Leadership

December 2023

Satya Nadella at Microsoft: Instilling a Growth Mindset (French language)

By Herminia Ibarra, Aneeta Rattan

When Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he inherited a firm fading toward irrelevance, plagued by internal fights and inertia. Earlier that year his wife, Anu, had given him a best-selling book by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck entitled Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, su...

October 2022

The Strategic Transformation of Royal Philips

By Freek Vermeulen, Ronald de Jong

In April 2011, Dutch multinational Royal Philips, one of the most iconic companies in the country, decided to disrupt itself and transform from a diversified industrial conglomerate to a focused player in Health Technology. The case describes the first decade (2011-2021) of the strategic transformat...

June 2022

Anne Boden at Starling Bank: Disrupting an industry

By Herminia Ibarra, Luisa Alemany, Nick Mickshik, Ken Mark

The case describes the start-up and evolution of UK-based digital bank Starling. Founded in 2014, Starling offered personal and business accounts, and lending products, promising a better customer-service experience, faster approvals and a more digital-friendly approach than traditional banks. By 20...

March 2022

Marin Alsop: Dream job or nightmare – Compact Case

By Carrie J. Fletcher, Randall Peterson, Vyla Rollins

This case study follows the career of world-renowned orchestra conductor Marin Alsop. As a gay woman in a blatantly male-dominated (and often sexist) field, Alsop faced significant challenges in her rise to the top of the profession. At virtually every turning point on her unconventional path, Alsop...

March 2022

Marin Alsop: Showing them success – Compact Case

By Carrie J. Fletcher, Randall Peterson, Vyla Rollins

This case study follows the career of world-renowned orchestra conductor Marin Alsop. As a gay woman in a blatantly male-dominated (and often sexist) field, Alsop faced significant challenges in her rise to the top of the profession. At virtually every turning point on her unconventional path, Alsop...

March 2022

Marin Alsop: A study in inclusive leadership – Compact Case

By Carrie J. Fletcher, Randall Peterson, Aneeta Rattan

This case study follows the career of world-renowned orchestra conductor Marin Alsop. As a gay woman in a blatantly male-dominated (and often sexist) field, Alsop faced significant challenges in her rise to the top of the profession. At virtually every turning point on her unconventional path, Alsop...

August 2021

Fatima Akilu: Staying true to her values (B)

By Randall Peterson

In 2016, four years into her role as Director for Behavioural Analysis and Strategy at Nigeria’s Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Fatima Akilu was summarily dismissed from her position, amid accusations of corruption at the organisation, and subsequently charged with fraud. Nigeriaâ€...

August 2021

Fatima Akilu: The rise of a quiet leader (A)

By Randall Peterson

In 2015, Fatima Akilu found herself sitting at the kitchen table with her sister, shocked and saddened by what has just happened to her, wondering what to do next. Should she fight to defend her reputation? Or return to a quiet life away from the big government role she has just been fired from? Fa...

August 2021

Quiet Charisma: Fatima Akilu at the Neem Foundation

By Randall Peterson

When Fati Ibrahim lost her husband and eldest son after Boko Haram insurgents attacked their town of Gwoza in north-eastern Nigeria, she wasn’t alone. She was one of dozens of women who lost family members, homes and livelihoods. Three years later, she found herself queueing outside a tent near Ma...

June 2021

Satya Nadella at Microsoft: Instilling a Growth Mindset (Chinese language)

By Herminia Ibarra, Aneeta Rattan

When Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he inherited a firm fading toward irrelevance, plagued by internal fights and inertia. Earlier that year his wife, Anu, had given him a best-selling book by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck entitled Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, su...