HBR On Leadership

In 2014, Deloitte launched Pixel to facilitate open talent and crowdsourcing for client engagements that need specific expertise — like machine learning or digital production. But uptake across the organization was slow, and some internal stakeholders resisted outsourcing consulting work to freelance talent.

In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Mike Tushman discusses his case, “Deloitte’s Pixel (A): Consulting with Open Talent,” which breaks down the challenges the firm’s leadership faced in growing Pixel within the firm — and how they overcame them.

He explains how the firm selected a leader for Pixel who already had credibility and strong social networks within Deloitte. He also shares how Pixel established credibility by collaborating with early adopters within the firm to generate positive client results.

Key episode topics include: leadership, disruptive innovation, innovation, organizational change, talent management, business consulting services, crowdsourcing, freelance talent, intrapreneurship. 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Transforming Deloitte’s Approach to Consulting (2022)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Do people see your leadership potential?

Suzanne Peterson says many talented professionals miss out on leadership roles for relatively intangible reasons. But she argues that aspiring leaders can learn to alter their everyday interactions in small ways to have a big influence on their professional reputation.

Peterson is an associate professor of leadership at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, and the coauthor of the HBR article “How to Develop Your Leadership Style: Concrete Advice for a Squishy Challenge.”

In this episode, she explains how to adopt markers of different leadership styles, so that you can be seen as both influential and likable. She also discusses why it’s important to focus on relationship building as you progress in your career. As she says, “Mid-career and rising senior level, now it’s all about the relationships. It’s all about how you’re perceived.” 

Key episode topics include: leadership, leadership development, managing yourself, power and influence, leadership style, reputation management, aspiring leaders, careers.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Defining and Adapting Your Leadership Style (2020)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at org.

Managing difficult personalities, stalled productivity, and conflict are inevitable parts of leading a team. But how do you know if your leadership is part of the problem?

Melanie Parish says that many leaders see problems on their team as external without considering the impact of their own behavior on team dynamics. As she says, “There are so many different challenges. They circle. You have one challenge one week, and another challenge another week. That’s the work of leadership.”

Parish is a leadership coach and the author of the book, The Experimental Leader: Be a New Kind of Boss to Cultivate an Organization of Innovators.

She takes questions from listeners who are struggling to manage tough teams and offers advice for what to do when you lead a team that refuses to follow company processes or when your growing team of managers is clamoring to weigh in on key decisions. She also has suggestions for how to improve morale if your team is frustrated.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leading teams, managing people, collaboration and teams, organizational culture.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Tough Teams (2020)
• Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Do you know how to influence people who don’t report to you? That might include your boss, clients, or even your peers.

Nashater Deu Solheim argues that there are proven techniques to help you understand your colleagues’ thinking and win their respect—even in virtual work settings.

Solheim is a forensic psychologist and a leadership coach who studies how people gain influence within organizations.

In this episode, she explains that the key to influencing others is understanding them, and she offers a three-part framework to help you do just that. She refers to it as ABC: advanced preparation, body language, and conversation.

Key episode topics include: leadership, business communication, power and influence, managing up, persuasion. 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Better Ways to Manage Up and Out (2020)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

If you’ve invested in someone you manage, it’s natural to feel hurt when that person tells you they’re leaving—especially if they’re a strong contributor.

The classic management advice is: Don’t take it personally. Be professional. But it’s important to acknowledge your feelings and work through them—for yourself and with your team.

In this episode, three HBR leaders join managers drawn from the Women at Work audience to share their experiences losing team members. They discuss how to manage your emotions in the moment and how to look for learnings that will help you move forward. They also offer ideas for how to share the news with your boss and the rest of your team.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, gender, employee retention, staff transitions, staffing, managing emotions, difficult conversations.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Women at Work episode: Dealing with the Feels After an Employee Quits (October 2021)
• Find more episodes of Women at Work.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Some leaders are too comfortable talking about themselves — and others — at work. Their teams may struggle to trust them because they have no boundaries. Other leaders are reluctant to share anything at all, and risk coming across as remote and inaccessible.

But Lisa Rosh says that when you get self-disclosure just right, it can build greater trust on your team. Rosh is an assistant professor of management at the Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to think about the timing, the substance, and the process for sharing personal information with your team. You’ll also learn why it’s important to avoid using self-disclosure to seek approval from others or to promote yourself. As Rosh says, “Be yourself, but be it very carefully.”

Key episode topics include: leadership, organizational culture, business communication, interpersonal communication, authenticity.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Lead Authentically, Without Oversharing (2013)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

When you’re in the middle of a conflict, it’s common to automatically enter fight-or-flight mode.

But HBR contributing editor and workplace conflict expert Amy Gallo says it’s possible to interrupt this response, stay calm, and find a path towards a more productive discussion. In this episode, you’ll learn some simple techniques that will help you manage your emotions when conflict arises at work.

First try to distance yourself from the negative emotion you’re feeling by labeling it. Then focus on your breath and your body. And if you need to — take a break and give yourself time to process your intense emotions.

