Biographies – Thinkers50 https://thinkers50.com Scanning, ranking, and sharing the best management ideas in the world Thu, 26 Feb 2026 19:57:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://thinkers50.com/wp-content/uploads/Thinkers50_RGB_yellow-fav-2.png Biographies – Thinkers50 https://thinkers50.com 32 32 Nidhi Tewari https://thinkers50.com/biographies/nidhi-tewari/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:58 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87668
Nidhi Tewari

Nidhi Tewari

LSCW, author of Working Well; licensed clinical social worker, work culture & mental health speaker.

TESTIMONIALS

“The knowledge, expertise, and experience she brings to the podium is unmatched… Nidhi’s keynote resonated in ways that people are still talking about today.” – Kappa Kappa Gamma.

TESTIMONIALS

“A passionate advocate for cultivating healthier and more compassionate work cultures.” – Molson Coors Beverage Company.

Ideas

In her 2026 book Working Well, Nidhi argues that we work better when workplaces embrace people as whole, complex beings rather than expecting them to compartmentalize their lives. She introduces the science of attunement – the practice of deepening connections by making others feel seen, heard, and valued – as the next evolution of emotional intelligence. Drawing on research, practical tools, and storytelling, she shows how attunement can deepen relationships, strengthen teams, and reduce stress and burnout. The book offers actionable frameworks for building self-awareness, emotional regulation, and stronger team dynamics that benefit both leaders and team members.

Bio

Nidhi is a licensed clinical social worker, mental health therapist, and keynote speaker on the topics of work culture, wellbeing, and communication.  She works with high-performing leaders, Fortune 500 companies, and professional associations coping with trauma, anxiety, stress, and burnout. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Oprah Daily, Yahoo, VICE, Theravive, and PsychCentral, as well as on news networks.  She has spoken to the World Economic Forum, NPR, Godiva, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), National Speakers Association, American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the Embodiment Conference about mental health and wellbeing at work topics.

Content

Working Well: How to Build a Happier, Healthier Workplace Through the Science of Attunement (Penguin Random House, 2026). ‘5 Ways That Businesses Can Help Promote The Mental Wellness Of Their Employees’ (Medium, 2021); ‘Frontline Workers Went From Covid Pandemic to Mental Health Pandemic’ (interview, National Press Foundation, 2025). My idea for a new era: The town hall from TED2022 (contribution, TED annual conference, 2022). On the importance of mental health in business (Ideas+Leaders podcast, 2022).

Media picks

Verdict

“Nidhi blends personal experience and clinical insight to show leaders how attunement can transform both workplaces and people’s lives. Working Well is a powerful reminder that empathy and connection aren’t soft skills – they’re essential ones.”

– Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers50 Hall of Fame; author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

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Dimitrije Ruzic https://thinkers50.com/biographies/dimitrije-ruzic/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:58 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87583
Dimitrije Ruzic

Dimitrije Ruzic

Assistant professor of economics, INSEAD.

RECOGNITION

Top 40 Under 40 – Poets&Quants.

RECOGNITION

Best Teacher Award – INSEAD.

Ideas

Dimitrije’s work spans macroeconomics and international trade. His research investigates how differences across firms shape macroeconomic outcomes. By combining models of differentiated firms with detailed microdata, he examines issues such as productivity dynamics, resource allocation, inequality, and firm-reputation spillovers. Dimitrije’s recent projects focus on understanding productivity trends in advanced economies and uncovering the drivers behind the mid-2000s labour-productivity slowdown in major European countries and the US.

Bio

Dimitrije is an assistant professor of economics at INSEAD. He obtained an A.B. in economics from Harvard College, an MSc in econometrics and mathematical economics from the London School of Economics, and a PhD in economics from the University of Michigan. He has been a visiting scholar at Becker Friedman Institute, the University of Chicago, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and a visiting assistant professor at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Media picks

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Article:

Mega Companies: Superstars or Super Villains?

Icon of an open book.

Article:

How Trade Made the Richest 0.1% Even Richer

Verdict

“Bringing new clarity to how firm-level differences shape productivity, inequality, and long-run economic performance.”

– Thinkers50

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Tojin T Eapen https://thinkers50.com/biographies/tojin-t-eapen/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:57 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87733
Tojin T Eapen

Tojin T Eapen

Founder of the Center for Creative Foresight.

RECOGNITION

‘Design Products That Won’t Become Obsolete’ is an HBR Must Read, 2026.

