How I Learned to Give My Team Real Power

The true measure of a leader isn’t what they do, but what their leadership makes possible.

Understanding ESG Funds

“ESG funds represent an opportunity to align your investments with your personal beliefs, practice social responsibility, good governance and sustainability, and put your money where your mouth is,” says Alex Budak.

Alex Budak and StartSomeGood

Having a great idea but no funding led Alex Budak to set up a social enterprise to help others in the same position

MBA Programs Must Adapt to Navigate American Culture Wars

“We need to train MBA students not just to be leaders, but to become changemakers,” said Alex Budak.

Millennial Boss Moaning Gen Z Staff Are 'a Massive Headache' Sparks Debate

Alex Budak, a faculty member at UC Berkeley Haas who teaches leadership to Gen Z students and is the author of Becoming a Changemaker, told Newsweek: "The Gen Z students that I teach give me so much hope for the future. I appreciate how clear they are on their personal values, and how they actively look for organizations that match these values."

How empathy in changemaking can transform institutions

Berkeley News recently spoke with Budak about the importance of having empathy as a changemaker, and why Berkeley is becoming a leader in the field of changemaking.

Author Interview: Alex Budak

“I couldn’t wait to talk to Alex about happiness, habits, and leadership.”

Radically Inclusive Changemaking and Its Limits

What, exactly, is a changemaker? What sort of leadership defines it? And is this work about leading change or enabling it?

This essay addresses some of these questions by taking as a case in point the publication of Alex Budak's new book: Becoming a Changemaker.

6 hot IT leadership trends — and 6 going cold

Alex Budak, Berkeley Haas School of Business faculty and author of Becoming a Changemaker, agrees with Deloitte’s Shaikh that using your formal authority to get things done is out.

Covid-19 changed work forever. It may also redefine middle management.

"Middle management is ready for a rebrand,” said Alex Budak, faculty member at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. “Middle managers who thrive in this new world will spend a bit less time on process and procedures, and more time on human-centered leadership.”

Is 'Kind Productivity' the Future of Work?

Alex Budak, a faculty member at UC Berkeley Haas who teaches leadership to Gen Z students says that members of Gen Z are “comfortable questioning the status quo…especially around work norms.”

Changemakers are shaking up the status quo of doing business

Expert in leadership and change Professor Alex Budak of Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and author of Becoming a Changemaker, defines a changemaker as someone who leads positive change from wherever they are.

“My definition is radically inclusive, and while it absolutely includes and often is anchored in areas of positive change beyond social and environmental, it also provides room for many other areas of impact, including artistic and technological,” he says.

How to Transform Ideas for Good Into Impact

An idea left stranded somewhere in your brain can benefit only you. By getting that idea out there and starting the process of action, you’ll be amazed at how, in the words of Paulo Coelho “the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

Small classes with a mighty impact

Budak, author of the 2022 book Becoming a Changemaker, said he believes that anyone choosing to commit their professional lives to the field of public health is already well on their way to becoming a changemaker.

“Leadership is a lens for creating positive change, whether within one’s career, community, team or organizations,” he said. “I hope students will leave with clarity on what their leadership can make possible.”

Under-control vs. in-control leadership: From micro-manager to micro-leader

One of the biggest mistakes I see leaders make, is overvaluing being “in control” and undervaluing being “under control.”

2023 Most Disruptive Business School Startups, Scribble AI, U.C.-Berkeley (Haas)

What business professor made a significant contribution to your plans and why? “Lecturer Alex Budak’s unique framework for change-making, especially in the context of the lean startup methodology, was helpful for us to maintain a disciplined customer mindset – always ensuring we understand the core problems that customers are facing.”

Career Change Is Uncomfortable. Embrace it.

For humanists who want to…effect change in their institutions and disciplines, I recommend Alex Budak’s Becoming a Changemaker. The book grew out of a popular course on leading change that Budak teaches at the University of California at Berkeley.

Finding The Changemakers Of Tomorrow

The course aims to equip and inspire participants to create a better world, whether on an individual, organizational or societal level. "The opportunity to affect change isn’t restricted to a single sector, organization or type of person," Alex Budak says.

Ecoles de commerce : « Ici, aux États-Unis, on apprécie le style made in France »

“Nous guidons nos futurs diplômés vers un changement positif, même dans les enseignements les plus techniques comme la finance.”