Gallo also cohosts HBR’s Women at Work podcast, and her most recent book is Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People).

Key episode topics include: leadership, emotional intelligence, difficult conversations, managing yourself. 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Watch the original HBR Guide episode: How to Control Your Emotions During a Difficult Conversation: The Harvard Business Review Guide (2022)
• Find more episodes of the HBR Guide series on YouTube.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

In early 1915, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship became trapped in ice, north of Antarctica. For almost two years, he and his crew braved those frozen expanses. Then, in December 1916, Shackleton led them all to safety.

Not a single life was lost, and Shackleton’s leadership has become one of the most famous case studies of all time.

In this episode, Harvard Business School professor and historian Nancy Koehn analyzes Shackleton’s leadership during those two fateful years that he and his men struggled to survive.

She explains how Shackleton carefully assembled a team capable of weathering a crisis and the important role empathy played in his day-to-day leadership. Koehn also shares the survival lessons that Shackleton learned from weak leaders he encountered early in his own career.

Key episode topics include: leadership, crisis management, motivating people, managing people.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Real Leaders: Ernest Shackleton Leads a Harrowing Expedition (2020)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Imagine you’re a new manager, and one of your team members consistently underperforms. But there’s a catch: your struggling employee is a personal friend of your CEO. When performance review time rolls around, should you be honest and give them a low rating?

There are no simple answers for the tough decisions that managers face. Harvard Business School professor Joe Badaracco says that hard and fast rules only go so far in these sorts of situations. Instead, managers must use their best judgement to find a solution.

Badaracco is a business ethics expert and the author of the book, Managing in the Gray: Five Timeless Questions for Resolving Your Toughest Problems at Work.

In this episode, he explains how to approach what he calls “gray-area decisions.” First, gather as much information as you can, taking different perspectives into account. Then, consider the consequences of the different possible actions you can take, the values of your organization, and your own personal values.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing conflicts, dismissing employees, managing people, managing employees, tough calls, 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Managing in the Real World: How to Make Gray-Area Decisions (2016)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Problem solving skills are invaluable in any job. But all too often, we jump to find solutions to a problem without taking time to really understand the dilemma we face, according to Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg, an expert in innovation and the author of the book, What’s Your Problem?: To Solve Your Toughest Problems, Change the Problems You Solve.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to reframe tough problems by asking questions that reveal all the factors and assumptions that contribute to the situation. You’ll also learn why searching for just one root cause can be misleading.

Key episode topics include: leadership, decision making and problem solving, power and influence, business management.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: The Secret to Better Problem Solving (2016)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Would you promote an employee who’s a top performer, but mistreats their colleagues and disregards company values? It’s a dilemma that many managers face in their careers.

In this episode, the former dean of Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria discusses the classic case study, “Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley.” He breaks down the issues at the heart of the case—including the questions it raises about managers’ accountability for their employees’ behavior.

You’ll learn how to imagine multiple perspectives on this dilemma, so you can work through your decision making. You’ll also learn how managers should consider their own role in creating the incentives that motivate their employees.

Key episode topics include: leadership, talent management, employee performance management.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Employee Performance vs. Company Values: A Manager’s Dilemma (2020)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

What should you do when you become the boss?

Many of us are promoted into people manager roles without any preparation for the complexities involved in that work. But Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks says there are some basics that will help you get started as a first-time boss.

Brooks is an expert in organizational behavior and the psychology of communication. She takes questions from listeners who are struggling as first-time bosses, and talks through what to do when your direct reports are older than you, how to be a likable leader, and what to say if you’re not ready to be in charge.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leading teams, managing people. 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: First-time Bosses (2018)
• Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

If you’re a leader, you need to know how to influence people. Maybe you’re trying to get clients to buy into your idea, trust your expertise, or sign on with your company. Or perhaps you want to convince colleagues to start a new initiative or kill one you think is doomed to fail.

In this episode, Vanessa Bohns, a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University, and Raven Hoffman, who works in a construction role that involves recruiting new clients to her firm, break down how to build influence at work.

They discuss which persuasion tactics are most effective and how to tell if someone is being swayed by your reasoning. And if you’ve failed to persuade someone but still believe in the cause, they offer smart tactics for trying again.

Key episode topics include: leadership, persuasion, power and influence, business communication, industrial sector, construction and engineering, education institutions.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Women at Work episode: The Essentials: Persuading People (2022)
• Find more episodes of Women at Work.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Some leaders spend their careers honing their relationships with employees. But Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg and corporate communications expert Michael Slind argue that leaders are at their best when they simply talk with their teams.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to be more intentional about your conversations with employees—to ensure that you’re cultivating appropriate intimacy, inviting meaningful interaction, and including everyone. You’ll also learn how to make your conversations open, but not aimless.