RECOGNITION

Ideas

As a researcher and educator, Tojin focuses on creative thinking, bioinspired design, and innovation management. His 2024 book, Bioinspired Strategic Design (with Daniel J. Finkenstadt), argues that organisations facing hostile and uncertain environments can improve their chances of survival and innovation by learning from strategies found in nature. The book identifies three core capabilities essential to both living organisms and organisations – efficiency, resilience, and prominence – and presents a systematic framework to help leaders make better strategic decisions under pressure. His 2023 Harvard Business Review cover article on Augmenting Creativity introduced the trisociation framework for human–AI collaboration, and has since been applied by global firms including Ipsos.

Bio

As founder of the Center for Creative Foresight and a Senior Fellow at The Conference Board, Tojin advises organisations on strategic foresight and sustainable innovation practices. Previously he taught at the Trulaske College of Business, University of Missouri, and the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Tojin has also served as a guest faculty member for the Global Leadership Program at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College. His professional career began in new product development and marketing at Indian engineering firm, Larsen & Toubro, where he was awarded the Sir Padampat Singhania Award for Best Young Manager by the All India Management Association (AIMA).

Content

Bioinspired Strategic Design (with Daniel J. Finkenstadt, Taylor & Francis, 2024). ‘Design Products That Won’t Become Obsolete’ (with co-authors, Harvard Business Review, 2024); ‘Contingency Scenario Planning using Generative AI’ (with co-authors, California Review Management, 2024); ‘How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity’ (with co-authors, Harvard Business Review, 2023); ‘Use GenAI to Improve Scenario Planning’ (with co-authors, Harvard Business Review, 2023). Designing Products That Grow (Business Talk podcast, 2025); Power of Generative AI (Thinkathons by SolutionPeople podcast, 2023).

Media picks

Verdict

“By translating nature’s survival mechanisms into strategic insight, Bioinspired Strategic Design offers a compelling blueprint for organisational resilience.”

– Thinkers50

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Louisa Loran https://thinkers50.com/biographies/louisa-loran/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:56 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87631
Louisa Loran

Louisa Loran

Strategic performance under complexity, through Leadership Anatomy in Motion.

ENDORSEMENTS

“Leadership Anatomy in Motion captures what much of the strategy literature misses: the powerful link between personal growth and strategic performance.” – Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Harvard Business School.

ENDORSEMENTS

“Leadership Anatomy in Motion is a timely reflection on the speed and noise of modern business and a practical guide to reclaiming clarity, alignment, and thoughtful leadership.” – Marshall Goldsmith, author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

Ideas

Louisa brings a distinctive way of seeing leadership in environments where speed, technological change, and human dynamics collide. Across industries and transformation cycles, she has observed that leadership success is shaped less by adding capability and more by the ability to pause, unlearn assumptions, and redirect action from within constraint. This insight has consistently shown up through four behaviours: Visioning, Expanding, Steering, and Embodying, which together form an applicable lens leaders use to regain clarity, conviction, and momentum when decisions are compressed and judgment is distorted by speed and pressure. Her work reframes leadership not as theory, but as a capacity to maximize potential also under pressure.

Bio

Louisa is an executive advisor, author, and board-level operator whose work sits at the intersection of strategy, transformation, and leadership capacity. At Google, she developed solutions, led industry agendas, and drove strategic business transformation with some of the company’s largest global customers. Earlier, she shaped strategy and held senior roles at Maersk and Diageo, operating inside complex organisations under sustained performance pressure. She currently serves on the board of Copenhagen Business School as well as on a Private Equity operating board. Her thinking travels through executive advisory work, global keynotes, and writing for leading international publications including Fortune, Fast Company, the Financial Times, Chief Executive, and World Financial Review. Through Leadership Anatomy in Motion, she uses storytelling to give reach to lived executive experience – motivating, guiding and empowering leaders as they navigate real decisions, real prioritisations, and moments where conviction matters.

Media picks

Verdict

“If there’s one book you’ll have to read this year it is Louisa Loran’s Leadership Anatomy in Motion.”

 – Martin Lindstrom, Thinkers50 Ranking; author of The Ministry of Common Sense

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Claudius Hildebrand https://thinkers50.com/biographies/claudius-hildebrand/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:54 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87551
Claudius Hildebrand

Claudius Hildebrand

Author of The Life Cycle of a CEO.

RECOGNITION

Academy of Management Publication Award: Best Article 2019, ‘Lay Theories of Networking’ (with Ko Kuwabara and Xi Zou).

