Stephen Sackur

Stephen Sackur is a broadcaster and foreign correspondent whose career has taken him from the Middle East and eastern Europe to Washington and Brussels, to the studio of HARDtalk - the BBC's long-running current affairs interview series - and more recently to Times Radio, where he is part of the presenting team.

For more than two decades, HARDtalk brought Stephen face to face with heads of state, cultural figures, scientists and business leaders from across the world. Among his subjects were some of the world's great innovators, from James Dyson to Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia and bioscientist Craig Venter. Distilling those conversations into a series of articles, Stephen identified five qualities they all seemed to share: an indestructible will, passion almost beyond reason, outrageous optimism, a super-sized ego and a 'rebel yell.' Those interviews also gave him a clear-eyed view of how organisations can best foster innovation. As he has put it: "You need to find ways to assess individuals on their merits, and give rewards for innovative thinking rather than play-it-safe mediocrity. You should encourage insiders to get outside and bring back fresh insights. And you shouldn't confuse seniority with creativity."

Away from the studio, Stephen built his reputation as a foreign correspondent. He served as Washington Correspondent, where his coverage and analysis of 9/11 won widespread recognition, and before that reported from Brussels, the Middle East and eastern Europe. Across an eventful career he has covered the first Gulf War, the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Lewinsky affair and the reunification of Germany.

Drawing on decades of interviews and frontline reporting, Stephen examines what drives leaders, innovators and decision-makers - and what separates those who shape events from those who merely react to them.