Donald Sull

Dr. Donald N. Sull has spoken at management symposia around the world as an expert keynote speaker on business and management practice and strategy. He has been named by The Economist as “a rising star in a new generation of management gurus.”

An expert on global strategy and execution in turbulent markets, Donald is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Formerly a Professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the London Business School, where he won three teaching awards, he is a highly successful and brilliant speaker.

Donald conducts specialist workshops in which he directs and teaches an intensive week-long "boot camp" to help senior executives thrive in uncertain times.

He has published five books and over 100 case studies, book chapters, and articles, including several best-selling Harvard Business Review articles. The Economist named his theory of active inertia as an idea that has shaped business management over the past century.

In his books, similar to his speeches, he explores how business leaders face complexity in organisations, and how to deal with 21st century technology.

He has won teaching awards at the London Business School and Harvard University. Donald received his AB, MBA, and doctorate from Harvard University, and served as a Professor of Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School before rejoining the London Business School faculty.

His book, Made in China: What Western managers can learn from trail-blazing Chinese entrepreneurs, was named one of the top eight business books of 2005 by the Financial Times. His book Why Good Companies go Bad was a finalist for the Academy of Management's Outstanding Management Book Award and translated into eight languages. Donald's academic research awards include the Dively Award for outstanding dissertation and the Newcomen Prize for the best business history article.

Before academia, Donald worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, and as a management-investor with the leveraged buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. He is an active investor in several technology start-ups, and advises executives in multinational firms.

Donald uses big data to measure and quantify how well organisations execute their strategy. His team has developed a state-of-the-art survey to assess execution capacity. He also designed and directed an action research program with the Young Presidents’ Organisation to quantify the impact of interventions to increase execution capacity.

Donald is frequently interviewed by the BBC, CNN, and National Radio.

Highly successful and intelligent, Donald is one of the leading figures in his field. He is the perfect keynote speech to cover turbulent markets, strategy and big data.