ENDORSEMENT

“The Life Cycle of a CEO documents patterns that all leaders – and all those aspiring to lead – need to know.”
– Wall Street Journal.

Ideas

From an in-depth research project into CEO performance – which included studying every S&P 500 CEO of the 21st century and conducting 100+ interviews with chief executives and board directors – Claudius developed the CEO Life Cycle, a five-stage pattern that shapes executive success or failure. In his book The Life Cycle of a CEO (with Robert J. Stark), he challenges traditional assumptions in board governance by showing how leaders can adapt their approach as they progress through the stages of the cycle. By combining academic rigour with practical relevance, his dataset shifts CEO succession planning from intuition to evidence-driven strategy.

Bio

CEO Advisor at Spencer Stuart, where he leads the firm’s CEO Performance Analytics program, Claudius received his master’s and PhD in management from Columbia Business School. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart he was a member of Boston Consulting Group’s CEO Advisory. Earlier in his career, he served as founder and strategic adviser to several early-stage businesses in Germany, China, and the UK. He holds a coaching certificate from the Neuroleadership Institute and integrates cutting-edge neuroscience into his approach. Claudius’ work is frequently cited in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes and the Financial Times.

Content

The Life Cycle of a CEO: The Myths and Truths of How Leaders Succeed (with Robert J. Stark, Hachette, 2024). ‘Choose the Right CEO for Volatile Times’ (co-author, Harvard Business Review, 2025); ‘How CEOs Build Confidence in Their Leadership’ (co-author, Harvard Business Review, 2024); ‘The Leadership Odyssey’ (co-author, Harvard Business Review, 2023); ‘The CEO Life Cycle’ (co-author, Harvard Business Review, 2019). Giving up Control To Be in Control (Inspire Greatness Podcast with Matt Tenney, 2024); Planting Flags and Building Roads (Inspire Greatness Podcast with Matt Tenney, 2024).

Media picks

Verdict

“We talk about the first hundred days, but what happens next? In their essential book, Hildebrand and Stark masterfully combine the art of storytelling and science of data to illuminate the challenges and triumphs of a CEO’s journey from novice to elder. A must-read for current and aspiring leaders alike.”

 – Herminia Ibarra, Thinkers50 Leadership Award, 2013; author of Working Identity

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Patrick Lynch https://thinkers50.com/biographies/patrick-lynch/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:52 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87680
Patrick Lynch

Patrick Lynch

Professor and AI faculty lead, Hult Boston.

SKILLS

AI, change management, business & marketing strategy, leadership, creativity and innovation.

FUN FACT

An accomplished endurance athlete who has completed Ironman triathlons, the Boston Marathon, and Leadville Trail.

Ideas

Patrick’s work focuses on human-AI collaboration and immersive AI learning experiences.  He has developed a teacher-centred framework called THRIVE, which helps educators reflect on professional growth and integration of AI in teaching and learning. The six components of the framework are Transformative engagement; High productivity; Resilient adaptability; Imagination & creativity; Value through ethics; and Efficient optimisation. Patrick’s forthcoming book with Routledge/CRC Press, How to Outsmart AI and THRIVE, explores how leaders and teams can adapt and excel alongside intelligent technologies.

Bio

Patrick is a professor and AI faculty lead at Hult International Business School, Boston. Previously he was an associate professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Prior to joining Thunderbird he was VP Business Operations at Wolters Kluwer Health and had roles at North Star Leadership Group and Accenture. As a coach and consultant he helps firms accelerate digital, data-driven strategies. As an educator and executive he helps organisations demystify immersive internet solutions. Patrick’s work has featured in outlets including AMBA-BGA, AI Journal, Forbes, and MIT Sloan Management Review.

Content

How to Outsmart AI and Thrive (Routledge/CRC, forthcoming). ‘Bridging Cultures: How Human-AI Collaboration is Redefining Teams’ (chapter, AI Ready: Shaping Tomorrow with AI and Human Intelligence, Hult/Thinkers50, 2025). How AI Immersive Learning Reshapes Education and Work (TEDxHult Boston Talk, 2024). ‘Ready your teaching for the AI era with this six-part framework’ (Times Higher Education, 2025); ‘Is Your Brand Getting Lost in the Online Shuffle?’ (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2020); ‘Industry 4.0: Rise of global micro-influencers’ (Forbes India, 2019).

Media picks

Verdict

“Insightful work helping leaders and organisations transition and optimise performance in the AI era.”