Key episode topics include: leadership, business communication, organizational culture, teams, relationship building, conversation.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: How Effective Leaders Talk (and Listen) (2012)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Etsy, the online seller of handmade and vintage goods, was founded as an alternative to mass-manufactured products. The company grew substantially in its first decade but remained unprofitable.

When Etsy went public, stakeholders demanded a new level of financial returns and accountability. But the company continued to struggle to contain costs—until a new CEO arrived with a plan for a purpose-driven turnaround.

In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati discusses his case, “Etsy: Crafting a Turnaround to Save the Business and Its Soul,” which explores how CEO Josh Silverman made Etsy profitable by rediscovering the company’s commitment to social and environmental sustainability.

Gulati discusses the difficult choices Silverman made in the early days of his tenure, like laying off employees for the first time ever at Etsy, and how he worked to regain trust with employees. He also explains why Silverman prioritized improving the user experience for buyers on Etsy’s website.

Gulati is the author of the book Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies.

Key episode topics include: leadership, change management, organizational culture, organizational transformation, strategy, retail and consumer goods, online retail, purpose, sustainability.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Cold Call episode: How Etsy Found Its Purpose and Crafted a Turnaround (2022)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

The key to success as a leader is to strike a careful balance between ambition and humility. But how do you stay humble while also proving your worth? And how do you advance without showing too much ambition?

In this episode, Amer Kaissi offers advice on how to find a better balance between our desire to achieve and the qualities that earn more respect from colleagues. As he says, “humility keeps our feet on the ground by allowing us to have an accurate assessment of our own abilities, by understanding our strengths and our weaknesses.” And “ambition is about making us reach for the stars by believing in our own greatness, but also in the greatness of the people who work with us.”

Kaissi is a professor of health care administration at Trinity University in Texas and an executive coach. He’s the author of the book Humbitious: The Power of Low-Ego, High-Drive Leadership.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leadership qualities, emotional intelligence, ambition, humility, listening skills, learning, Steve Jobs.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: To Get Ahead, You Need Both Ambition and Humility (2022)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

If you’re leading innovation, you need very specific leadership skills.

Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill has studied leadership and innovation for decades and is the coauthor of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation. She says that leaders who shepherd innovation can’t rely on formal authority. Instead, they need to understand how to get people to co-create with them, which requires mastering three key roles —architect, bridger, and catalyst—or the ABCs of innovation.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to fill each of these roles—from how to assemble the right team to how to build real connections and mutual commitment. As Hill says, “You cannot tell people to innovate. You can only invite them.”

Key episode topics include: leadership, innovation, power, commitment, talent management, resources, teams, collaboration.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Watch the original HBR Quick Study episode: What Makes a Great Leader? (2022)
• Find more episodes of the HBR Quick Study series on YouTube.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

John Kerry has spent more than 40 years in public service, including several decades in the U.S. Senate, leading the U.S. Department of State from 2013 to 2017, and more recently serving as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.

In this episode, he shares the leadership lessons he learned over many years of leadership in the public sector—from influencing people to recovering from defeats, handling leadership transitions, and staying focused on important long-term goals.

Key episode topics include: leadership, government, negotiation strategies, leadership transitions, resilience, focus, planning, influence, diplomacy. 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: John Kerry on Leadership, Compromise, and Change (2018)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Julie Zhuo was Facebook’s first intern, and she became a manager there in her mid-twenties. Those early years as a manager at the company—now named Meta—were tough. She says she often felt like she was in over her head and she made a lot of mistakes.

But Zhuo did eventually learn how to manage team dynamics. When she left Facebook in 2020, she was leading a team of hundreds, as vice president of product design.

Now the co-founder of Sundial, she takes questions from listeners who are struggling to manage their own team dynamics. She offers advice for when your employee is bossing around others on the team, and how to help an underperforming team member.

Zhuo is the author of the book The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You.

Key episode topics include: leadership, developing employees, leading teams, managing people.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Leading Small Teams (2019)
• Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

As the host of two successful business podcasts, Guy Raz has interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs and leaders. His podcasts How I Built This and Wisdom From The Top offer an inside look at how visionary leaders build their careers and their companies.

Raz has identified three key behaviors successful leaders have in common: They create a culture of collaboration.  They encourage risk-taking.  And they allow for failure.

In this episode, he discusses how to incentivize internal collaboration and why that approach often leads to innovation. He also shares the insights he’s gathered on how to inspire your team to take risks and embrace learning from failure. 

Key episode topics include: leadership, leadership vision, leading teams, collaboration and teams, entrepreneurship.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Guy Raz on What Great Business Leaders Have in Common (2023)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

If you’re a leader, you know how critical feedback is to your team’s success and growth. But giving the kind of feedback that motivates people to improve is harder than it may seem.

In this episode, Therese Huston, a cognitive scientist at Seattle University who specializes in giving and receiving feedback, and Jessica Gomez, an elementary school principal whose job involves observing teachers and giving them feedback on their teaching, break down the art and science of giving effective feedback.

They discuss what to prioritize when you give feedback, how to make sure your message is clear, and how to lay the groundwork for these difficult conversations.

