HBR On Leadership

Are you struggling to manage people who are older than you? Lindsey Pollak explains that cross-generational dynamics in the workplace are becoming increasingly complex, driven by rapid technological advancements and longer career spans. As a workplace expert and author of The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace, Pollak addresses listener questions about motivating old...

How can you tell if you’re on your company’s leadership fast track? Jay Conger, a leadership professor at Claremont McKenna College, notes that many organizations quietly maintain and update lists of high-potential employees. In this episode, he offers advice for what to do if you suspect you’re on the list. In addition, Conger shares his research on the five critical “X factors” that distinguish...

Being the most knowledgeable and experienced person on your team can seem advantageous. However, Sydney Finkelstein, an expert in leadership and talent development, warns that expertise can lead you astray in two significant ways: it may stifle your curiosity about new developments and foster overconfidence in your problem-solving abilities. In this episode, Finkelstein explores these pitfalls and...

Oprah Winfrey isn’t just a public figure—she’s the wealthiest woman in the entertainment industry and the first African-American woman billionaire. But how did she rise from a daytime talk show host to a media mogul? What leadership skills did she develop along the way? In this episode, Harvard Business School executive fellow Bill George explores the challenges Oprah faced on her path to success...

When you think of "office politics," you might picture someone hoarding information or taking credit for others' work. While negative stereotypes persist, learning to navigate office politics is crucial for leadership — and you can do it without sacrificing your principles or authenticity. In this episode, organizational psychologist Madeleine Wyatt, along with a guest from the management consulti...

Robert Steven Kaplan says the best leaders are exceptionally good at asking tough questions so they can make the right decisions. Kaplan is the author of the book What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential. He explains how to frame better questions to get the answers you need to make decisions. He also discusses how to...

Software executive Richard Sheridan argues that one key quality is missing from too many workplaces today: joy. As CEO of Menlo Innovations, an enterprise software company based in Michigan, Sheridan deliberately focuses on cultivating joy in his company. His 2018 book, Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear, offers guidance for how to create joy at work — and...

Are you stuck in a negative rut with someone at work? HBR contributing editor and workplace conflict expert Amy Gallo says repairing a broken professional relationship will improve your work life — whether it’s your boss, a coworker, or even your employee. In this episode, she breaks down the different types of relationship conflicts that are common at work and the steps you can take to move forwa...

Do you have an employee who just gets on your nerves? In this episode, Dear HBR cohosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn answer listener questions with the help of Art Markman, former professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and now the school’s Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. They talk through how to manage someone who is difficult, overly polite, or passive aggressive. M...

Amid the racial reckoning that followed George Floyd’s murder in 2020, many U.S. business leaders promised to make workplaces more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. But these efforts have now slowed, and many DEI teams have faced cuts, and calls for anti-racist leadership have all but disappeared. In this episode, James White, the former CEO of Jamba Juice, and his daughter and coauthor Krista Wh...

MIT Sloan School of Management researchers Deborah Ancona and Kate Isaacs argue that big organizations can be nimble if they have three types of leaders in the mix: “entrepreneurial,” “enabling,” and “architecting.” In this episode, they explain how some large organizations continually develop new talent by empowering employees to lead in their area of expertise and make choices about the projects...

What’s the best way to determine whether or not your business should engage on potentially controversial societal issues? In this episode, Harvard Business School senior lecturer Hubert Joly explains how to create a process for decision-making around these issues, in collaboration with your board. Joly wrote a case study based on his own time as chairman and CEO of electronics retailer Best Buy. W...

Do you know how your best employees feel about their work? Are they actually engaged and motivated? Or are they already looking for a better opportunity? If so, what would it take to make them want to stay? In this episode, you’ll learn how to retain your best employees for the long term, including tactics you can use to help the people you manage feel valued and respected. You’ll also learn what...

Joel Peterson has spent a career leading teams, building businesses, and managing people at every level. Along the way, he’s learned valuable lessons about the best ways to bring on new talent, as well as when and how to let people go. Peterson is the former chairman of JetBlue Airways. He also teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He shares his approach to hiring for top leadership...

Knowing how to get people to listen to you is an important part of leadership. But HBR contributing editor and workplace conflict expert Amy Gallo says being heard isn't about how loud you say something. It's about saying the right thing at the right time—in other words, it’s about having a communication strategy. In this episode, Gallo offers research-based tips for how to lay the groundwork for...

Harvard Business School senior lecturer Mark Roberge argues that every aspect of being an early-stage founder involves sales. But many founders lack an understanding of how to incorporates sales into their ventures. Which sales candidate is a startup’s ideal first hire? What marketing channels are best to invest in early on? How aggressively should an executive team align sales with customer succe...

Are you ready to be a manager? In this episode, Ellen Van Oosten answers questions from listeners who are struggling to move into management. She offers advice for what to do when you’ve been tapped for a managerial role, but you don’t want the job. She also discusses how to respond if your supervisor is blocking you from earning a promotion into management, and how you can make the move to manage...

Former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker and his former chief of staff Steve Kadish faced many challenges during Baker’s time in office—perhaps most notably: the Covid-19 pandemic. Looking back, they argue that running a government is often much harder than leading a private-sector company. For one thing, Baker says, there’s rightly more public scrutiny of every decision you make as a governmen...

How do you guide a team working on innovative projects—when there is no existing playbook? Astro Teller says he uses a vetted approach to decision-making for the innovative projects that he and his teams undertake at X, Alphabet’s R&D engine. Teller is the Captain of Moonshots at X, which he helped launch at Google in 2010. Since then, they’ve worked on a pill that detects cancer, cars that drive...

Chobani is a leader in the global yogurt market, with more than 20 percent share of the U.S. market alone. It all started with one man, an abandoned yogurt factory in upstate New York, and a mission to make quality yogurt accessible to more people. In this episode, Harvard Business Review editor in chief Adi Ignatius and Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya discuss mission-driven entrepreneurship...

What distinguishes a leader? How do you know if you’re ready to lead? And how do you make the transition into a leadership role? In this episode, two leadership coaches, Amy Su and Muriel Wilkins of Paravis Partners, explain how to develop a leadership presence that’s both authentic to you and resonates with others. You’ll also learn some deeper questions to ask yourself during your transition int...

In early 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. All seven astronauts on board were killed. This was not the first NASA mission to end in disaster, and it inspired Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson to write a business case about what went wrong. Edmondson studies psychological safety and organizational learning. Her most recent book is...

In 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln wrote a scathing letter to his top Union general, who had squandered an opportunity to end the American Civil War. Then Lincoln folded it up and tucked it away in his desk. The letter was never signed and sent—just one example of how Lincoln’s legendary emotional discipline enabled him to rise above mundane arguments and focus on a larger mission. In this ep...

Growing up in the heart of the Confederacy, Maggie Lena Walker started work as a laundress at age nine. At the urging of her mother and mentors, she turned to education, and used it to propel her life forward — graduating high school at 16, working as a teacher, and learning accounting. Those experiences, coupled with her strong work ethic, culminated in Walker rising to lead the Independent Order...

Most of us can point to a few key people who have made a real difference in our lives and careers—the coach who pushed you to outperform, the teacher whose passion for a subject inspired your own, or the boss who showed you what it is to be a leader at work. In this episode, NBA star Chris Paul shares how his own mentors guided him through the early years of his professional basketball career and...