– Thinkers50

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Kate Zipay & Allison Gabriel https://thinkers50.com/biographies/kate-zipay-allison-gabriel/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:47 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87623
Kate Zipay & Allison Gabriel

Kate Zipay & Allison Gabriel

Professors at the Mitchell E. Daniels School of Business, Purdue University.

RECOGNITION

Top 40 Under 40 – Poets&Quants, 2021: Kate.

RECOGNITION

Top 40 Under 40 – Poets&Quants, 2018: Allison.

Ideas

Kate and Allison explore the impact of motivational and psychological processes at work. They have developed a “motivational approach to work” that drives work processes based on employee needs, rather than external controls. Kate’s research examines the influence of life outside work on employee emotions, attitudes, and behaviours. She also explores how issues of justice influence employees and their work environments. Allison’s work examines what makes employees thrive focusing on emotions, interpersonal relationships, and in particular on women’s health and its intersection with work.

Bio

Kate is an associate professor in the organisational behaviour and human resources area at the Mitchell E. Daniels School of Business, Purdue University. She is also a faculty affiliate of the school’s Center for Working Well. Prior to joining the faculty at Purdue, she was an assistant professor at the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon and completed her PhD at the University of Georgia. Before pursuing her doctoral degree, she worked in public accounting at Deloitte.

Allison is the Thomas J. Howatt Chair in Management in the same department. She is also the director of the Center for Working Well and, from July 2026, the incoming senior editor for micro-research submissions at Journal of Management. Previously, she was an associate editor at the Journal of Applied Psychology and a guest editor at the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Work & Occupations. Allison has received multiple academic awards and was named a SIOP Fellow in 2023 and an APA Fellow in 2025.

Content

‘Motivational Approach to Work Produces Better Outcomes’ (Purdue University, 2024); ‘Have your cake, eat it, and work better’ (Purdue University, 2024); ‘What Venting Really Means for You and Your Team’ (Purdue University, 2025). ‘How a Fight at Home Impacts Your Workday’ (with co-authors, Harvard Business Review, 2022); ‘Cameras On or Off?’ (with co-authors, Harvard Business Review, 2021); ‘Remote Workers Need Small Talk Too’ (with co-authors, Harvard Business Review, 2021); ‘Don’t Just put on a Happy Face at Work’ (with co-authors, Harvard Business Review, 2021). Zoom Fatigue and the Science of Recovery (Wharton Future of Work Conference, 2022). The Great Camera Zoom Debate (The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC, 2021).

Media picks

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Article:

Motivational Approach to Work Produces Better Outcomes

Verdict

“Demonstrating how organisations can adopt more human-centred strategies for motivation, to improve performance.”

– Thinkers50

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Sunita Sah https://thinkers50.com/biographies/sunita-sah/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:47 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87706
Sunita Sah

Sunita Sah

Author of Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes.

RECOGNITION

UK HM Government Letter of Recognition from the Open Innovation Team – 2023.

RECOGNITION

Mid-Career Achievement Award, Health Care Management, Academy of Management – 2022.

Ideas

Sunita studies defiance, advice, and influence, with the aim of improving outcomes and mitigating inequalities in healthcare and society. In her book Defy, she redefines defiance, not as rebellion or chaos, but as the courage to act in alignment with your values when societal pressures push you to comply. Drawing on her extensive research, she explains how quiet, values-based defiance can transform workplaces, relationships, communities and, most importantly, yourself.

Bio

A professor at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, Sunita is a physician-turned organisational psychologist. Previously, she was an honorary fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School and a KPMG professor of management studies. From 1997 to 2011 she was a medical doctor in the UK NHS and worked as a management consultant for the pharmaceutical industry. She is also an advisor to government agencies, and former Commissioner of the National Commission on Forensic Science.

Content

Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes (Blink Publishing, 2025). Why do we stay silent in uncomfortable situations? (TEDxMiami, 2025). ‘The Anxiety You’ve Never Heard Of (But Have Definitely Helped’ (Psychology Today, 2025); ‘The science of defiance’ (The Conversation, 2025); ‘America thinks it’s a country of free thinkers. But we’re actually compliant’ (Los Angeles Times, 2025); ‘Speak Up at Thanksgiving. Your Health Demands It’ (The New York Times, 2023). Why We Struggle to Say No – And How to Get better at It (Science Quickly podcast, 2025).

Media picks

Verdict

“In Defy, Sunita Sah brilliantly reframes our understanding of defiance-from an act of mere rebellion to a vital tool for personal growth and social change. This book is a powerful, even transformative, read for anyone who’s ever felt the tension between doing what’s expected and doing what’s right.”