Key episode topics include: leadership, gender, giving feedback, managing people, education institutions.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Women at Work episode: The Essentials: Giving Feedback (2021)
• Find more episodes of Women at Work.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Do you have a culture of respect on your team?

Kristie Rogers, an associate professor of management at Marquette University, has identified two types of respect that employees value: owed and earned. She says that owed respect refers to basic workplace civility whereas earned respect is related to an employee’s achievements.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to practice both types of workplace respect, and what happens when their balance isn’t quite right. You’ll also learn how managers can unknowingly communicate disrespect to their employees.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, business communication, employee retention, interpersonal communication, respect, motivation.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: The 2 Types of Respect Leaders Must Show (2018)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

When was the last time you practiced your active listening skills?

HBR contributing editor Amy Gallo says it is a skill you need to practice. In this episode, you’ll learn how you can use listening skills to make other people feel heard and understood. Specifically, you’ll learn different styles of listening and how to use each one to fit your goals.

You’ll also learn how to use thoughtful questions to deepen your conversation and make sure you’re getting the information you need.

Gallo is an expert in workplace conflict and communication. She also cohosts HBR’s Women at Work podcast, and her most recent book is Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People).

Key episode topics include: leadership, interpersonal communication, listening skills, active listening, conversations.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Watch the original HBR Guide episode: The Art of Active Listening (2022)
• Find more episodes of the HBR Guide series on YouTube.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

The business world is beginning to recognize the importance of mental health. That’s why writer, entrepreneur, and podcast host Morra Aarons-Mele says that the more we understand and talk about our own mental health, the better we are as managers and colleagues.

In this episode, you’ll get tips on how to work with—and through—your anxiety. If you’re a senior leader or a human resources professional, you’ll also learn ways to help your organization prioritize employees’ mental health.

This is the final episode in a special series highlighting the four best leadership episodes of 2023, curated from across Harvard Business Review’s podcasts.

Key episode topics include: leadership, psychology, mental health, managing yourself, emotional intelligence.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: How Managing Your Anxiety Can Make You a Better Leader (2023)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

With the explosive growth of generative AI, businesses are beginning to integrate artificial intelligence into all aspects of their operations, products, and services. This shift is posing a particularly difficult challenge for leaders, who must quickly learn enough about this new technology to make sound decisions for their companies, in the short- and long-term.

One key player in this transition is NVIDIA, the AI-driven computing company, which makes both hardware and software for a range of industries.

In this episode, NVIDIA CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang discusses how he leads his company in the face of accelerating change with Harvard Business Review editor-in-chief Adi Ignatius. Huang explains why he thinks flat organizations are better at innovation and why his leadership team still operates as if NVIDIA were about to go bankrupt.

This is the third episode in a special series highlighting the four best leadership episodes of 2023, curated from across Harvard Business Review’s podcasts.

Key episode topics include: leadership, AI and machine learning, organizational culture, leadership and managing people, technology and analytics.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original IdeaCast episode: Nvidia’s CEO on What It Takes To Run an A.I.-Led Company Now (2023)
• Find more episodes of IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

From Microsoft to Google to Meta, many of the world’s biggest tech companies announced layoffs in 2023.

But Harvard Business School professor Sandra Sucher, who has been studying layoffs for years, says that companies often overlook their hidden costs: lost institutional knowledge, weakened employee engagement, higher turnover, and lower innovation. She says that it can take years for companies to bounce back from these setbacks.

In this episode, you’ll learn better ways to approach layoffs—with real-world examples from Twitter, Nokia, and Fidelity Investments. You’ll also learn how to regain your employees’ trust in the aftermath.

This is the second episode in a special series highlighting the four best leadership episodes of 2023, curated from across Harvard Business Review’s podcasts.

Key episode topics include: leadership, layoffs, human resource management, managing people, talent management.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Many Companies Get Layoffs Wrong (2023)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Becoming a manager for the first time comes with many common challenges: balancing your time, managing team conflicts, and delegating work to direct reports.

But leadership coach Jen Dary says there are also subtler challenges—like learning to actually see yourself as a leader. Assuming responsibility for other people’s professional development and personal happiness does change you. And the feelings can be mixed until you’re able to build your identity and confidence back up.

In this episode, Dary discusses how you can explore your new identity as a manager. You’ll learn how to plan your own professional development, deal with disillusionment, and set priorities and boundaries with your team—all while juggling the responsibilities of your new role.

This is the first episode in a special series highlighting the four best leadership episodes of 2023, curated from across Harvard Business Review’s podcasts.

Key episode topics include: leadership, gender, leadership development, managing people, early career.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Women at Work episode: How to Manage: Finding Yourself Again (2023)
• Find more episodes of Women at Work.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Are leaders born or made?

University of Michigan Ross School of Business professor Sue Ashford has studied leadership for decades—what makes people see themselves as leaders and how groups choose leaders among them. She says that leadership does come more easily to some than others, but that leadership is dynamic and only as real as a group decides. It’s a state that everyone can reach, whether they’re officially in charge or not.

