At LDRLB (@LDRLB), we draw much of our content from the research and writings of the world’s top professors. Most are from business schools, others from a variety of fields relevant to leading organizations. These professors consistently build upon the body of knowledge and further the goal of evidence-based leadership. We thought it’d be worthwhile to share with you the people we learn the most from. Below you’ll find who we feel are the top professors on twitter, broken into lists around leadership, innovation, and strategy.
Leadership
| Bill George | Professor, Harvard Business School | @Bill_George |
| Gianpiero Petriglieri | Associate Professor, INSEAD | @gpetriglieri |
| Bret Simmons | Professor, University of Nevada-Reno | @drbret |
| Karl Moore | Professor, McGill University | @profkjmoore |
| Gautum Mukunda | Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School | @gmukunda |
| Lukas Neville | Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba | @lukasneville |
| Michael Roberto | Professor, Bryant University | @michaelaroberto |
| Stew Freidman | Professor, The Wharton School | @stewfriedman |
| David Thomas | Dean, Georgetown University | @ProfThomas |
| Morten Hansen | Professor, UC Berkeley and INSEAD | @GreatbyChoiceMH |
| Rob Kaplen | Professor, Harvard Business School | @RobSKaplan |
| Francesca Gino | Associate Professor, Harvard Business School | @francescagino |
| Jeffrey Pfeffer | Professor, Stanford University | @JeffreyPfeffer |
| Schon Beechler | Professor, INSEAD | @ProfBeechler |
| Michael Tushman | Professor, Harvard Business School | @MichaelTushman |
Innovation
| Richard Florida | Professor, Rotman School of Management | @Richard_Florida |
| Clayton Christensen | Professor, Harvard Business School | @claychristensen |
| Alf Rehn | Chair, Åbo Akademi University | @alfrehn |
| Karim R. Lakhani | Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School | @klakhani |
| Bob Sutton | Professor, Stanford University | @work_matters |
| Tina Selig | Director, Stanford Technology Ventures Program | @tseelig |
| Tim Kastelle | Professor, University of Queensland | @timkastelle |
| Gary Hamel | Professor, London Business School | @profhamel |
| Diego Rodriguez | Professor, Stanford d.school | @metacool |
| Teresa Amabile | Professor, Harvard Business School | @TeresaAmabile |
| Philip Auesrwald | Associate Professor, George Mason University | @auerswald |
| Tom Eisenmann | Professor, Harvard Business School | @teisenmann |
| Max McKeown | Researcher, Warwick Business School | @maxmckeown |
| Brad Staats | Professor, UNC-Chapel Hill | @brstaats |
| Dave Owens | Professor, Vanderbilt University | @daveowens |
Strategy
| Michael Porter | Professor, Harvard Business School | @MichaelEPorter |
| Rita McGrath | Professor, Columbia Business School | @rgmcgrath |
| Sheen S. Levine | Professor, Columbia | @sslevine |
| Cynthia Montgomery | Professor, Harvard Business School | @leadstrategy |
| Mislek Piskorski | Associate Professor, Harvard Business School | @mpiskorski |
| Kevin Boudreau | Professor, Londen Business School | @KevinJBoudreau |
| Freek Vermeulen | Associate Professor, Londen Business School | @Freek_Vermeulen |
| Teppo Felin | Associate Professor, Brigham Young University | @teppofelin |
| Dan Elfenbein | Professor, Washington University in St. Louis | @OrgStratProf |
| Sydney Finkelstein | Professor, Tuck School of Management | @sydfinkelstein |
| Peter G. Klein | Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia | @petergklein |
| Michael Ryall | Professor, Rotman School of Management | @MDRyall |
| Laurence Capron | Professor, INSEAD | @LaurenceCapron |
| Frank T. Rothaermel | Professor, Georgia Tech University | @ftrStrategy |
| Fabrizio Ferrao | Professor, IESE Business School | @f_ferrao |
If you’re wondering about order, we opted to use Klout scores in lieu of follower count in the hopes that it rewarded professors who focus their influence on smaller fields as much as the top thought leaders. This list was compiled primarily by another professor, David Burkus (@davidburkus).
Thanks, so much, for this list!
Quite welcome. Glad you liked it.
Interesting list but very disappointing to see only a handful of women.
Thanks Lynn. I agree. I cast a really wide net and couldn’t find very many to begin with. If you know of any I left out please forward them along. I’ll be happy to plug them into my master list.
David, I looked at your list and I respect Lynn’s comment but leadership is not defined by one’s gender. I have learned from great females and males.
I think it is gender bias on the other side to always look to see if the list or the award has a particular sex or for that matter race. I could have easily said that I don’t see any HBCUs on the list. The point is not gender or race or culture representation, but is the best talent there.
I know that some of you may have to Google HBCUs to know what that is and I believe that it will be a good cross-cultural learning experience for you.
I want to learn. So if your list does not include someone I look like then it is up to me to find that person.
While I respect Lynn’s question and her right to ask the question, I am going to assume that you did your best to find the best regardless of sex, race or any other identifier.
Thanks Dave. I did do my best to find as many professors as I could in the specific areas of leadership, innovation and strategy. I didn’t factor gender or race into my initial search or rankings. I felt these were the best combination of academic influence and twitter influence. I have (thankfully) been made aware of a few more professors (many female) that I didn’t find in my initial search. I suspect (and hope) that I will find more. I’m not intending to discriminate for or against any gender, race of even nationality. I’m just trying to find the best sources of knowledge. I intend to continue to release updated versions of this list, so I hope that everyone continues to send in nominations.
Hi:
You just started following me on Twitter (thank you!), and I with you. In reading this list, thought I’d suggest a group from Purdue University. I graduated with a BS in Technology for Organizational Leadership & Supervision. Here is a course list. Professor contact into is also in the site. I thought it might be worth looking over for additional sources.
http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/ols/courses/catalog/index.html
Thx
I’ll check them out. Thanks so much.
I am a lil surprised Wubbo Ockels of Delft University is not on this list.
I was completely unaware of him until I read your comment. His Klout rating is high but he seems to write mostly on straight technology and not necessarily innovation. I know that must sound like splitting hairs. I will add him to my list of people to keep tabs on for the future. Thanks so much.
You missed the main man from Manchester Business School in the UK
Prof Peter Kawalek @kawalek
Thanks for the suggestion. We won’t next time.