THE GOOD GLOBAL / GLOBAL CITIZEN PROFILE
Howard Thomas on Leadership, Humanity and the Questions that Matter
Howard Thomas has spent more than five decades crossing disciplines, institutions and continents. The thread connecting them is a belief that education should expand opportunity—and that leadership begins by recognising what other people can do.
Howard Thomas now lives in Stratford-upon-Avon, a two hour drive from where his story began in Wales yet connected to the world in which he continues to work.
His career has moved through universities in Australia, Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Yet the origins of this international life can be found in a South Wales mining community and in two parents who left school at 13.
Thomas’s father went into the coal mines before studying at night, winning a scholarship and becoming an electrical engineer. His mother went on to become a primary school headmistress in London. “I think I’ve got it all from them,” he says. “Grit, determination, resilience. You must learn as much from your mistakes and address criticism with an open mind.”
Thomas studied statistics in London before completing an MBA at the University of Chicago and a PhD in decision analysis at Edinburgh. Appointments at Edinburgh, Harvard and London Business School followed. In Sydney, he became a Foundation Professor and Academic Dean at the Australian Graduate School of Management. He later led business schools at the University of Illinois, Warwick and Singapore Management University.
He did not, however, begin with a plan to become what others have called a “serial dean”. He remembers being drawn instead to problems—and to the people capable of solving them.
“I’m one of these people who loves problems and gets interested in solving problems, and issues” he says. “It doesn’t matter whether they were oriented to something I studied in university. Learning how to solve problems gives you a background for framing problems, looking at problems, working with people.”
That willingness to cross boundaries became a defining feature of his work. Statistics led to decision theory, decision and risk and analysis then strategy; institutional leadership led to management education, entrepreneurship and inclusive growth.
For Thomas, education means not only analysis but “synthesis and creativity”: connecting knowledge academic institutions often keep apart.
His leadership philosophy also owes something to rugby. Thomas loved the game and often became captain, despite readily conceding that he was not the best player on the field.
The lesson was straightforward: “Make sure you get the ball out to the people who can actually play this game, so they can score tries for you.”
It is an unexpectedly useful description of inclusive leadership. The leader’s task is not to demonstrate personal superiority, but to recognise where capability sits and create the conditions in which it can contribute.
Thomas applies the same philosophy to ideas. “discussing issues openly and arriving at an agreed conclusion,” he says. “I don’t like people who talk about the ideas and then don’t write them down, or share them. Even if people don’t agree with me, they read what I said and disagree with me. I don’t mind.”
Thomas’s attention later widened toward economic growth and social inclusion. From 2015 to 2018, he held the MasterCard Chair in Social and Financial Entrepreneurship at Singapore Management University. He remains connected to South Africa through the Gordon Institute of Business Science, the Middle East via the American University at Cairo Sawiris Business School and advises EFMD’s leadership.
His assessment of inequality is direct. “The gap between rich and poor is as wide as it’s ever been,” he says. “The issue in inclusion is still: how do you get economic growth?”
The idea of a demographic dividend can disguise a harder reality in developing economies: many young people have no work, while unreliable infrastructure restricts participation in education and enterprise.
Thomas sees entrepreneurship as part of the response, particularly when such investment develops capability rather than creating short-lived interventions. “I think entrepreneurship is the key element to much of this,” he says, questioning whether foreign aid consistently reaches the people who need it. “We should really be putting money into entrepreneurship programmes and getting people to build an entrepreneurial society.”
But his reflections also leave room for collective responsibility. Looking to Denmark, he observes that inclusive growth is partly an expression of political philosophy: taxation, employment, social protection and the relative distance between executive and worker incomes.
“You’ve got to look after everybody,” he says. “You’ve got to have a sense of humanity in managing anything.”
Economic growth and business responsibility, in his view, must operate together.
This is where Thomas’s career becomes more than an impressive list of institutions. It offers a global-citizen model grounded in movement, curiosity and translation: learning from one place without assuming its answers can simply be imposed upon another.
He is equally candid about failure. “You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to fail at times,” he says. “You’ve got to try to be the best you possibly can be, but you cannot be perfect.”
Asked what advice a future Howard might offer the man sitting at his desk today, his answer brings together the geography and intellectual restlessness of his career.
“Always get out of your comfort zone,” he says. “Take the chances. Try and connect the dots on something other than the things you know the answer to—probably something you don’t know the answer to.”