“People grant a leader identity by their willingness to follow someone. So, if you take the chalk and go to the board and start writing things, or am I following along, adding to your structure, your list? And by doing that, I’m reinforcing that I’m willing to go with you for this bit of time,” Ashford explains.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to cultivate leadership within yourself and those you manage. You’ll also learn about alternative models, like shared leadership, that can benefit any team.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, managing employees, managing yourself, leadership qualities, leading teams.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Everyone Should See Themselves as a Leader (2017)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Do you trust the people you work with?

Without trust, organizational psychologist Liane Davey says it’s hard to have the two key ingredients for any healthy team: effective communication and productive conflict.

Davey takes questions from listeners who are struggling to build trust at work. She offers advice for what to do when your new boss doesn’t trust you, or when you want to earn the trust of people who work for you.

Key episode topics include: leadership, emotional intelligence, managing people, managing yourself, trustworthiness, managing up, communication, conflict.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Building Trust (2019)
• Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

When you think of good leadership, what comes to mind?

Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter argue that good leadership isn’t rooted in power or public speaking skills. They say that, in fact, mindfulness, selflessness, and compassion are the key components.

“If [you are] focused on things that are going to feed [your] ego, [you’re] not necessarily going to be doing the things that will be most helpful to other people,” Carter explains. “[And] what the research and our field work really showed us is that in the long term, people don’t want to follow you.”

In this episode, you’ll learn how to cultivate selflessness as a leader without being a pushover. You’ll also learn a simple ritual that could help you start you day with more focus and a clearer sense of your priorities.

Carter and Hougaard are the coauthors of The Mind of the Leader: How to Lead Yourself, Your People, and Your Organization for Extraordinary Results.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, managing employees, managing yourself, psychology, self-awareness, mediation, mindfulness, compassion, selflessness.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Leading with Less Ego (2018)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Are you struggling to motivate your team?

Professor and author Richard Boyatzis says there’s a motivation crisis in workplaces. “And the responsibility for that lies with the managers and leaders—the people who are supposed to be energizing people and engaging them,” he argues.

Boyatzis takes questions from listeners who are struggling to retain their employees and motivate their teams.

Key episode topics include: leadership, developing employees, motivating people, organizational culture, psychology.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Motivating Employees (2019)
• Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

As the head of science at NASA, Thomas Zurbuchen managed an $8.6 billion dollar budget. A typical Monday, for him, might have involved hitting an asteroid with a space craft or trying to launch a rocket.

Zurbuchen left that role in 2022, but he’s still the longest continually serving head of science in NASA’s history. He and his team accomplished a lot in that time.

In this episode, he shares what he learned about leading extremely technical, complex, and expensive projects with a high risk of failure. You’ll learn how to manage your time, how to balance high-level strategy work with overseeing operations, and how to manage failure in a way that encourages learning and innovation.

Key episode topics include: leadership, teams, talent management, innovation, NASA, managing risk, collaboration, engineering, project management, government.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: NASA’s Science Head on Leading Space Missions with Risk of Spectacular Failure (2022)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

When was the last time you disagreed with your boss? Did you tell them you had a different opinion — or did you just let it go?

HBR contributing editor Amy Gallo says it’s much easier to just agree with your boss. But sometimes it’s important to speak up. In this episode, you’ll learn how to weigh the risk of a negative reaction against the risk of not voicing your opinion: What could happen later if you don’t raise this issue now? What do you stand to lose? What opportunities could you or your team be missing out on?

You’ll also learn best practices to keep in mind if you do decide to say something — like avoiding certain judgment words and first asking permission, instead of offering an unsolicited opinion.

Gallo is an expert in workplace conflict and communication. She also cohosts HBR’s Women at Work podcast, and her most recent book is Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People).

Key episode topics include: leadership, difficult conversations, managing conflicts, managing up, interpersonal communication.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Watch the original HBR Guide episode: How to Disagree with Someone More Powerful: The Harvard Business Review Guide (2021).
• Find more episodes of the HBR Guide series on YouTube.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Most of us think of mentoring a colleague as a one-way street—a gift of professional guidance and advice. But Sylvia Ann Hewlett says sponsorship needs to be a reciprocal relationship.

“[T]he younger person has to display a great deal of value. And oftentimes the senior person is looking for a value add, a skill or an experience in the younger person that they don’t have themselves,” she explains. “So it’s very reciprocal…and it’s really about progression for both of the individuals.”

Hewlett is an economist, consultant, and the author the book The Sponsor Effect: How to Be a Better Leader by Investing in Others.

