement Award is given to someone who has had a long-term impact on the way people think about and practice management. The first-ever award in this category was given to Charles Handy in 2011. Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award gain automatic entry into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.
Founders’ Award
For an individual who has paved the way for thought leadership to flourish
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Thinkers50 Limited
The Studio
Highfield Lane
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United Kingdom
