Bob Sternfels is the global managing partner of McKinsey & Company and chairs the firm’s board of directors. In this role, he leads McKinsey’s efforts to deliver lasting, substantial performance improvements for clients, while fostering a culture that attracts, develops, and retains exceptional people.
Bob is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. His experience covers global business and societal issues, with particular focus on leadership development, economic growth and resilience, and cross-border collaboration.
Bob sits on the boards of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Stanford University, the Rhodes Trust, U.S.-China Business Council, FCLTGlobal, and With Honor. He is an active member of the Business Roundtable, Asia Business Council, International Advisory Council of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board and the Partnership for San Francisco. He serves as co-chair of the First Chance Campaign at Concordance.
Bob’s hobbies include cycling, piloting small aircraft, and sports of all types. He and his wife, Ashley, have three children.
Published work
“Singapore’s bold bets: Shaping Asia’s next act,” McKinsey & Company, August 2025
“Unlocking US federal permitting: A sustainable growth imperative,” McKinsey & Company, July 2025
“Scaling the 21st-century leadership factory,” McKinsey & Company, July 2025
“The learning organization: How to accelerate AI adoption,” McKinsey & Company, July 2025
“Multinationals at a crossroads: Adapting to a new geopolitical era,” McKinsey & Company, June 2025
“India: The promise and possibilities for global companies,” McKinsey & Company, April 2025
“The CEO as elite athlete: What business leaders can learn from modern sports,” McKinsey & Company, January 2025
“The art of 21st-century leadership: From succession planning to building a leadership factory,” McKinsey & Company, October 2024
“Toward action: A G20 agenda for sustainable and inclusive growth,” McKinsey & Company, September 2024
“Strengthening fraying ties: The Global Cooperation Barometer 2024,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2024
“Space: The missing element of your strategy,” McKinsey & Company, March 2023
“Seizing the momentum to build resilience for a future of sustainable inclusive growth,” McKinsey & Company, February 2023
“A devilish duality: How CEOs can square resilience with net-zero promises,” McKinsey Quarterly, November 2022
“Strategic courage in an age of volatility,” McKinsey Quarterly, August 2022
“Resilience for sustainable, inclusive growth,” McKinsey & Company, June 2022
“Three keys to a resilient postpandemic recovery,” McKinsey & Company, February 2022
“Why do we serve high-emissions companies? Because that is where the emissions are.” McKinsey & Company, October 2021
“Our future lives and livelihoods: Sustainable and inclusive and growing,” McKinsey Quarterly, October 2021
“Return as a muscle: How lessons from COVID-19 can shape a robust operating model for hybrid and beyond,” McKinsey Quarterly, July 2021
The economic state of Black America: What is and what could be, McKinsey Global Institute, June 2021
“Speed and resilience: Five priorities for the next five months,” McKinsey & Company, March 2021
“Reenergizing an exhausted organization: A conversation with Admiral John Richardson,” McKinsey Quarterly, December 2020
“The emerging resilients: Achieving ‘escape velocity’,” McKinsey & Company, October 2020
“What now? Decisive actions to emerge stronger in the next normal,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020
“Unleashing sustainable speed in a post-COVID world: Reimagine structure,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, September 2020
“As you return from the summer break, can you lead toward a COVID-Exit?,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020
“Unleashing sustainable speed in a post-COVID world: Rethink ways of working,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, September 2020
“Ready, set, go: Reinventing the organization for speed in the post-COVID-19 era,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020
“Return: A new muscle, not just a plan,” McKinsey & Company, May 2020
“A roadmap for a digital transformation,” McKinsey &
Company, March 2017
“Trend spotting: Qualcomm executives consider the next wave of growth in semiconductors,” McKinsey &
Company, September 2014
Education
University of Oxford
MA, politics, philosophy, economics (Rhodes Scholar)
Stanford University
BA, economics, history