In this episode, she breaks down the building blocks, risks, and potential rewards of sponsorship. She also offers advice for choosing the right protégé and effectively launching and managing these long-term relationships.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leading teams, power and influence, managing people, talent management, sponsorship, mentorship, relationships, development.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: The Surprising Benefits of Sponsoring Others at Work (2019)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

When Rosalind Fox took over as manager of John Deere’s largest factory in Des Moines, Iowa, the plant employed 1,600 workers and included four major product lines. It was far bigger and more complex than the factory she’d been managing in North Carolina before her promotion. She had to shift from being a more operational, tactical manager to a more strategic role.

But Fox was also the first Black female manager at the Iowa factory, and her employees there were mostly white men. So she also had to figure out how to engage with her staff and build credibility with them. And that meant Fox had to decide how much of herself to bring to work.

“[T]he more authentic that you are, the greater sense of wellbeing you have, the greater sense of satisfaction you have, and that leads to greater engagement in the organization,” Harvard Business School senior lecturer Tony Mayo tells Cold Call host Brian Kenny. “[T]he key thing to know is that not everybody has the license to be authentic.”

Mayo interviewed Fox for his case study on her leadership at the agricultural equipment company.

In this episode, you’ll learn how Fox balanced the pressure to assimilate into the factory’s dominant cultures with her own sense of authenticity.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, organizational culture, diversity and inclusion, race, authenticity, communication, agriculture, manufacturing, employee engagement.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Fostering Authenticity and Employee Engagement at John Deere (2021)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Management decisions almost always involve uncertainty. But what if you just can’t get the facts you need—or if your colleagues disagree about what you should decide?

Harvard Business School professor Joseph Badaracco calls these “gray area problems.” He offers a framework for addressing these problems in his book, Managing in the Gray: Five Timeless Questions for Resolving Your Toughest Problems at Work.

“Get expert advice. Look at options with other people, work the process. Be a good manager. And sometimes, you get an answer,” he explains. “But if [you don’t], then you’ve got to make the decision. And you can’t rely on analytics or frameworks. You make that judgment call as who you are. And then you live with it afterwards.”

In this episode, you’ll learn which questions to ask yourself as you work through your own gray area problems. You’ll also learn how to balance your business acumen with the needs of your organization and your human instincts.

Key episode topics include: leadership, decision making and problem solving, business ethics, uncertainty, disagreement, tough decisions, complexity.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Making the Toughest Calls (2016)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Delegating is an essential part of leadership. Without it, how can you rise above the tactical grind and focus on strategic thinking?

But leadership coach Deborah Grayson Riegel says delegating effectively is harder than it may seem.

“People delegate poorly defined tasks to other people where they’re not clear of the expectation. They’re not clear on the goal. They’re not clear on what success would look like, and they pass that on,” she explains. “And as you can imagine, it’s like a giant game of telephone. It just leaves you a mess.”

In this episode, you’ll learn how to decide which tasks to delegate and how to handle the specific challenges that come with delegating to peers in your organization, in addition to direct reports.

Key episode topics include: leadership, delegating, interpersonal communication, receiving feedback, business services sector, business consulting services, aerospace and defense sector.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Women at Work episode: The Essentials: Delegating Effectively (2022)
• Find more episodes of Women at Work.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Some managers give meaningless positive feedback. Others are unreasonably critical. But Kim Scott, cofounder of the executive coaching firm Radical Candor, says good leaders can give honest feedback in the moment—as long as it’s rooted in a strong relationship.

“You want to show that you care personally,” she tells IdeaCast host Curt Nickisch. “Your job as a leader is to paint a picture of what success looks like. You want to show what the possibilities are.”

In this episode, Scott explains the steps that managers can take to challenge their employees more directly, while also communicating empathy. She also offers advice for how to solicit useful feedback on your own work.

Key episode topics include: leadership, business communication, giving feedback, managing people, communication, difficult conversations, developing employees, empathy. 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Defining Radical Candor – and How to Do It (Feb 2020)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Captain Michael Davidson, of the container ship SS El Faro, was determined to make his trip on time. But a hurricane was approaching, and Davidson and his fellow officers had to plot a new course to avoid the storm, in the face of conflicting weather reports from multiple sources and differing opinions among the officers about what to do. Over the 36-hour voyage, tensions rose as the ship got closer and closer to the storm.

And there were other factors compounding the challenge. The El Faro was an old ship, about to be scrapped. Its owner, TOTE Maritime, was in the process of selecting officers to crew its new ships. Davidson and some of his officers knew the company measured a ship’s on-time arrival and factored that into performance reviews and hiring decisions

When the SS El Faro tragically sank on October 1, 2015, it was the deadliest American shipping disaster in decades. But who was to blame for the tragedy and what can we learn from it?

Harvard Business School professor Joe Fuller discusses the culpability of the captain, as well as his fellow officers, and what it reveals about how leaders and their teams communicate under pressure.

Fuller used transcripts of the ship’s tape recorder to study the crew’s communication, allowing him unique access to every conversation with the captain and crew, as they struggled to decide the ship’s course.

“What you see is that different deck officers…have pretty direct conversations with Davidson about the storm. But at no time, do any of them say to Davidson, ‘Captain, I’m really concerned, this course is taking us right on a collision with…the storm.’ And I think we should adopt a different course of action,” Fuller notes.