― Dan Pink, Thinkers50 Ranking 2011-2023; author of The Power of Regret, Drive, and When

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Cornelia Choe https://thinkers50.com/biographies/cornelia-choe/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:45 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87900
Cornelia Choe

Cornelia Choe

CEO, The Leaders Alliance; author of The Panoramic Leader.

QUICK INSIGHT

Panoramic leaders seek different perspectives to make better judgements.

QUICK INSIGHT

In a world of constant change, perspective isn’t a soft skill. It’s a strategic advantage.

Ideas

Cornelia focuses on how people from diverse backgrounds connect and complement each other and how to guide and facilitate discussions to create connection and trust, particularly through peer groups. She contends that the power of peer groups is based on three fundamental human qualities: empathy, curiosity, and partnership, and consciously expanding our capacity for each of these qualities helps reduce loneliness and isolation. When leaders embrace ideas and perspectives from their full panorama of stakeholders, she argues, they see the world more accurately, make informed decisions, and lead their teams better.

Bio

CEO of The Leaders Alliance, Cornelia is a keynote speaker, and investor. She is Judge for MassChallenge Switzerland, co-president of the Corporate Board of the Alumnae-I Network of Harvard Women at Harvard University and sits on the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard Kennedy School. She gained a Master of Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor of the Science of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Cornelia has worked with leaders in private equity, law, government and non-profits, and at organisations including the UN, the White House, and Morgan Stanley.

Content

The Panoramic Leader (with Marshall Goldsmith, 100 Coaches Publishing/Amplify Publishing Group, 2026); ‘Embracing the Full Panorama: How to Lead in a Changing World’ (LinkedIn, 2025); ‘Why Executives are Failing’ (LinkedIn, 2025); ‘Turning Inclusion Inside Out: Social Adaptability, the Missing Piece for Inclusion (Swiss Journal of Intercultural Training and Research, 2023); How to connect with different people (TEDxSwansea, 2023); Lonely at the Top? It Doesn’t Have to Be (OxfordHR Insights).

Media picks

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Article:

Lonely at the Top? It Doesn’t Have to Be

Verdict

“No leader can lead in isolation. Cornelia provides practical tools to build high-quality relationships.”

– Thinkers50

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Biographies Archives - Thinkers50 nonadult
Caroline Stokes https://thinkers50.com/biographies/caroline-stokes/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:30:43 +0000 https://thinkers50.com/?p=87498
Caroline Stokes

Caroline Stokes

Author of After Shock to 2030.

FAST FACT

Has served as an ambassador for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation since 2007.

Ideas

Caroline’s pioneering model for future-ready leadership integrates trauma-aware systems, emotionally intelligent AI, and adaptive intelligence. She is the author of AfterShock to 2030: A CEO’s Guide to Reinvention in the Age of AI, Climate, and Societal Collapse and Elephants Before Unicorns, both of which equip leaders to navigate the complexities of a polycrisis era shaped by technological disruption, climate instability, and shifting societal expectations. She translates emotionally intelligent, human-centred principles into practical strategies for leaders confronting unprecedented change.

Bio

Founder of FORWARD, Caroline is a global leadership strategist for the 5th industrial revolution. A Sony alum who contributed to the launch of PlayStation, and a PCC-level, EQ 2.0–certified coach, she has evolved from executive headhunter to leading authority on psychological and strategic leadership reinvention. Caroline has spoken at institutions including the World Bank, IEEE-USA conferences, and innovation summits in London, Los Angeles, and Singapore. In 2024, she was invited to speak at the UN Peace Day celebration in LA on “Cultivating a Culture of Peace.”

Content

AfterShock to 2030: A CEO’s Guide to Reinvention in the Age of AI, Climate, and Societal Collapse (Broad Brook Press, 2025); Elephants Before Unicorns: Emotionally Intelligent HR Strategies to Save Your Company (Entrepreneur Press, 2019). HBR Guide to Navigating the Toxic Workplace (co-author, 2024); Coach Me! (contributor, Wiley, 2022). Leading in a world of systemic shocks (Lancefield on the Line podcast, 2025). Why an emotionally intelligent company impacts growth (TEDxBayRidgeWomen, 2019). Aftershock: Leadership for the 5th Industrial Revolution podcast.

Media picks

Verdict

“This isn’t just a book. It’s a survival manual disguised as a CEO’s inner monologue.”

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Biographies Archives - Thinkers50 nonadult