HBR On Leadership

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 p...

As the host of two successful business podcasts, Guy Raz has interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs and leaders. And he’s identified three key behaviors that 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 inn...

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, a...

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...

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 questio...

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 professiona...

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. In this episode, NVIDIA CEO and c...

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-wo...

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 see yourself as a leader. Assuming responsibility for other people’s professional development and personal happiness does change you. In this episode, Dary...

Are leaders born or made? University of Michigan Ross School of Business professor Sue Ashford has studied leadership for decades. She says that leadership does come more easily to some people than others, but that leadership is dynamic and only as real as a group decides. In this episode, you’ll learn how to cultivate leadership within yourself and those you manage. You’ll also learn about altern...

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...

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. 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 coul...

Are you struggling to motivate your team? You’re not alone. Professor and author Richard Boyatzis says there’s a motivation crisis in workplaces. He places the responsibility for workers’ demotivation with immediate supervisors. He argues that they’re in the best position to shift a demotivated employee into a go-getter – or the reverse. Boyatzis takes questions from listeners who are struggling t...

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...

When was the last time you disagreed with your boss? Did you tell them — or 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.

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. 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 o...

When Rosalind Fox took over as manager of John Deere’s largest factory in Des Moines, Iowa, she had to adjust 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. In this episode, you’ll learn how Fox balanced the pressure to ass...

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.” In this episode, you’ll learn which questions to ask yourself, as you work through a problem. You’ll also learn how to balance your business acumen...

Delegating is an essential part of leadership, but leadership coach Deborah Grayson Riegel says delegating effectively is harder than it may seem. 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.

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.

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.

How do you define authenticity as a leader? 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. In this episode, you’ll learn how to try out new leadership behaviors in lower stakes, less visible settings while you improve your skills. You’ll also learn how to balance authenticity with vulne...

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. He 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.

Generational differences may get laughs online, 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 li...

Fabricio Bloisi was just 21 years old when he founded Movile as a small start-up in a garage, in the late 1990s. 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 operati...