If you’re trying to lead your team through a crisis or make good decisions under pressure, this episode is for you.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leadership styles, crisis management, operations and supply chain management, power and influence, business failures, communication.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Management Lessons from the Sinking of the SS El Faro (April 2022)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Herminia Ibarra, a professor of organizational behavior at London Business School, says that if you want to grow as a leader, you must leave your comfort zone and try new behaviors. Eventually, she says, you’ll arrive at a more authentic version of yourself.

“The paradox is that a lot of times in order to become more authentic, more fully yourself, but in a new capacity, you can’t start that way,” says Ibarra. “You actually have to do things that don’t come naturally and that sometimes make you feel like a fake or an imposter.”

In this episode, you’ll learn how to try out new leadership behaviors in lower stakes, less visible settings while you slowly improve your skills. You’ll also learn how to balance authenticity with vulnerability when you communicate with your team.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, change leadership, authenticity, growth, communication, leadership presence, organizational change, new manager.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Leadership Feels Awkward (Feb 2015)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Are you struggling to give and receive feedback at work? Executive coach and organizational consultant Ben Dattner says giving good feedback is really about how you deliver it.

“I think what good bosses do is they let their employees know…the reason I’m giving you this feedback is to help you be more successful,” he tells Dear HBR hosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn. “This is not adversarial. This is the two of us together trying to make something better.”

Dattner takes questions from Dear HBR listeners about what to do when an employee isn’t making changes based on your feedback, and how to respond when your employee offers you unexpected feedback.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, developing employees, giving feedback, receiving feedback, communication.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Critical Feedback (Feb 2019)
• Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Generational differences may get laughs online. (Remember “OK boomer”?) But in the workplace, productivity can suffer when older and younger workers struggle to communicate and find common ground.

Mimi Nicklin, a business coach and advertising executive, argues that older managers should spend less time forcing their Millennial and Gen Z employees to conform to company culture and more time listening.

But Nicklin says listening isn’t enough. Practicing empathy across generational divides is key to improving team collaboration and creating better business and individual outcomes – and that can go both ways.

“What empathy in a leader, or from a leadership point of view, really asks of us is to understand, to ask opinions, to listen,” she tells IdeaCast host Curt Nickisch. “Empathy for me is about perspective taking — seeing the world through the eyes of someone else, seeing their context.”

In this episode, Nicklin explains how to build common ground and tackle generational tensions on your team – with plenty of real-world examples from companies that prioritize empathy. Nicklin wrote the book Softening the Edge: Empathy: How Humanity’s Oldest Leadership Trait is Changing the World.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leading teams, psychology, age and generational issues, conflict, growth, differences, millennials, organizational culture, communication, talent management, GenZ, empathy.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: How Empathy Helps Bridge Generational Differences (2021)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Fabricio Bloisi was just 21 years old when he founded Movile as a small start-up in a garage, in the late 1990s. At the time, the company specialized in building text messaging apps and selling them to telecom providers in Brazil.

The company is now a global technology player, serving more than more than 150 million mobile customers worldwide. But Harvard Business School professor emeritus Lynda Applegate says that to scale the company successfully, Bloisi had to evolve his leadership away from day-to-day operations. (Applegate profiled Bloisi in a business case.)

In this episode, you’ll learn how Bloisi’s role as founder and CEO changed as the company grew. Key to this growth was Movile’s executive team, who managed operations so that Bloisi could focus on the company’s strategy.

If you’re trying to balance day-to-day leadership with the bigger picture, this episode is for you.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, entrepreneurship, start-ups, technology, mobile phones, executive team, talent development, organizational culture, scaling, founders.

 HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Cold Call episode: The Team Sport of Scaling a Business (2016)
• Find more episodes of Cold Call
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

If you’re leading a team, you know how hard it is to facilitate collaboration – especially when they don’t know each other well or may never meet in person. When people struggle to work together, it can harm productivity, morale, and talent retention.

But New York Times bestselling author Marcus Buckingham argues that you can improve your team dynamics if you understand the people you manage: how they learn, what they love, and how to bring out their strengths.

“[W]hen you first join, [Lululemon] want to know all about your goals and aspirations and dreams,” Buckingham, head of research on people and performance at ADP, tells IdeaCast host Alison Beard. “So right from the get-go, they’re like what’s inside you?”

In this episode, you’ll get step-by-step advice for improving collaboration on your teams from day one. You’ll also learn how you can balance your team members’ unique strengths and interests with your business goals.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leading teams, talent development, psychology,  organizational culture, managing people, team building, team joining, onboarding, employee engagement.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Find Joy in Any Job: How Do I Get My Team to Love Work? (2022)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

In our leader-focused society, how often do we consider the role of followers?

Barbara Kellerman studies the relationship between leaders and followers at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, where she was a member of the faculty for more than 20 years.