It is advice for individuals, but perhaps also for institutions and societies. A global citizen does not need to possess every answer. They need the curiosity to cross a boundary, the humility to recognise capability in others, and the courage to keep asking questions the familiar system has not yet learned to answer.
Howard Thomas lives in Stratford-upon-Avon, close to where his story began in Wales yet connected to the world in which he continues to work.
His career has moved through universities in Australia, Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Yet the origins of this international life can be found in a South Wales mining community and in two parents who left school at 13.
Thomas’s father went into the mines before studying at night, winning a scholarship and becoming an electrical engineer. His mother went on to become a headmistress in London. “I think I’ve got it all from them,” he says. “Grit, determination, resilience. I’ve never let anybody kick me down.”
Thomas studied statistics in London before completing an MBA at the University of Chicago and a PhD in decision analysis at Edinburgh. Appointments at Harvard and London Business School followed. In Sydney, he became Foundation Professor and Academic Dean at the Australian Graduate School of Management. He later led business schools at the University of Illinois, Warwick and Singapore Management University.
He did not, however, begin with a plan to become what others have called a “serial dean”. He remembers being drawn instead to problems—and to the people capable of solving them.
“I’m one of these people who loves problems and gets interested in problems,” he says. “It doesn’t matter whether they were oriented to something I studied in university. They give you a background for framing problems, looking at problems, working with people.”
That willingness to cross boundaries became a defining feature of his work. Statistics led to decision theory, then strategy; institutional leadership led to management education, entrepreneurship and inclusive growth.
For Thomas, education means not only analysis but “synthesis and creativity”: connecting knowledge institutions often keep apart.
His leadership philosophy also owes something to rugby. Thomas loved the game and often became captain, despite readily conceding that he was not the best player on the field.
The lesson was straightforward: “Make sure you get the ball out to the people who can actually play this game, so they can score tries for you.”
It is an unexpectedly useful description of inclusive leadership. The leader’s task is not to demonstrate personal superiority, but to recognise where capability sits and create the conditions in which it can contribute.
Thomas applies the same impatience to ideas. “I like hammering things down and I like finishing,” he says. “I don’t like people who talk about the ideas and then don’t write them down, complete them. Even if people don’t agree with me, they read what I said and disagree with me. I don’t mind.”
Thomas’s attention later widened toward economic growth and social inclusion. From 2015 to 2018, he held the MasterCard Chair in Social and Financial Entrepreneurship at Singapore Management University. He remains connected to South Africa through the Gordon Institute of Business Science and advises EFMD’s leadership.
His assessment of inequality is direct. “The gap between rich and poor is as wide as it’s ever been,” he says. “The issue in inclusion is still: how do you get economic growth?”
The idea of a demographic dividend can disguise a harder reality: many young people have no work, while unreliable infrastructure restricts participation in education and enterprise.
Thomas sees entrepreneurship as part of the response, particularly when investment develops capability rather than creating short-lived interventions. “I think entrepreneurship is the key element to much of this,” he says, questioning whether foreign aid consistently reaches the people who need it. “We should really be putting money into entrepreneurship programmes and getting people to build entrepreneurial society.”
But his reflections also leave room for collective responsibility. Looking to Denmark, he observes that inclusive growth is partly an expression of political philosophy: taxation, employment, social protection and the relative distance between executive and worker incomes.
“You’ve got to look after everybody,” he says. “You’ve got to have a sense of humanity in managing anything.” Economic growth and business responsibility, in his view, must operate together.
This is where Thomas’s career becomes more than an impressive list of institutions. It offers a global-citizen model grounded in movement, curiosity and translation: learning from one place without assuming its answers can simply be imposed upon another.
He is equally candid about failure. “You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to screw up,” he says. “You’ve got to try to be the best you possibly can be, but you cannot be perfect.”
Asked what advice a future Howard might offer the man sitting at his desk today, his answer brings together the geography and intellectual restlessness of his career.
“Always get out of your comfort zone,” he says. “Take the chances. Try and connect the dots on something other than the things you know the answer to—probably something you don’t know the answer to.”
It is advice for individuals, but perhaps also for institutions and societies. A global citizen does not need to possess every answer. They need the curiosity to cross a boundary, the humility to recognise capability in others, and the courage to keep asking questions the familiar system has not yet learned to answer.