She explains that there’s a word that describes the powerful, emotional bond that exists between leaders and followers: charisma.

“We all tend to fixate on the leader,” Kellerman says. “But the genuine leadership is best understood as a relationship between the leader and his or her followers. And certainly charismatic leadership implies the power of the follower every bit as much as it does the power of the leader.”

In this episode, you’ll learn why the term “charisma” implies that leaders and their followers share power equally – and how that balance of power can lead to different outcomes.

Key episode topics include: leadership, gender, government, equity, power dynamics. 

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: What Charisma Really Is (and Isn’t) (2009)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Megan Rapinoe is known for her ability to perform under pressure on the soccer field. In 2019, she led the U.S. women’s team to the World Cup Championship.

But Rapinoe’s leadership extends beyond making big goals in high-stakes games. She has embraced her role as team captain and as an advocate for causes she believes in — like gender pay equity.

“I’ve always been a team-first kind of player. I’ve never been the best player, but I certainly carry a lot of weight,” she tells IdeaCast host Alison Beard. “I think that as long as I can do that in a positive way then I can have a really big impact on the team ultimately.”

They also discuss how Rapinoe gradually grew into her leadership role on the U.S. women’s team, why personal relationships with her teammates are important to her leadership, and what she does to keep her teammates motivated – especially after hard losses.

Key episode topics include: leadership, sports, gender, diversity and inclusion, leading teams, corporate social responsibility, pay equity, advocacy, purpose, and soccer.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Megan Rapinoe on Leading — On and Off the Field (June 2020)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Being a great manager isn’t enough to lead others to success. You also need to deeply understand your organization’s core business.

Amanda Goodall studies the relationship between leaders and organizational performance. She argues that the best leaders are technical experts — for example, doctors who head up hospitals or all-star basketball players who go on to manage teams.

“We find that if your boss understands the nature of the work, then they can actually help you,” says Goodall, a professor at Bayes Business School at the City University of London. “They can assess you well, and they can encourage you in the right direction to advance in your career, and that is a very important element for job satisfaction.”

In this episode, you’ll learn how to approach the transition from expert individual contributor to a leadership role. And you’ll learn what to do if you’re a generalist managing experts. (Spoiler alert: self-awareness and listening skills are important.)

Key episode topics include: leadership, developing employees, managing people, building trust, feedback, and talent management.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Technical Experts Make Great Leaders (April 2018)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

If uncertainty and turbulence are the new normal, how does that change the way we lead?

In this episode, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman explains how ongoing volatility can be transformed into an opportunity for innovation.

“So there’s a couple places where structurally you should look at the opportunities. One is the classic aphorism, ‘never waste a good crisis,’” he tells Adi Ignatius, host of HBR’s The New World of Work video series. “Everything’s volatile, it’s been shaken up some. Try to predict where it’s going in this volatility and skate to where the puck is going, not where it is.”

They also discuss why it’s important to align the social impact of your innovative activity with your business mission, and why your talent is the true differentiator that will make or break your team’s success.

Key episode topics include: leadership, business and society, collaboration, teams, talent development, technology, social impact, purpose, organizational culture, decision-making, entrepreneurship, innovation, LinkedIn, and experimentation.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Watch the original episode of The New World of Work: LinkedIn Cofounder Reid Hoffman on Innovating for an Uncertain Future (Jan 2022)
• Find more episodes of The New World of Work on YouTube.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

We all have preconceived notions about the personality types are associated with good leadership — like confidence or emotional intelligence. But what about shyness? If you’re more reserved but truly competent, can you become a leader?

In this episode, an emerging leader speaks candidly about how her introversion affects her ability to lead. Then author and former clinical psychologist Alice Boyes explains why being shy and being a leader aren’t always in conflict.

“The goal is not to become less anxious or to hide your anxiety better. The goal is to be less ashamed of being anxious,” Boyes tells Women at Work hosts Amy Bernstein, Emily Caulfield, and Amy Gallo. “The actual problem is shame about anxiety or shyness, and not anxiety itself.”

Boyes adds that there are professional advantages of some personality traits related to shyness — like sensitivity and thoughtfulness.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, gender, anxiety, introversion, strengths and weaknesses, career planning.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Women at Work episode: Too Shy to Be a Leader? (Oct 2020)
• Find more episodes of Women at Work
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Is your job pushing you outside your comfort zone? Executive coach and former venture capitalist Jerry Colonna has coached leaders on how to make the most of stretch responsibilities.

“When a leader is able to connect with the reality of what they know and don’t know and speak truthfully from that, there’s this lovely, lovely corollary benefit that occurs called trust,” he tells Dear HBR hosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn. “Then all of a sudden you start to pull the team together and people start rooting for you.”

Colonna takes questions from Dear HBR listeners about what to do when you don’t feel qualified to manage your new responsibilities. He also offers advice for leading a team without formal power.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leadership development, career planning, career coaching, psychology, managing people, building trust.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Stretch Responsibilities (June 2019).
• Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.